The Interview: James Stoll, Asset Management Director at London landlord Cadogan, on putting Chelsea firmly back on the map as a fashion, beauty and lifestyle destination

London landlord Cadogan is currently 18 months into a two-year transformation project for Sloane Street, with a £47 million investment into public realm. It’s a transformation to make it the luxury shopping destination in Europe, with designer brands such as Valentino, Saint Laurent and Brunello Cucinelli fittingly all upsizing and creating new stand-out retail environments.

On the King’s Road, Cadogan has also recently completed its £235 million mixed use development, The Gaumont, with new retail and lifestyle signings imminent. The King’s Road is also seeing womenswear brand ME+EM and women’s and menswear brand Sandro upsizing following their initial successes, while premium beauty and makeup brand Trinny London, founded by Trinny Woodall, has also recently signed to join the King’s Road retail mix.

James Stoll, Asset Management Director at Cadogan, talks us through all what’s been going on and what’s in store for Chelsea.

Trinny London is opening its debut flagship store in Chelsea later this month.

What is your strategy for Chelsea?

At Cadogan, one of the benefits of being owners and stewards of such a large estate means that we really can take that longer-term view and carefully curate the area. The Cadogan Estate’s structure, proven track record, and collaborative approach means we also have a large capability to invest in the public realm for the betterment of all that live or visit Chelsea.

When it comes to tenant selection, we are always brand first. We have to make sure they completely align with our wider vision for Chelsea. That also means, in certain instances, selecting a rent that may be less than alternative offers received from higher bidders. It’s a very considered approach and one that our existing brands value, knowing that they can be sure that Chelsea will only improve once they have taken a store with us.

Cadogan is also a family business, and Earl Cadogan is heavily invested in the stewardship of the Estate and a local public figure. Stewardship remains a key objective of Cadogan’s, and the community is at the heart of the decisions we make. The retail mix is all part of that decision process.

What does the Cadogan Estate cover in Chelsea?

The Estate spans 93 acres and is valued at £5.4 billion. Looking at retail and commercial use, our ownership includes Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge – at the north end of Sloane Street - and pretty much the entire ownership of Sloane Street itself down to Peter Jones in Sloane Square, Sloane Square itself, and the local neighbourhood destination we have curated on Pavilion Road, adjacent to Sloane Street. It also includes the majority of the King’s Road, including Duke of York Square – up to the mid-point by the Chelsea Town Hall - and our new £235 million mixed use development, The Gaumont. So, it’s a sizeable chunk of Chelsea that enables us to have a major influence – facilitating the execution of our core strategy.

What are you in the process of doing to revitalise retail on the King’s Road in particular?

Firstly, investment in property and public realm. We’ve recently completed our landmark development called The Gaumont – named in homage to the cinema that previously stood there. We have delivered a large new cinema with approximately 600 seats – which is leased to Curzon who are currently fitting it out. We’ve also introduced a new rooftop bar – the first rooftop bar on the King’s Road with beautiful views over London. There’s also over 40 residential apartments, three floors of offices and eight retail units. Several of the larger units face on to the King’s Road, and a number face on to Chelsea Manor Street. We have a very different strategy for both. For the King’s Road retail spaces, we are very much targeting prominent high footfall brands and are close to agreeing terms having received a number of offers.

The brands will not only support those living and working in the building but also surrounding businesses in that pitch too, drawing people to that location.

Then, for our Chelsea Manor Street units, following a local consultation (similar to that which drove the formation of Pavilion Road), we’re curating a community "creative cluster". There are five retail units we are looking to fill with new creative independents, for example, literature, art and music stores. We are keen to create and support the development of creative spaces within Chelsea. As part of that, we will be supporting these independents with subsidised rent through our annual £4 million Community Fund.

The new creative cluster is in line with the kind of creativity that the King’s Road was celebrated for forty or fifty years ago - accessible, diverse and independent. What we’re trying to do is really listen to the community and, before we embark on any large developments, we consult with everybody that will be impacted – including the local residents in Chelsea and people that visit the area to shop, eat, drink or just hang out. It’s a considered and targeted approach and we have to get the mix just right. It’s also about investing in the growing crossover between retail and hospitality and creating an immersive and inclusive offering for all.

Brazilian perfumers Granado recently opened at 59 King’s Road.

What new signings do you have for the King’s Road?

The last year has seen huge demand for space on the King’s Road, with multiple offers on available space. Trinny London, the premium beauty and makeup brand founded by Trinny Woodall, has signed for its first flagship store will us – set to open this September at 31 King’s Road, under the new mural dedicated to the King’s Road icon, Mary Quant. Parisian fashion brand A.P.C. has signed for a store at 20 Duke of York Square, again set to open this autumn. Also from Paris, women’s clothing and accessories brand Soeur is opening this autumn at 182a King’s Road. We’ve also recently had Brazilian perfumers Granado open at 59 King’s Road.

Then, just off Sloane Square at 2 Symons Street, US brand Veronica Beard has just opened its new womenswear boutique – its second flagship in London. And reflecting just how well its stores are performing, there are also upsizes from luxury womenswear brand ME+EM – to a unit at 184-184a King’s Road – and Sandro to 106-108 King’s Road. So, there’s quite a lot going on.

Rixo opened a flagship store on the King’s Road earlier this year.

Additionally, in the past 18 months we’ve had a number of flagship openings, such as womenswear brand RIXO at 114-116 King’s Road in April 2023, and Varley at 110-112 King’s Road in August 2023. LA denim brand Paige also opened its first international store outside of the US in September 2023. It has two entrances, one on Duke of York Square and one on the King’s Road.

When we select partners for the Estate, they have to align with what we’re trying to achieve in Chelsea, and that is very much to differentiate it from the rest of London – and the rest of Europe.

When we meet with potential retailers, we ask them what their retail concept is. For instance, what RIXO has done, very successfully, is create a beautiful shopfront, and then when you enter the store you almost arrive into multiple different worlds. It has a beautiful, and very unique, bar area and a coffee section, a repairs area and a private fitting area. Amidst all of that, it has their product, and it’s a real experience as you walk through the store. That’s a great example of the kind of retail we are trying to achieve for Chelsea. Something immersive and different. Anya Hindmarch’s The Village is another good example – it draws you in.

What is the real appeal of Chelsea for brands?

Thanks to its stunning buildings and outside spaces, a rich history and a diverse mix of retail and hospitality, Chelsea continues to attract huge numbers of people from all over the UK and abroad. As one of London’s most appealing and popular neighbourhoods, the area remains very much in demand and, consequently, brands recognise the benefit of locating a store in the area. We also cannot deny that at a local level, as one of London’s most affluent neighbourhoods - I believe the borough has the highest average salary of any area in the UK at roughly around £200,000 a year - brands are keen to secure space in Chelsea to be able to capitalise on that, as well as a very loyal demographic on their doorstep.

We also understand the importance of curating a diverse and engaging offering in Chelsea. On that note, we are increasing the amount of food and drink destinations and have eight new restaurants in the pipeline - adding thousands of new covers to Chelsea - including two new large restaurants in Sloane Square. We also work hard to get the whole community to come together to create a fantastic events programme, including Chelsea in Bloom and our famous Christmas lights switch on. There’s much more to come as we unveil our new events calendar for Sloane Street following its relaunch in spring 2025, including creative collaborations with Frieze, the British Fashion Council and the Saatchi Gallery.

What’s new on Sloane Street?

We are currently about 18 months into a two-year transformation project for Sloane Street which is seeing a £47 million investment from Cadogan into public realm. It will all complete by the end of the year. It’s really taking shape and the street is starting to look stunning - we’re putting down beautiful York stone paving and we’ve planted 100 new trees. We have brought the private gardens in Chelsea out onto the street by installing numerous sculpted planters and globes that house an exquisite planting scheme curated by British gardener Andy Sturgeon, who is a seminal award winner at the Chelsea Flower Show. It’s very much presenting Sloane Street as the most beautiful green boulevard in Europe. It’s a huge transformation, and lots of brands see that.

As a result and again, testament to their performance, there are a number of luxury brands trying to upsize on Sloane Street right now. There’s a need to secure prime space. The fact that we pretty much have full ownership of Sloane Street allows us to uniquely be able to work with brands and find the most complementary space for them.

Valentino opened the doors to a new London flagship on Sloane Street back in April.

Saint Laurent has recently upsized and it will be opening its new boutique soon at 171-172 Sloane Street. Brunello Cucinelli has also significantly upsized at 159 Sloane Street into 20-22 Sloane Street - more than doubling its presence on the street, and Valentino has opened its new upsized townhouse concept at 185-186 Sloane Street. That’s just three that have upsized and we are talking to a number of others. The benefit of owning the entirety of Sloane Street means we can curate spaces and buildings that meet the demands of luxury brands, whether its private shopping in beautiful apartments or one of our boutique hotels, global flagship units or exclusive townhouses.

Additionally, we have one development at 30-33 Sloane Street that used to house Dior – which has also moved to a larger building on the street – and that will create two new large prime flagship units and a roof top restaurant with stunning views over London. We are aiming for that development to complete towards the end of 2026 and it will provide a fantastic opportunity for some of the larger luxury brands. We won’t lease them until it’s close to the date of completion, but we are already seeing that the appetite for such retail space remains significant.

Do you think that tax free shopping for international visitors should be reinstated to boost UK retail?

We’ve been very vocal in lobbying the Government as to why the reinstatement of tax-free shopping would be beneficial to the whole of the UK. The removal of tax-free has meant that, while sales have exceeded levels of 2019 and pre-Covid – and we’ve seen that across the Estate – we haven’t benefitted from that wider boom that other cities across Europe have. It has also impacted industries and trade more widely, including manufacturing in the UK and food and drink sales across the UK, to name a couple. We haven’t lost our passion for its reinstatement and, as such, we will continue to lobby and work with the fashion houses to stress how beneficial it would be.