Super-rich try to haggle over £20m Hyde Park apartments, says Candy

THE Candy brothers today revealed they may not sell any apartments in London's most prestigious development, One Hyde Park, this year because of the recession.

Nick and Christian Candy, the men behind the development where apartments cost an average of £20million, say they have refused all offers below asking price.

On the day construction reached a landmark with the "topping out" ceremony, Nick Candy - one half of property developers "Candy & Candy"' - said even this apartment complex for the super-rich, due to be completed in autumn next year, was not immune to the housing slump.

He told the Standard: "We have not sold any so far this year and we don't expect many offers for the rest of the year. In the current climate, everyone, no matter how wealthy they are, wants a discount and we are not interested in selling these apartments at a discount. We don't need to sell any more until we are complete."

For the topping-out at the Knightsbridge development, which comprises 86 apartments, Nick, 36, and Christian, 34, were joined by guests including the project's architect Lord Rogers and Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Jassim, whose father, the prime minister of Qatar is the main investor.

Nick Candy added: "We are getting lots of offers but they are not at the asking price. It doesn't matter what you are selling - it could be yachts, planes, apartments, £150million houses - that's just the mentality today.

"Unless it gets a lot worse, in late 2010/2011 the market will be significantly better than it is today.

"Last month someone wanted to buy the whole lot but wanted a 25 per cent discount - we don't need to discount. I am telling our clients who hold their wealth in euros or dollars that if you buy now you are saving 25 per cent anyway due to the exchange rate."

The Candy brothers, brought up in Banstead, Surrey, have amassed a property portfolio worth billions in less than a decade and now live in Monaco.

Nick Candy said more than £750million of contracts have been exchanged, with each buyer paying a 40 per cent deposit.

This includes all four penthouses, the most expensive apartments in the world, which have reportedly fetched up to £100 million each.

He added: "We've sold half the apartments. Most of the one bedrooms, all the penthouses and most of the four bedrooms have gone. We got a 40 per cent deposit from each purchaser - the next 10 per cent will be paid by the end of the year when the building's water-tight. We are 100 per cent covered.

"You will have the most powerful people in the world in one building. From the top guys in IT from the US to Middle Eastern ruling families, Russian and Eastern European oligarchs, British entrepreneurs and CEOs.

"One British guy bought four apartments, the maximum sold to one person. Some people buy one for themselves and one for their teenage son or daughter."

He added: "We have had to knock back a few buyers. Their presence would put off other residents.

"A development such as this will never happen again. These views, Hyde Park on one side and the City on the other, will never be bettered. People will buy these flats as part of a legacy. They will keep hold of them like Picassos or Van Goghs."

One Hyde Park by numbers

4 - Diamond shaped "pavilions" making the total development

86 - Apartments in total

15 - Types of stone sourced from around the world (Turkey, Italy, France, Belgium, Brazil, China, Egypt and Spain) are being designed and cut to accommodate the high quality technical specifications for the interior

10,000 - Square feet in the largest penthouse

1,500 - Employees expected to be working on the site this August during the "peak" of the project when both interior and exterior work is under completion

35 - Companies working directly on the project across the UK and Europe including Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Holland

850 - Employees working on site at present

5,000 - People working to support the project across the world

40 - Full-time staff trained by the Mandarin Oriental based at One Hyde Park, including leisure and business facilities managers, porters, door staff, valet attendants, security, housekeeping, hospitality, spa concierge and therapists

70,000 - Tonnes of concrete used in development

152,400 - Tonnes of earth excavated

l - The gym will have private gym pods for individual work-outs and squash courts and golf simulators

l - The Spa will feature a 20m swimming pool

l - The most expensive penthouses will have bullet-proof windows, purified air systems and "panic rooms"

l - An underground passage will let residents access the Mandarin Oriental hotel