Martin’s Properties has filled up a repositioned block on Chelsea's King's Road with new-to-the-UK international brands, evidence, it says, that the famous thoroughfare is once again the capital's most fashionable address.
Martin’s was founded in 1946 as a retail business and has become the owner of one of the largest property portfolios in Chelsea with a particular focus on the King’s Road. Alongside the area's largest landowner, the Cadogan Estate, it has been spearheading a modernisation drive.
The King's Road stretches across Chelsea and Fulham in west London and has long been associated with fashion designers including Mary Quant and Vivienne Westwood. Its hey day as a fashion destination was the 1960s when it became a symbol of mod culture, with mini skirt designer Mary Quant opening her boutique Bazaar at 138a King's Road in 1955.
Martin's, Cadogan and other landowners have worked on plans to redevelop the street and attract new occupiers as the area recovers from the hit from the pandemic.
33 King's Road, which sits between Cheltenham Terrace and Walpole Street, near Duke of York Square, has been owned by the investor for over 50 years and was an electrical store for the business which it redeveloped as it moved into real estate.
In 2022, the group decided to take back the block, which was a petrol station in the 1980s, from occupiers and reposition the units totalling 25,000 square feet. Savills and Hanover Green Retail were appointed as letting agents.
It has now filled the space, CoStar News can reveal, signing international leisure and fashion retailers Alo Yoga, Bloobloom and Mc2 Saint Barth for the retail alongside a Mexican inspired Ixchel restaurant.
Ixchel is a Mexican restaurant and bar which opens on Wednesday and has been launched by the team behind Boujis as well as Calum Best, the television personality son of Manchester United and Northern Ireland football player George Best. The unit spans 5,495 square feet with the capacity for 180 covers.
Alo Yoga, an American designer leisurewear brand, has signed for a 4,000 square-foot unit for its first flagship UK store. French designer eyewear brand Bloobloom has signed for a 400-square-foot store to add to its portfolio of five across the capital, and beachwear and ski apparel retailer MC2 Saint Barth is taking a further 400 square feet for its first UK and London store.
A further 4,000 square feet at 44 King’s Road has been let to Italian menswear label Luca Faloni. The store will include an aperitivo bar.
Speaking to CoStar News, Brook Stotesbury, head of commercial asset management and investment, Martin’s Properties, said bricks and mortar stores have regained their share and importance as part of the retailing mix. He says rents have recovered in prime locations and on the King's Road Martin's is now achieving new record rents.
"The King’s Road continues to outperform the average footfall across the capital and we have been hugely encouraged by the interest from retailers across the globe vying for this space."
Fraser Carruthers, Ixchel founder, says the King's Road is fast becoming one of the capital's best places to eat. "It was important for us to open our doors here."
Richard Bourne, CEO of Martin’s Properties, says the lettings represent a "game changer" for the King's Road as it returns to being an "edgy, cool place to be seen in the capital".
"There is no vacancy on the King's Road," Bourne adds.
He says the group has been on a journey as part of a long-term commitment to the King’s Road, including its role in the Kings Road Partnership and its own ESG agenda.
"The repositioning of the 25,000-square-foot block has created five fresh units with exciting brands that are new entrants to London and the UK. We look to work with brands who share our vision and values in improving the heritage, culture, and community of the area to ensure that it remains relevant."
Martin's neighbour the Cadogan Estate oversees around 93 acres around Sloane Square and the King's Road, which it has owned since the turn of the 18th century. Earlier this year, it posted a 5.4% or £263 million increase in its portfolio to £5.1 billion in financial results for the year ended 31 December 2022.
The results showed the area emerging strongly from the pandemic as well as batting off the value declines that have bedevilled UK property since interest rate rises in the second half of 2022.