A 300-year-old pub in west London has sold for a record-breaking £27 million.

The Black Lion tavern on Bayswater Road in the exclusive borough Kensington and Chelsea made £700,000 last year, but has fetched more than any other central London pub before it, pub group Spirit revealed according to the Evening Standard.

Its buyer, who is registered as a developer registered in Jersey, is expected to invest £500 million into transforming the building into luxury flats, although this has not been confirmed.

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The pub will be “run for an agreed period” before the redevelopment begins.

A source told the newspaper that an investor, possibly the owner of the pub, is buy several other properties at the end of Bayswater Road.

The former coaching inn was first listed as an alehouse in 1704, and almost 100 years later was used as the registration house for the Paddington Volunteers, who formed to fight off Napoleon’s suspected invasion.

With 3,185 pubs having closed in London in recent years, Westminster council is considering a 12 month protection policy after pubs are closed in order to protect them from being converted into residences or shops.

The sale comes amid rocketing property prices in London. Last month, a garden in Chelsea sold for £84,000 after rising by over £31,000 in 8 months.