Royal Albert Hall, Grand Tier Box. From Stephen Collins (Lawrie Cornish)
London real estate ranks as one of the priciest in the world. And now that extends to the arts.
A 12-seat box at the London's Royal Albert Hall is now for sale for £2.5 million or about $3m. The price translates to about ten times the cost of the average home in Britain, according to the Office of National Statistics in the U.K.
It is the first time in almost a decade a 12-seat box in Britain’s best-known concert hall has come up for sale.
The biggest perk? The theater box "is in close proximity" to the Royal Box, where Queen Elizabeth II typically sits or performances, according to Harrods Estates, the property agent. The Grand Tier is best known for being occupied by the monarchy, with the Queen’s Box located on this level.
That's of course when the 90-year old Queen is healthy. The monarch attended a church service in Sandringham over the weekend in what was her first public appearance since being sidelined by a heavy cold last month.
And judging by currency market gyrations today, the investment may be a bargain.
The Pound (GBP) plunged to a 10-week low today as traders react to comments from the UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who said that regaining control of immigration and law making are her Brexit priorities, even at the expense of quitting Europe’s single market. The GBP USD exchange rate extended its losses to near a 31-year low.
The Royal Albert Hall will be hosting a series of high-profile events this year, including the BAFTAs, Titanic Live and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s The Music Of Bond.
‘This Grand Tier box at the Royal Albert Hall is a real generational purchase,’ says Nicholas Shaw, sales manager of Harrods Estates Kensington. ‘We have witnessed these boxes sell previously to the true lovers of the arts and this time should be no different,’ he said. ‘I anticipate this will sell to a British investor.’
The owner receives a membership to the Corporation of the Halls of Arts and Science which was granted to the investors who put up the capital to fund the building of the hall in the 1860s.
This isn’t the first time seats have been for sale at the venue. A five-seat box on the second tier was put up for sale in 2011 for £550,000. Three years earlier, a ten-seat box on the Grand Tier was offered for £1.2 million.
