London: A capital record

By Andrea Watson
Posted: 2010/05/21

A KNIGHTSBRIDGE apartment has set a new price high in London

What could be the most expensive piece of real estate ever sold exchanged hands in London last month as the super-prime market continued to defy all expectations. The apartment at One Hyde Park, a development on the site of the former Bowater House, sold for an estimated £28million, a price per square foot of £6,000 that would set a new world record. 

The name of the owner has not been officially divulged - all the apartments have bullet-proof glass and panic rooms so they wouldn't exactly want to advertise themselves - but it's widely rumoured to be a member of the Qatari royal family. 

Apparently, the mystery buyer already owns a pad at One Hyde Park.

Dominic Grace, of the agent Savills, said the apartment was bought without the purchaser even viewing it, "thus setting a record price for square footage not only for London but for the world".   

The One Hyde Park site is being developed by a consortium which includes CPC, a company owned by property tycoon Christian Candy.

Architecturally, the project is a typical Richard Rogers "landmark" - four fortress towers plonked in the centre of an historic district, totally out of proportion to their surroundings, totally out of context and already rather last year.

Building magazine calls it "probably the UK's flashiest job". The 128 residences are heavy with gold resin, black onyx, white marble and leather furniture plus all the stuff that Middle Eastern potentates adore from plasma screens to sunken baths and truffle fridges. Actually I'm not sure about the mushroom fridges because I've not been invited inside One Hyde Park: viewings are strictly one-to-one.

The apartments, the interiors of which were designed by Candy & Candy, will be serviced by the new Mandarin Oriental Hotel nextdoor, where Heston Blumenthal will openhis first Londonrestaurant next year.

Research by Harrods Estates shows that Hyde Park's southern boulevard, which dates back to the 1600s, has two distinct sections: Knightsbridge, and Kensington Road running down to the Albert Hall. In the Knightsbridge section, two-bedroom apartments start around £4million, with prices averaging £3,000 to £4,000 per square foot - twice the entry level price of the Kensington section.

The vast majority of purchasers in the Knightsbridge section are international clients looking for the sort of hotel-style services and facilities they are used to at home in places like Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Beijing and Moscow. They also want to be close to one shop in particular, Harrods, which was recently bought by the Qatari royal family's investment firm for a reported £1.5billion.

Sales director Shirley Humphrey said: "The southern boulevard bordering Hyde Park has become London's most prestigious residential address. The Knightsbridge branding, the five-star services and high specification have all helped elevate the address's international appeal."

For the Candy brothers, much hinges on the success of One Hyde Park following the collapse of several of their plans including the redevelopment of the old Chelsea Barracks site, another fortress-like development of glass towers by Lord Rogers.

This week Christian Candy is in the High Court seeking around £80million on behalf of CPC for alleged breach of contract after Qatari Diar, the development arm of the royal family, withdrew the Rogers application following the intervention of Prince Charles. The court was this week told the royal defender of traditionalism wrote a letter saying his "heart sank" when he saw Lord Rogers' designs.

The Candy brothers have been luckier with One Hyde Park, where construction started in 2004. All the penthouses and half the 86 apartments sold for a reported £765million.

The combination of a weak pound and oil price increases has triggered a resurgence in London's super-prime market. The marketing strategy, playing to this unexpectedly strong hand, has something of the souk about it: "If you need to ask, you can't afford it" is theofficial line but you can bet there is haggling. 

With prices of £6,000 per square foot, Knightsbridge 2010 is truly an island aloof from the rest of the market.

If you suffer from bouts of schadenfreude and had hoped that the recession might have rocked the Candy boat, forget it. Charles Leigh of Knight Frank says his applicants' list is "ridiculously strong''.