22 August 2012 | By Gabriella Griffith

Cork Street has been the home to many of London’s top commercial galleries for the most part of 100 years.

There are 22 galleries situated on the exclusive Mayfair road including The Redfern Gallery, Flowers Gallery and Alan Cristea Gallery.

But this opulent stretch of art dealers is under threat thanks to a luxury apartment deal struck by landlords Standard Life Investments. A third of the occupants on the street will have to leave the street as their buildings will be redeveloped into a luxury apartment block.

The site, 29-30 Burlington Street (which includes the Cork Street addresses) is about to be bought by a trio of international investors. Developer Native Land, Hotel Properties Limited and Amcorp will purchase the 83,000 sq ft site with a view to redevelop.

The deal will mean that 7 galleries will lose their leases and have to move out. The new plan for the site does apparently involve some gallery space, but will not be available until 2016 by which time the displaced galleries will have moved on.

Those galleries forced to relocate will be faced with a difficult task trying to stay in the exclusive postcode given the popularity of the area with retailers.

“It will be hell. It could be the death of the whole street. It’s very sad,” Owner of the family owned mayor gallery, James Mayor told The Guardian.

“It’s a nightmare trying to find suitable premises in Mayfair, the fashion trade has taken over everything,” he said.

Looks like the end of an era.

http://m.londonlovesbusiness.com/3260.article?mobilesite=enabled

For almost 90 years, Cork Street in Mayfair has been one of the most famous streets for art galleries in London, and possibly the world. Cork Street is known and loved not only in Britain but internationally, and provides a major draw to London and the UK throughout the year. The history and atmosphere of this street, as well as its close proximity to the Royal Academy of Arts, make this a unique place to visit for collectors, art enthusiasts, students and tourists alike.

The careers of many prominent British artists – Barbara Hepworth, Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, and Lynn Chadwick, to name a few – have been closely associated with Cork Street.

In August 2012, Standard Life, the landlord for seven galleries on Cork Street, agreed to sell the building to a property developer called Native Land. This means that the Mayor Gallery (the oldest gallery on Cork Street), Beaux Arts, Alpha Gallery, Adam Gallery, Stoppenbach & Delestre, Waterhouse & Dodd and Gallery 27 will lose their leases, possibly as early as next year.  The planning application, largely for a residential development, is expected within the next few months and, if planning permission is granted, The Pollen Estate, owner of many of the properties on the opposite side of Cork Street housing another dozen galleries, is expected to follow suit, and this key art centre could be lost forever.

The effect of this redevelopment will be far reaching, not only for all of the galleries in Cork Street but also for their stakeholders who, of course, include artists themselves. Businesses such as shippers, framers, catelogue producers and other local service providers will be severely damaged as well.

Not only is Cork Street being affected by redevelopment plans but so also is Mayfair in general. Turning office space into expensive apartments, most likely to be bought by wealthy foreigners who spend little time in London, will turn this vibrant area into a ghost town.

During the redevelopment the street will be a building site for a number of years. Even if the galleries wanted to return to Cork Street after this time, for most it would probably not be financially viable, since they would doubtless be competing for the space with fashion houses and restaurants as has been seen in the surrounding streets recently.

With your help, we believe that we can convince Westminster Council to designate Cork Street as a Special Policy Area for Arts and Antiques, thereby ensuring that Cork Street can be preserved as a centre of excellence for the arts.  Without this designation, Mayfair’s rising rents and very high rates mean that there will never be such a prominent and focused street dedicated to the promotion of fine art in this area again.  Please show your support for Cork Street by adding your name to the petition today.

Please feel free to forward this on to anyone else who you think may be interested in signing.

SAVE CORK STREET: Click Here to Sign Our E Petition

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Save Cork Street.

Many of the galleries in the street have come together to try to save it.

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