Bowl 'em over with a new flat at Lord's

Howzat! A £400 million redevelopment of Lord’s cricket ground will offer lovers of the game the chance to live at the world-famous sporting venue while also helping to finance its redesign, by buying one of the 350 new apartments planned for the land above the disused Victorian railway tunnels at the Nursery End, by Wellington Road.

Marylebone Cricket Club has commissioned Tate Modern architect Herzog and de Meuron to create a grand redesign for the entire 16-acre ground, and has appointed Cushman & Wakefield, a global property adviser, to find a development partner.

For cricket fans, it will be the ultimate des res - a luxury home within the boundary of this sporting mecca. Prices in fashionable St John’s Wood have leapt in recent years to reach up to £2,000 per sq ft, according to estate agent Knight Frank, and homes with views of the ground command a premium.

A penthouse at neighbouring Embassy Court sold earlier this year for £10 million. The apartments will be spread across five low-rise blocks. Below these will be a “subterranean village” with health and fitness club, sports injury clinic, restaurant complex and museum. Development in the tunnels - some 40,000 sq ft of space - became an option 10 years ago when Network Rail auctioned off a 999-year lease to a property company, which is now in negotiations with MCC.

The redevelopment plans aim to increase the Test ground’s capacity of 28,000 to nearly 40,000 through the building of five new stands. Proposals have to be agreed by the MCC’s 18,000 members as well as Westminster City Council. Construction will not commence before the 2012 Olympics, when Lord’s will stage the Games archery competition.

Alistair Parker, of Cushman & Wakefield, said: “This is a unique opportunity to develop high-quality homes at an iconic location. “St John’s Wood is one of the capital’s finest residential addresses, on the doorstep of Regent’s Park and within 15 minutes’ walk of the West End.”