Buyers sought for world's dearest flats

One Hyde Park. Photo / Bloomberg

With its silk curtains, private cinema, and room service with food purported to be worthy of Michelin stars, One Hyde Park is the most expensive block of flats in the world.

And after three years of traffic jams, London's most lavish residential tower finally opened yesterday, even though nearly half of its 86 apartments are still to be sold.

The developers, Christian Candy and his brother Nick, treated 300 guests to a lavish spread cooked by chef Heston Blumenthal. But while the block's £135 million ($281 million) penthouse has been sold to an anonymous buyer, the development is still only 60 per cent sold.

Richard Williams, director of the Candys' company in charge of the building, said sales equal £900 million, with buyers mainly from the Middle East and Asia.

The property sits on a notorious Knightsbridge junction that has been riddled with traffic problems during its £250 million construction.

The developers, reportedly worth £1 billion, were born and educated in Surrey.

They started out by buying a £122,000 flat in Earl's Court in 1995 and made a £50,000 profit.

They have since created luxury blocks in Chelsea and Belgravia. There have also been failures, including the proposed redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks where the Candys took developer Qatari Diar to the High Court before pulling out.

WHAT YOU GET FOR $13 5 MILLION

* A one-bedroom flat at One Hyde Park costs £6.5 million ($13.5 million), with the penthouse valued at £140 million. Clients are paying around £6000 a square foot.

* Residents benefit from a cinema, golf simulator, virtual games room and a car cleaning and valet service. There are eye-scanners in the lifts and panic rooms for extra security.

* Flats boast automatic curtains which respond to low light and air conditioning linked to geothermal boreholes.

* There is butler room service from the adjacent Mandarin Oriental hotel's restaurants, which are overseen by Heston Blumenthal and Daniel Boulud. Restaurant staff access One Hyde Park via an underground tunnel.

- INDEPENDENT