One of the oldest and most prestigious estates in London has been sold to private investors for around £30m.
The 200-year-old family-owned Gunter Estate, which comprises 70 freehold buildings in Kensington, has been bought by Brompton Road Properties – a group of private clients of Huntingdon-based Stevensons Solicitors.
A number of institutional investors are thought to make up the syndicate.
The estate, which has its core in The Boltons conservation area of Kensington, is divided into flats and 40 regulated tenancies, most on leases of 50 years.
Many of the properties have been earmarked for redevelopment, and will be managed by Chancery St James.
Peter Woodley, director of investments at Hamptons, which advised Gunter, said: “Although there was interest from a variety of purchasers, it was the institutions that led the field.”
The estate once stretched from Cromwell Road to Kings Road, between Drayton Gardens and the Brompton cemetery, and covered an area roughly the size of Belgravia.
The Gunter family, who bought the land to use as market gardens in the late 18th century, developed it into town houses when London expanded westwards in the 19th century.
But the trustees of the estate last year decided that they no longer wish to be landlords following the introduction of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act.
EGi News 19/08/02
