Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owners of Lord’s Cricket Ground, have been searching across the globe for a partner to join Phase One of its £400 million ‘Vision for Lord’s’ masterplan, drawn up by award winning architects Herzog & de Meuron.

The revenue from the sale of the flats, situated on the nursery end of the grounds, is expected to raise £200 million to be reinvested in the cricket ground.

After a “first class international response” from over 20 developers, the list has been whittled down to just five contenders who will have to prove their abilities over the next two months.

On the shortlist is Grosvenor, the £5.2 billion property company headed by the Duke of Westminster, which will be competing against one of its current business partners, Native Land.

Both companies are currently involved in two joint ventures in the City, the first a residential development in Bankside, adjacent to the Tate Modern, and the second on Camden Hill in Holland Park. 

Capital & Counties, the devolved London arm of shopping centre giant Liberty, is also on the list along with smaller contenders London Newcastle, and the recently formed Almacantar run by Mike Hussey, former head of Land Securities in London.

Mr Hussey co-founded Almacantar with former Grosvenor Chief Executive Neil Jones, adding an interesting spin to the competition.

The chosen investor will be responsible for transforming the 16 acres of St John’s Wood with five blocks of flats of 13 to 16 storeys which will hold 150 modern flats priced at around £5million each.

The MCC has enlisted the property advice of Cushman & Wakefield in its search for a wealthy investor with expertise of prime residential development and an excellent track record in securing planning consents.

Keith Bradshaw, the MCC’s Secretary and Chief Executive, said: “Our decision to seek a development partner is driven by the Club’s fundamental objective of maintaining and enhancing the reputation of Lord’s as the pre-eminent cricket ground in the world and the global home of cricket.”

The development committee – which hopes to choose the winner by September – includes former Tory PM Sir John Major and Lord Grabiner who cross-examined Christian Candy in the infamous trial fired up by the Prince of Wales’ objection to modern buildings.