BizJournals Portfolio
Home >   Business Views, Opinions and Blogs >   Business Blogs >   Market Movers >  

The 200 Million Apartment

Market Movers

by Yves Smith and Felix Salmon
Main
DoubleClick Finally Regains its Pre-Crash Valuation   John Cassidy on the Economics of Climate Change

Recent Blog Posts

Links

Apr 15 2007 12:00am EDT

The $200 Million Apartment

More evidence that house prices are moving towards a power-law distribution, with the expensive stuff becoming insanely expensive:

Sheikh Hamad, the Foreign Minister of Qatar, recently paid $195 million for a 20,000-square-foot penthouse at One Hyde Park in London.
Put down your calculator. That's $9,800 per square foot.

The Independent has more details on developers Nick and Christian Candy:

Before these penthouses went on the market, it was assumed that the upper price limit for any London home - however luxurious - was £2,000 per square foot. The Candy brothers made £4,000 per square foot their starting price.

It's also worth noting that even after spending $195 million for his flat, Sheikh Hamad – and the owners of two other penthouses which are also rumored to have gone for £100 million apiece – still won't be able to move in until 2009 at the earliest.

London, of course, is even more of a global city than New York, and as someone who hasn't lived in London for 10 years I view these developments with a mixture of pride and incomprehension. I remember the area in question as being posh, to be sure, but in a slightly shabby way: this was back when the hotel next door, today the Mandarin Oriental, was simply the Hyde Park Hotel. Now, it seems, there's nowhere on the planet more upscale.

blog comments powered by Disqus
Real Business, Real Results
Out of the 'Family'

Did anyone at Microsoft ever watch the (gasp!) offensively funny show Family Guy?

Cruz Missile Lands

Ex-Morgan Stanley exec Zoe Cruz is now heading her own hedge fund. Are Wall Street's leaders done?

Scandal Chic

Martha, Bernie and Skilling know that what you wear for court can go a long way in public perception.

spotlight on

Health Care

Bad to the Bone No More

Companies such as General Mills say they're stepping up efforts to change employees' bad behavior and promote healthier lifestyles. Read More