Press Release

£500M DEVELOPMENT ON REGENT STREET

13 February 2004

The Crown Estate is about to embark on one of the biggest ever developments in London’s West End - a £500m development on Regent Street.

The development, which will include a mix of office, retail, hotel and residential space, will transform the area, particularly at the southern end of the street where it approaches Piccadilly Circus.

The Crown Estate sees the development not just about making Regent Street more of a shopping and eating destination, but one that will revive the public realm. The plans will encourage increased pedestrian flow through the side streets of Swallow Street and Vine Street to the south side of Regent Street and Glasshouse Street and Air Street on the north side.

The Crown Estate sees this as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to set the tone for the next 100 years. Most of the ground leases along the street were granted between 80-100 years ago, and come to an end in the next few years. In the past the ground leases have limited what The Crown Estate has been able to do to improve the tenant mix on Regent Street, but now we have the opportunity to implement our Vision for Regent Street and attract the retailers who will add to the brand’s values.

The scale of the opportunity is enormous totalling 4m square feet, the street has 1.5 miles of frontage with 150 retail tenants. The listed facades will stay, but behind them the quality of space will be improved dramatically. The Crown Estate will retain sole ownership of the entire street from Portland Place in the north to Piccadilly Circus in the south. The Crown Estate is thought to be unique in owning the entirety of such a large retail high street.

Click here for more information on the development