英国公寓楼打破世界楼价纪录

From the development manager’s point of view, I think, every quarter of the recession affects where we got to. We had a number of contracts and supplies that had to deliver for the project, and a lot of those supplies went into administration, so of course.

We were at a five-year schedule, and the credit crunch was two years, or two and a half years in the middle, I mean, the credit crunch still goes on. But it was two and a half years, which was a nerve-racking two and a half years, but we got through it. And it was challenging.

And more than half of (‘em) now have been sold, is that correct?

Yeah, over 50% have been sold, the next time the developer will announce is when a hundred percent sold.

Now we’re sitting here over possibly one of the best views in London, as you were saying to me earlier, you are not gonna get the chance to build something like this again, are you?--on Hyde Park, or to purchase this, as this is something that you can’t afford?

That’s what I think. It reminds me of a Patek Philippe advertising, where you own it for the next generation, you never own a Patek Philippe, you look after for the next generation. One Hyde Park is the same. A lot of people are buying more than one apartment here, some clients have bought three or four apartments, because they’re looking after for their kids, their grandchildren, and they will pass on the generation, they think it’s a better investment than having the money in the bank.

From that side of this five-bedroom apartment, you overlook Hyde Park. From here, in the bedroom, you can overlook Harvey Nicks.

So when you are in the middle of the city of London, you don’t have your own gardens maintained if you want to walk your dog or play with children, you have a royal park as your back garden.

Did the developer manage to get, you know, billion pounds of finance loan by Eurohypo, speculatively, and that money will be paid back by the developer. However, that, to get our loan again, would be very challenging.

And that was what 2005, 2006?

Yes.

So in some way, you are timing, you couldn’t have planned it better in that sense, because when you build during a recession, it’s not a bad time to be building, isn't it? It’s not a bad time to be, or really have things in place, and to be going through that process.

Well, a lot of the great buildings in America were built in the recession, Rockefeller Center, I think, (Empire State Building.), my understanding,  the Chrysler Building had been built in the 30s as well, so we timed it right, and to be honest with you, it was complete luck.

I’m glad you admit that.

They are the true international money, we got Indians, we got Chinese, we got Eastern Europeans, we got Middle Easterns----all want to live around this area.

A lot of people come to Mandarin Oriental next door, especially in the summer, that's the season, and sort of ginger live sight. They come, they should have taken the hotel room for 60 days. But they’ll go Cann, they’ll go to Sardinia, and they’ll spend a lot of time outside, but they'll keep the hotel room, so they’re paying, you know, one or two thousand pounds, not  whatever the prices, but they are not there the whole time, so here they can rent it out.

You don’t have to leave the building, we have cinema, squash courts, golf and tennis simulator, we have private entertainment rooms, we have a spa, a 21-meter-ozone pool, you can have all spa treatments, you can have food delivered by Daniel Boulud, or Heston Blumenthal, perhaps everything. You can do business meetings downstairs in the Business Park Library. We have 60 staff looking after you. You don’t have to clean your carpets, they will be valid downstairs. You don’t have to leave the building, the idea was you could live, work and play here.

Now, what is the cost to get that luxury?

It starts about six million pounds and it goes on upwards in excess of a hundred million.