PrimeResi can exclusively reveal new details about The Olayan Group’s forthcoming Knightsbridge Gardens project, billed as “the stand-out build-to-rent scheme in Prime Central London”.
As part of the multinational investment giant’s mixed-use reworking of the Knightsbridge Estate – a 3.5-acre swathe flanked by Harrods and Harvey Nichols – 45,000 square feet of new luxury resi units are due to be delivered next year.
Buyers need not apply, however, as all 33 apartments are for tenants only.
The collection will be “the most prominent offer to come to London’s luxury rental market”, according to the team, which includes super-prime developer Chelsfield and interiors studio Taylor Howes Designs. Knight Frank and Strutts are the appointed agents.
Accessed via a “discreet” entrance on Basil Street and a private orangery, the turn-key residences will wrap around a landscaped courtyard garden and draw on influences from the Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, Modernist and Art Deco periods. Services will include 24-hour concierge, valet parking, and the use of a club room.
Units will range in size from one- to four-beds, but prices are as yet undisclosed.
Fletcher Priest has been in charge of designing the wider scheme, which will also house seven flagship retail units (including the all-new Burberry store), a new roof-top restaurant and ground-level café, and a 67,000 square foot Grade A office building.
The Olayan Group picked up the set of period buildings (which feature one of London’s most impressive runs of Dutch gable elevations) in 2010; rationalising and modernising works have been carried out to around a third of the site so far, with remodelled shop fronts, widened pavements, upgraded retail units and a new lighting scheme along Brompton Road, Sloane Street and Hans Crescent.
Sarah Waller, Senior Asset Manager for The Knightsbridge Estate: “Situated in the heart of Knightsbridge with every amenity, service and convenience at their finger-tips and Hyde Park a short walk away, Knightsbridge Gardens’ lifestyle will be hard to beat.”
Tom Smith, Head of Super Prime Lettings at Knight Frank: “Knight Frank are both delighted and privileged to be partnering with The Olayan Group on their Knightsbridge Gardens build-to-rent apartments. It is a hugely ambitious project and certainly a first of this scale and quality for the Knightsbridge area. We are excited to be able to bring these fully interior designed and best in class apartments to our customers.”
Nina McDowell, Director at Strutt & Parker: “Knightsbridge Gardens is going to be the stand-out build to rent scheme in prime central London. This Knightsbridge location, coupled with carefully thought out design and exceptional interiors, will make it a rarity. The scheme will be an incredibly exciting destination that’s geared entirely towards discerning tenants and their exacting expectations. The market has been crying out for just such a product and Knightsbridge Gardens will deliver.”
Karen Howes, CEO & Founder, Taylor Howes Designs: “The Taylor Howes studio is rooted in the heart of Knightsbridge. We have grown and developed in this location to become one of the most progressive and prominent studios, which makes the appointment by The Knightsbridge Estate to work on such an internationally significant development extremely poignant. The residential component of The Estate will have market implications, not just here in the UK, but internationally, as The Estate is developing London’s most significant super-prime rental proposition. We are hugely excited to be working alongside such an experienced team to deliver this scheme. The unique nature and highly covetable address of the development make this a challenging brief, and we relish the opportunity to present something new to the residential rental market.”
