Offices and a new rooftop garden will replace Fenwick’s iconic Bond Street store if Mayor of London Sadiq Khan gives it the green light.
Westminster City councillors voted unanimously on Tuesday to back plans to develop the now-abandoned Mayfair department store, which is understood to have been sold for north of £400 million to property firm Lazari Investments.
The store first opened its doors on New Bond Street in 1891 and was closed for good in February.
At a major planning meeting looking at the plans for the building councillors raised concerns over the bulk of the new build but praised Lazari Investments for retaining 75 per cent of its historic façades and half of the existing building.
Owner Len Lazari told councillors the existing building was not suitable for modern-day retailing and said the different levels of flooring made it inaccessible for some.
He said: “Over 100 years, Fenwicks’ organic expansion across six buildings resulted in the department store with 37 different levels.”
The proposal will now head to the Mayor of London’s desk where he will have two weeks to decide if the project can go ahead.
Under the plans, the store will be partially demolished and “jacked up” with new floor slabs and facades to create new office and retail space.
The bottom two levels will be developed into high-quality retail space while the second to ninth floors will be dedicated office space, plus a lavish roof garden.
Fenwick received planning permission in 2020 for a similar extension to the property but changes in the retail sector, compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, meant the store was unable to continue operating at the site and sold it to Lazari Investments Limited in late 2022.
Commenting on the application, Westminster planning committee chair Ruth Bush said: “I’m very impressed with this. It’s very uplifting to get an application like this, with the work that has gone into it and the imagination that has gone into it, the engagement with people around [the area] and the opportunities for people in Westminster and around for employment.. It’s lovely, it’s great.”
