Burlington Arcade sold for £300 million

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 7, 2018

Thor Equities and Meyer Bergman have exchanged contracts on the sale of London’s historic Burlington Arcade to private investors the Reuben brothers for £300 million. The arcade has been on the market since last year with estimates at one point that it could sell for over £400 million.

The shopping destination, which is the best known of a number of heritage shopping arcades in London, houses a wide selection of luxury retailers. They include Chanel, Mulberry, Manolo Blahnik, Vilebrequin, Church’s, Penhaligon’s, La Perla, and N Peal. Sophie Hulme also has a pop-up there.

The sale comes after a number of major upgrades to the arcade. “After repositioning and restoring the Burlington Arcade to its former glory, we felt the time was right to sell this historic landmark,” said Joseph Sitt, CEO of Thor Equities.

Since acquiring the property for £104 million in 2010, Thor Equities and Meyer Bergman have invested in boosting its luxury appeal. Redesigned by British architect Jamie Fobert, it now features stone floors sourced from English quarries, as well as restored original details including the building’s upper arches.

The arcade has long been popular with high-end names but its overall profile used to be more traditional and geared towards product areas such as jewellery and cashmere knits. But a turning point came in 2014 when a string of Chanel-owned names opened there, including swim and lingerie label Eres, watchmaker Bell & Ross, milliner Maison Michael, and knit label Barrie. 

The ongoing growth of the luxury sector, London’s status as a tourist magnet, and consumers looking for something different have further added to its appeal.

The Burlington Arcada first opened in 1819 and is the longest covered shopping street in the UK, uniting Piccadilly and Bond Streets in the heart of Mayfair. With around 37,000 sq ft of retail space and a combined frontage of over 1,100 ft, it attracts over 4 million visitors a year. It’s also a popular location for movies and TV shows and featured in Patriot Games, 1010Dalmatians, My Week With Marilyn, and Jeeves and Wooster, and Poirot.