By Caroline Roux.
Black Brick on Mayfair’s Next Chapter: The Reuben Brothers’ £1 Billion Bet
As one of London’s most ambitious luxury property developments takes shape in the heart of Mayfair, Black Brick founder Camilla Dell has been providing expert commentary on the opportunities and challenges facing the capital’s most prestigious postcodes, according to in-depth reporting in the Financial Times.
The Reuben Brothers — Britain’s second wealthiest family — are investing £1 billion across 1.3 acres of prime Mayfair land, transforming the Piccadilly Estate into a new quarter encompassing apartments, a members’ club, a hotel and reimagined public realm. The centrepiece developments include One Carrington, a boutique block of 28 apartments priced from £2.95 million, and the forthcoming Cambridge House — a Grade I listed Palladian building being converted into a 102-room hotel and seven residences.
Dell offered a characteristically precise assessment of Mayfair’s internal geography for the FT, drawing a clear distinction between the market’s strongest and weaker pockets. “We would consider prime Mayfair to be Grosvenor Square, Mount Street, bits of Davies Street,” she said, noting that off-pitch locations present a harder sell — and that several existing new-build schemes in the area have properties that have been sitting on the market for some time.
On One Carrington specifically, Dell acknowledged that the improvements being made at street level — including the pedestrianisation of Shepherd Market, part-financed by the Reubens in partnership with Westminster Council — would meaningfully support buyer appetite. “I would have to talk most of my buyers into viewing One Carrington,” she said. “But these improvements at ground level will help.” She also pointed to the strong performance of comparable boutique schemes, citing Hanover Square’s Mandarin Oriental residences as a benchmark: “Hanover Square sold really well — because they were on for £3 million to £6 million.”
The development is launching into a challenging market: prime London property sales above £5 million were 14% lower in the year to May 2025 than the previous twelve months, with overseas buyers now facing stamp duty rates that can exceed 17%. Nevertheless, American buyers are emerging as a significant source of demand, drawn by prices that remain well below their 2014 peak and a favourable currency position.
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