It’s been with a lot fanfare and much talk and excitement (and a bit of Luddite dismay) that the news has broken that Fitzrovia’s most famous icon has been sold for £275,000,000… Of course we could be talking about LDG (we would certainly consider offers close to £275m) but I’m talking about The BT Tower! That masterful piece of architecture from Eric Bedford that has dominated London’s skyline and anchored Fitzrovia’s. Before Laurence Glynne established LDG with a sole mission to promote Fitzrovia as a neighbourhood to Rent or Buy in – Fitzrovia used to be known as “that area around the BT Tower”. Fitzrovia, home to rag trade and the BT Tower. The prefix, BT – was apparently short for Bloody Tall, well at least that’s what my dad told me. He regretted that after I got a detention for arguing with my Geography teacher about this!
So fast forward to the news that MCR hotels have now bought this mid-century icon. What a fantastic event this is. Having long been closed off to the public, there is now a real hope that Londoners and people from all over the globe will be able to enjoy jaw dropping views from the heart of the West End. More importantantly, what is going to be happening on the lower floors? Currently the base of the BT tower is a horrendous block of concrete that lacks any of the style and substance that mid-century architecture is famous for creating. Part car park, part office, it’s a colossal space.
At pavement level, this creates the opportunity to open up three sides of the block to the world. Packed with potential for retail, leisure and office space, the important part is that a new link will be created to connect the Houses on Fitzroy Square to the Flats of Cleveland Street, and the apartments on Great Titchfield Street and Charlotte Street. This effect could be likened to the final middle piece in the jigsaw finally turning up. Having worked the Fitzrovia Residential Sales market for over two decades I believe that this has the potential to be the most significant and important development in Fitzrovia this century, marking a long due coronation for Fitzrovia as central London’s most sought after residential neighbourhood.
