One Hyde Park pushes super-prime prices to new heights
The high standard set by One Hyde Park has put super-prime apartments in London on course to break the £10,000 per sq ft threshold by 2016, according to an estate agent’s report.
The development of the 86-apartment building has set new standards and raised buyer expectations, Knight Frank’s report said.
Figures show that the Knightsbridge scheme is now the world’s most expensive residential development, with prices rising during its development from £4,560 per sq ft in 2006 to £7,500 per sq ft towards the end of last year.
One Hyde Park (pictured above) has attracted purchasers with its link to the Mandarin Oriental brand and the levels of service it offers, the report said, while residential sales to date have topped £1.4bn for 62 apartments. Buyers have also been tempted by Candy & Candy’s interior design and the architecture offered by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, it said.
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Knight Frank head of residential research Liam Bailey said: “One Hyde Park’s success has been due to the fact that it was designed and executed to meet a very specific requirement from the new international wealthy. Not only did these buyers emerge from the recession almost unscathed, but so too in some ways did central London.”
A residential development similar to One Hyde Park is unlikely for some time because super-prime locations such as Hyde Park and Sloane Street seldom become available, the report said. The lack of finance available for speculative residential schemes was also cited by the report.
New build properties in London now include living spaces featuring the best marbles, timber and technology, off-street parking and hotel-trained concierge teams to appeal to buyers from Asia, the Middle East and CIS countries. These standards have helped increase the prices of central London properties from £1,000 per sq ft in 2000 to £2,000 per sq ft in 2004, and then £3,000 sq ft by 2006.
Other leading global destinations, including Hong Kong, Monaco, New York and Singapore, are also following the super-prime development trend, though few are close to London’s benchmark.
Bailey continued: “In key markets like London the availability of top-end developments that attract wealthy international purchasers is still very limited. The opportunity for developers to capitalise on this market is therefore a real option. The problem is that the sites suitable for these developments are limited, and so too are the skills and knowledge required to deliver the right product. But get this combination right and the rewards can be significant.
“Bearing in mind the £1,000 per sq ft jump to close to £8,000 per sq ft in the 10 years to 2011, as well as the recent success of One Hyde Park and other super-prime apartment sales, I suspect this record will be broken even sooner – and that the very best developments will be sold with prices of £10,000 per sq ft, sometime before 2016.”
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