The Beehive, 126 Crawford Street, London W1:
his vacant public house was purchased in June 2006 for £1.9 million. Bought as a vacant pub, Planning Consent and Listed Building Consent were obtained to convert the ground floor and basement into a self-contained public house, with three self-contained flats in the upper parts with access from Montagu Row to the rear.
The public house was let to a well-known West End restaurateur, Claudio Pulze (his restaurants have included Aubergine, Zafferano, Memories of China and Vinopolis amongst many others).
The freehold of the building, to include the investment of the public house and the ground rents from the flats, was pre-sold in January 2007, before the works were completed, for a price of £1.55 million.
The flats were sold for a price in excess of £1.8 million and the freehold sale of the building was completed in May 2008.