Shirazi plans ￡150m 'super-prime' High Street Ken flats

摘要

Iranian residential developer Borzou Shirazi has bought a block on London's Kensington High Street to develop into ￡150m of luxury flats.Shirazi, who runs several companies, among them investment firm Treasury Investments, is believed to have paid a Middle Eastern investor more than ￡50m for the building.The price reflects a net initial yield of 5.9%.The block at 116-130 Kensington High Street contains 28 flats on assured short-hold tenancies above ground-floor shops.Shirazi plans to convert the residential space into 16 luxuryflats across 48,000 sq ft. He hopes to turn the top two floors into four penthouse flats behind a glass facade.The flats will be marketed at an average of ￡3,000/sq ft, which would generate ￡147m in sales.The ground-floor shops, which are let to tenants such as Sony Ericsson, fashion retailer Esprit, Superdrug and WH Smith, will be refurbished.Shirazi, who has no interest in commercial development, is considering selling the space or bringing in a partner to refurbish it. He started out investing in pubs but, following the change in licensing laws in 2006, which opened the market up to more investors, he switched to residential schemes.