Lofts to Rent in London

The rental market remains hectic in Fitzrovia with prestigious properties being let to celebrities and corporate individuals alike, while the student market continues to grow due to the close proximity of universities and colleges, including UCL, LSE, the American College, and RADA.

Fitzrovia is being hailed as ‘the new Notting Hill’, but it has the extra advantage of being in walking distance of the West End and all of Central London’s sights. Consequently a variety of tenants are now flocking to Fitzrovia in abundance..

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  1st floor 2 double bedroom, 2 bathroom flat for rent: £890 per week


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  1st floor 2 double bedroom, 2 bathroom flat for rent: £925 per week
  


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  2nd floor spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom flat for rent: £950 per week
  


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  3rd floor 1 double bedroom loft apartment for rent: £575 per week
  


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  4th floor 1 bedroom loft apartment for rent: £575 per week
  


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  Penthouse 3 double bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 3 terraces: £1,950 per week

Rathbone Lofts in The Evening Standard

Fitzrovia, the media hub, is attracting smart new home builders, says David Spittles in Wednesday's Homes & Property magazine. Fitzrovia, the West End’s most quirky and bohemian quarter, has never commanded the status that its location, at the very heart of London, deserves.

One reason is the virtual absence of grand period architecture (Fitzroy Square is the exception). Much of the area was developed by small landowners rather than a single aristocratic estate. This led to a predominance of small and irregular streets rather than a grid-like network of roads and squares, which now gives Fitzrovia a distinct villagey charm. Today, the area is popular with media companies, especially around the Charlotte Street heartland of bars, brasseries and boutique hotels, and it is here that Fitzrovia’s “first genuine loft apartments” have arrived on the market. A Twenties office block has been remodelled to provide eight rental apartments. It is a tasteful transformation by niche developer Urban Evolution, which is returning to its West End roots after undertaking a string of projects in Belgravia. Its trademark is classy, not opulent, architectural interior design.

Called Rathbone Lofts, the Fitzrovia scheme is a handsome brick-façade building with new factory-style, grey-framed Crittall windows. The apartments are above new ground-floor commercial premises already let to an advertising agency and have antique parquet flooring throughout, as well as bespoke oak joinery, column radiators, marble-clad bathrooms, handmade kitchens, exposed beams, high ceilings and double doors. It is a warm, comfortable and stylish look. Perched at the top of the building is a three bedroom duplex penthouse with floor-to-ceiling windows, a big open-plan living space and a wrap-around terrace with views over the Soho rooftops.

Rents range from £575 to £1,950 a week.

For more information, call 020 7580 1010. “They’re really cool pads and will strike a chord with local creatives,” says Laurence Glynne of estate agent LDG. “Renters tend to be a lot fussier than buyers. They want to live somewhere for a set period and if the place is not right, they won’t go for it, whereas buyers will say ‘I could do something with this’.”

Property transactions on this patch are continuing despite the wider market malaise, he adds. “I’m not saying it’s insulated from a recession but the West End is a dynamic place and much more complex than other areas; there’s always someone who wants to buy, sell, invest or rent.”

David Spittles, Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 19 November 2008.

London loft apartments and penthouses for rent

On the back of the successful launch of the Rathbone Street loft development, LDG are pleased to announce that they have already let a 2 bedroom apartment in excess of £950 per week.

The launch of Fitzrovia's first loft apartment development has been picked up by the national press and such is the attraction of this "one off" unique loft development, we are already negotiating on the Penthouse.

Even in a dour market lettings are being concluded.

Location of Rathbone Lofts

Located in a quiet side street within the thriving 'urban village' of Fitzrovia in the heart of the West End, Rathbone Lofts is within easy reach of the City, minutes away from the theatre district and surrounded by some of the best bars, cafés and restaurants in town. Nearby Charlotte Street, frequented by notable artists, writers and the bohemian set in the 1930's, is now a fashionable and first-rate wining and dining destination. Enjoy an aperitif at the Charlotte Street Hotel before a bite to eat at Roka.

Or perhaps go for dinner at Market Place in nearby Great Portland Street, followed by achingly hip cocktails at the Sanderson Hotel. The options are unlimited and all just moments away from home. Whether to live or to work, Fitrovia has come to be one of the most sought after locations in the capital.
While only a few minutes walk from bustling Oxford Street, Fitzrovia enjoys a certain deserted charm. Tourists seldom wander north of the West End and in the weekends you’ll seldom see a soul, bar the odd advertising executive working overtime or pub crawler stumbling home from Soho. Newman Passage is an innocuous little pedestrian thoroughfare which links Newman Street to Rathbone Street. Charlotte Street runs perpendicular to Goodge Street and is the main focal point for wining and dining, although gastronomic rivalry is close at hand in nearby Market Place and Great Portland Street.

Nearby areas include:

Bloomsbury, Camden Town, Marylebone, Soho, Euston, King’s Cross

Nearest Tube Stations:

Tottenham Court Road (Central & Northern lines)
Goodge Street (Northern line),
Euston (Northern, Victoria & National Rail lines)
Euston Square (Circle, Hammersmith & Metropolitan lines)
Warren Street (Northern & Victoria lines)
Great Portland Street (Circle, Hammersmith & Metropolitan lines)
Regent’s Park (Bakerloo line)
Oxford Circus (Central, Bakerloo & Victoria lines)

London Lofts: Loft Apartments to Rent in Central London

The history of loft living makes an interesting contrast with the current enthusiasm for the concept. Lofts first emerged in New York in the Fifties when impoverished artists began to colonize the abandoned buildings of Manhattan's defunct garment district. Here, nineteenth-century factories and warehouses had been built using cast-iron frames, a construction method which allowed for large open-plan floors with expanses of glass between the main columns. Space, light and low rents were the main attraction.

Over time, the trend moved from the margins to the mainstream, and across the Atlantic to Europe's capital cities. In the Nineties, post-recession London was fertile ground for some new ideas to lift the gloom, and loft living and all its modern conveniences became a defining feature of the millennium.

The area of London known as Fitzrovia is located on the border between the boroughs of Westminster and Camden, and is bounded on the east by Tottenham Court Road, on the south by Oxford Street, on the west by Portland Place and on north by Euston Road. The area encircling Fitzrovia is dotted with tube stations. Bus routes regularly traverse Tottenham Court Road, Euston Road, Great Portland Street, Portland Place and Oxford Street.

2 X 1 Bedroom Loft Apartments for rent £575 per week


5 X 2 Bedroom Loft Apartmnets for rent £890-975 per week


1 X 3 Bedroom Designer Penthous Lofts for rent £1950 per week

Retail bosses promote West End traffic free day

M&S chairman Sir Stuart Rose, Jaeger owner Harold Tillman and John lewis chairman Charlie Mayfield were among the retail bosses who joined London Mayor Boris Johnson at London's Oxford Circus to promote the West End's traffic-free day on December 6.

Rose, Mayfield, Tillman and Liberty chief executive Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye braved the chills on Oxford Street this morning, along with around 20 Santas, for a photocall.

London's Oxford Street and Regent Street will be closed to traffic on December 6 to help boost Christmas shopping in the West End.

The New West End Company, which promotes the West End, said it was in discussions to have two traffic-free days next year, including one in the summer.

Following the launch of the Westfield London shopping in West London last week, Rose, along with House of Fraser chairman Don McCarthy said said that the West End needed to improve its shopping experience, and called for Oxford Street to be pedestrianised.

Fitzrovia’s Banksy mural removal all set for a show down

As previously mentioned Westminster council has ordered the removal of Banksy's mural - 'One Nation Under CCTV' on the wall of a residential building in Newman Street, W1. However, an argument has broken out over who actually owns the wall and who has the right to remove the work.
Property investment firm Searchgrade, which owns the block of flats on which the mural is housed also claims that it owns the wall. It has responded to the Westminster removal order with an application to retain the mural.
However, during a recent meeting at Westminster City Hall to discuss the issue, the Royal Mail came forward to claim it was the true owner of said wall.
Now Westminster council has launched an investigation to discover who is the rightful owner of the wall on which the mural is sprayed, although it still insists the mural must go. A spokesman for Searchgrade said that 'There is no doubt we own the wall. It's very disappointing. We didn't ask Banksy to pick our wall and we don't think we should have to pay for its removal. Actually we liked the piece and so did our tenants. We don't plan on selling it.'

What a Week! A first for Tottenham and Noho Square swaps hands

At the end of last week our blog featured a article about Laurence Glynne’s bet with a Tottenham fan, which he promptly lost. It also featured an article about how the much anticipated Noho Square development was on hold.
Today it has been announced that it is all change at Noho Square as Christian Candy’s CPC Group has carried out a swap with Icelandic bank Kaupthing. This effectively see’s the Candy brothers exit the London development, whilst Kaupthing bank has agreed to transfer its equity and shares in a Californian scheme, the 9900 Wilshire project in Beverly Hills, over to CPC.
As part of this exchange CPC have now transferred its equity and shares the Noho Square development over Kaupthing, who will now own the scheme outright.
Kaupthing have already started to search for a joint venture partner. LDG understand that CPC are on their shortlist, as a result of their detailed knowledge of the site and its full development potential.
We wished the Candy brothers all the best and now LDG would like to wish Kaupthing and any future partner(s) all the best. This is a great site that is going to play an exciting part in Fitzrovia’s future. Although one question still remains; will the new owners still name the site Noho Square?