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Revealed: £1bn barons of Chelsea
Benedict Moore-Bridger and Jonathan Prynn31 Jan 2008
Britain's most expensive home property deal was struck today when Chelsea Barracks was bought by the Qatari government and the Candy brothers for £959 million.
Located between Sloane Square and the Thames, the 12.8-acre site is the most valuable residential plot to be redeveloped, at £75 million an acre.
It dwarfs the £150 million paid for the brothers' other flagship development, One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge in 2004.
The Chelsea site was put on the market by the Ministry of Defence two and a half years ago. It will be developed by Nick and Christian Candy into what they have described as the 21st century equivalent of the great estates of Mayfair and Belgravia.
One property insider said: "It's a staggering figure, the biggest residential deal ever. If the Candy brothers do anything close to their One Hyde Park development it could become one of the biggest propertydeals, full stop." The investors stand to make hundreds of millions profit from the redevelopment.
The Sixties barracks, which had housed four companies from the Foot Guards, the Coldstream Guards and the Scots Guards, will be demolished and replaced by up to 2,000 homes. They will be mainly luxury flats, some costing tens of millions of pounds, but also some affordable housing.
The apartments, equipped with every state of the art gadget and security measure, will be aimed at the world's wealthiest people looking for a base in London.
Even with a weaker property market, prices are likely to smash existing records with the properties being sold for up to £5,000 per sq ft.
When fully developed the site could be worth several billion pounds compared with the £58.3 million it was valued at by the Government's National Asset Register and the £300 million that the MoD hoped to get for it.
The Candy brothers, who are behind some of London's most expensive property, boast they will transform the site into "a masterpiece of contemporary design".
They have now commissioned architect Lord Rogers to design the buildings that will replace the barracks, while they will be responsible for the interiors and act as development managers.
They plan to transform the current concrete parade ground and army buildings into luxury apartments surrounded by new, semi-private woodland and parkland.
The consortium, named Project Blue (Guernsey Ltd), is led by the Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, a branch of the Qatari Government's Qatari Investment Authority.
Last year the brothers bought buildings at neighbouring Grosvenor Waterside and it is understood they plan to integrate the two sites with a pedestrian boulevard to create a super "riverside estate", boosting prices.
They own 20 acres of prime real estate in central London, most of it in Westminster, as well as some of the world's most sought-after addresses - in Qatar, Monaco and Beverly Hills under the investment arm of their operation, CPC Group.
Globally, the developers' portfolio is valued at around £9billion, with the 86 flats in One Hyde Park ranging from £20million to £100million, and estimated to generate more than £2billion.
They also have plans to turn the former Middlesex Hospital, north of Oxford Street, into an apartment and commercial complex worth around £1.5billion.
Overlooking the grounds of the Christopher Wren-designed Royal Hospital and Ranelagh Grove, Chelsea Barracks is one of the world's most eagerly anticipated developments.
The proposals, subject to final planning approval by Westminster City Council, will have a low carbon footprint and a lower environmental impact than the barracks, the consortium says.
Nick Candy called the project "world class". He said: "The development will be an exemplar of sustainable residential development that will include a number of community facilities. The team of professionals drawn together to work on this important project is world class and together we will transform the site into a masterpiece of contemporary design."
Nasser Al-Ansari, chief executive officer of Qatari Diar Real Estate, said they hoped the partnership would lead to more major property deals. He said: "This project is very important to us as it represents our first major investment in Europe. We are looking forward to working with CPC Group to create a landmark building of international repute and working together on future projects."
Former defence secretary John Reid announced that the barracks were going on sale in September 2005. The site was attacked by the IRA in 1981 and the troops who were housed there have been relocated to Woolwich.
The consortium exchanged contracts with the MoD last April and completed today, with payment spread over five years.
Reader views (1)
I hope the Ministry of Defence are going to invest those funds in building new and upgrading existing homes for the armed forces.
- Clare, London, 31/01/2008 14:19
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