The billionaires’ row focused in £10.4m jewelry heist: Influencer’s raided mansion is on one among Britain’s costliest streets the place houses belong to oligarchs, celebrities and tycoons from around the globe
The London ‘billionaires’ row’ targeted by thieves earlier this month is one of the country’s priciest streets – where homes are put on the market for as much as £110million and snapped up by wealthy foreign investors.
Data from Lloyds Bank suggests mansions on Avenue Road in St John’s Wood have sold for an average of £15.1million in the last five years.
Once upon a time the thoroughfare was home to old money but a glut of purchases by ultra wealthy foreign tycoons have seen old homes razed to the ground in favour of McMansions that can be sold off or rented out for £40,000 a week.
However, residents are likely to be on high alert after one of the pricey properties was ransacked by a thief who stole over £10million of jewellery, climbing into the house through a second-floor window.
The victim, influencer and art collector Shafira Huang, had vaunted her collection of priceless jewellery – including a 10.73 carat diamond ring and a diamond and sapphire necklace – on an Instagram account with 13,000 followers.
Alongside the jewels – many of which were one-offs – the burglar also stole £150,000 of Hermes Crocodile Kelly handbags and £15,000 in cash. Nobody was at home at the time of the raid.
A host of famous faces once lived on Avenue Road, which connects Swiss Cottage to Regent’s Park in the north of the capital.
Among its tenants for a time were Rihanna and boxer Anthony Joshua, who rented a home for £20,000 a week ahead of his fight with Wladimir Klitschko in 2017.
Influencer Shafira Huang was the victim of thieves who raided her Avenue Road house earlier this month and made off with £10million of jewels
The leafy north London street has become the domain of nouveaux riche investors carrying out extensive building projects
This freehold neo-Georgian mansion was listed for sale for £30million and is among the most lucrative properties on the street
Singer Robbie Williams, currently depicted in cinemas as a monkey in biopic Better Man, is reported to have decamped there for a spell after plans for his Holland Park home ran into trouble with his local council.
However, famous faces have fled elsewhere and in recent years many of the homes on Avenue Road have lain empty.
Taking a stroll along the street reveals its many facets – from the older, long-standing mansions to the new-build behemoths, and a host of roadworks and construction that long-term residents say ruins the enjoyment of their homes.
Most of the homes are protected by huge gates with visible security cameras peering down at anyone who walks past on the street.
Drivers are on hand to take residents to where they need to go, while housekeepers, and security guards also remain at some of the homes 24/7.
It’s also no longer London’s priciest street. That honour, as of today, belongs to Knightsbridge.
Avenue Road is still in the top 10, according to the survey by Lloyds Bank published today, but only a handful of properties have changed hands in recent years.
Data from Rightmove shows mansions have recently sold for as much as £31.6million – which got the lucky buyer a 10-bedroom house in the middle of the street.
As of late the nouveaux riche from abroad have moved in. Last year, UAE investor-developer Select Group obtained planning permission to build 12 townhouse-style mansions with a health spa and concierge at 52 Avenue Road.
A report from ultra-luxe property estate agent Beauchamp Estates states six new mansions were built on Avenue Road between 2020 and 2023, valued at a total of £370million.
And of the newly built properties, one worth £110million was put on the market two years ago. It is now off-market.
A two-year Land Registry backlog means many sales of properties that were on the market have not yet been recorded. Seven new Avenue Road projects worth £570million are also on the way.
The suspected thief who stole £10.4million of jewellery from Shafira Huang earlier this month
The influencer and art collector showed off some of her jewellery – including a custom bracelet bearing her name – on Instagram
Many of the pieces were unique, one-off items (left), while the sapphire, gold and diamond necklace on the right was also among the valuable goods stolen
Hermes Crocodile Kelly handbags (one example pictured) worth £15,000 were also stolen in the burglary
A bejewelled clasp (left) and sparkling watch (right) stolen in the Avenue Road raid on December 7
Other recent top sales included No 77, an eight-bed property, which was sold for £13million in December 2020 and owned by the late Chincacraft founder Gerald Lipton. It has planning permission to be knocked down for a new three-storey home.
Number 62 was purchased for £12million in 2019, with planning permission to be demolished and replaced with a four-storey giant property including a super-basement, which is now halfway to being finished.
No 87 set a new record in 2020 as London’s most expensive home for sale at £75million – an achievement long since surpassed several times, most staggering of all the £138million sale of Mayfair’s Aberconway House.
Developed by Greek businessman George Dragoumanos, who bought the plot in 2013, the neo-classical residence was also available to rent for £160,000-a-month, boasting ten bedrooms, ten bathrooms, outdoor pool, twelve-seat cinema with bar, a cigar room and two secure climate-controlled wine cellars.
Elsewhere, Zoopla lists two properties available for rent at a princely £40,000 a week – or £173,333 a month – pre-furnished with opulent artworks and enviable fittings.
Some homes have been boarded up to undergo extreme renovation or even be demolished (one home in Avenue Road pictured in 2021 undergoing works)
Number 52 has been demolished and will be redeveloped into a 12-townhouse complex (a realistic 3D rendering of the proposed development pictured)
The raid on Shafira Huang’s home on December 7 is still being investigated by detectives.
The influencer had shared images of herself in her pricey wares, and despite the theft was able to attend a dinner for the British Forces Foundation and shared a meal with Sarah, Duchess of York earlier this month.
She is now offering bumper rewards totalling £1.5m, including £500,000 for anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect and 10 per cent of the value of any recovered items.
Detective Constable Paulo Roberts from the Central North Basic Command Unit, who is investigating the burglary, said: ‘This is a brazen offence, where the suspect has entered the property while armed with an unknown weapon and violated the sanctuary of the victims’ home.
‘The suspect has stolen £10.4m worth of jewellery, much of which is sentimental and unique in its design, and therefore easily identifiable.
‘We urge anyone who was in the area of Avenue Road, NW8, and saw anything suspicious to please come forward.
‘Also, if you have seen this jewellery since, someone has offered to sell you it, or you have any further information, then please also contact the police or Crimestoppers anonymously.’
