The historic Regent’s Park pub that was at the heart of a court battle between Gordon Ramsay and the building’s owner is on the market with a guide price of £13 million.
Film director and actor Gary Love bought the freehold of the derelict former coaching inn in 2007 from the Crown Estate. He leased the premises to the celebrity chef on a 25-year term where Mr Ramsay opened the York and Albany hotel and gastropub.
Mr Ramsay claimed that the lease for the premises had been signed with an effectively forged signature, alleging his father-in-law, who was then CEO of his company, had used a ghost writer machine to sign his name on a document that made him personally liable for the rent.
Mr Ramsay was unsuccessful in his action and remained bound by the lease.
The John Nash-designed building is being sold with 9.5 years remaining on Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd’s £640,000-a-year lease after Mr Love said it was “time to get rid of it”.
Mr Love said big names including Damien Hirst, who bought a 14-bedroom house on Regent’s Park in 2014, Amazon and Soho House founder Nick Jones are believed to be interested in the sale.
He added that the building was the only freehold Nash building in the Regent’s Park enclave available to buy. The freehold of the elegant stucco terraces bordering the park belongs to The Crown Estate.
The Grade II-listed, 13,011sq ft property at 127-129 Parkway consists of a basement, ground floor and two upper levels, currently operating as a restaurant, bar and hotel. There is also a roof terrace “overlooking London Zoo, from which you can hear the lions and tigers at night,” according to Mr Love.
James McCluskey, partner, London Capital Markets at Knight Frank, who is managing the sale, said: “We are delighted to be bringing to market this historic and elegant property in Regent’s Park.
“Set in the heart of the capital’s most exclusive and cosmopolitan neighbourhoods, The York & Albany is an impressive four-storey building with elegant interiors offering first-class restaurant and hotel facilities.
“This truly is a one-of-a-kind investment opportunity in London.”
