One Hyde Park

One Hyde Park is a major residential and retail complex located in Knightsbridge, London.[2] The development includes three retail units (Rolex, McLaren Automotive and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank) totalling 385,000 sq ft (35,800 m2) and 86 residential properties marketed with prices starting at around £20 million.[3]

One Hyde Park
One Hyde Park in August 2010
General information
TypeResidential, retail
Architectural styleModernist
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
AddressOne Hyde Park: The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, 100 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LJ
Coordinates51.5020°N 0.1613°W / 51.5020; -0.1613
Current tenantsRolex, McLaren Automotive, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
Construction startedJanuary 2007
CompletedMarch 2009 (2009-03)
Cost£1.15 billion
OwnerProject Grande (Guernsey) Limited
Technical details
Floor areaRetail: 385,000 sq ft (35,800 m2)
Design and construction
Architecture firmRogers Stirk Harbour + Partners[1]
Structural engineerArup[1]
Services engineerCundall[1]
Other designersCandy & Candy[1]
Quantity surveyorGardiner & Theobald[1]
Main contractorLaing O'Rourke

Ownership

The building is owned by Project Grande (Guernsey) Limited, a joint venture between the Christian Candy-owned CPC Group and Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar.[4] Graham Stirk led the team at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners who designed the building,[4] built by Laing O'Rourke[1] It was financed via a £1.15 billion development loan from Eurohypo AG.[5] Candy & Candy were the development managers and interior designers for the scheme.

History
Search for Enlightenment

Planning consent for the building was granted in June 2006.[6] Demolition of the previous building on the site - the 1950s office block Bowater House - took place between July and December 2006.[6] Construction work began in January 2007.[6] The superstructure of the building was completed in March 2009.[6] Fitting-out of the building began in April 2009.[6] In August 2010, a penthouse in the development was rumoured to be sold for £140 million, making it the most expensive residential property in Britain.[3][7] It was also announced that McLaren Automotive would be opening a car showroom in the building in early 2011.[8] As part of the construction of One Hyde Park, a new entrance to Knightsbridge tube station was built. This opened in December 2010[9]

A penthouse was sold to One Hyde Park developer Christian Candy, who reportedly paid £31 million, "about £100 million less than the asking price".[10] In January 2011, a newspaper report at the time of the development's launch party indicated that according to Land Registry records the sale of only five properties had been completed. As of 2013, there was little evidence of people actually living in the complex.[11] In September 2013 it was reported that a one-bedroom apartment in the complex worth £5.25m had been repossessed.[12]

The sculpture Search for Enlightenment by Simon Gudgeon was unveiled on 19 January 2012 to mark the first anniversary of One Hyde Park.[13] The bronze sculpture is of two human profiles, one male and the other female and faces Hyde Park and the Serpentine.[13]

Tax issues

In November 2011 it was reported that only nine out of the 62 apartments that had been sold at One Hyde Park were registered with Westminster City Council for Council Tax. Despite prices ranging from £3.6 million for a one-bedroom flat to £136 million for a penthouse, only four properties were paying the full £755.60 a year Council Tax plus the £619.64 Greater London Authority charge (collectively below the national average), while five were paying the Council Tax at the 50% reduction for a second home. Westminster North MP Karen Buck stated: "When council spending is under unprecedented pressure, it is scandalous that residents in luxury apartments can avoid their share of council tax liability. It sometimes seems as if the more money you have the less you are required to pay."[14] Nicholas Shaxson from Vanity Fair discovered that 60 apartments are owned by companies registered in tax havens as foreign companies and therefore don't have to pay taxes on the apartments. The owners of the companies remain anonymous.[15]

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References
  1. "One Hyde Park". e-architect. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  2. Quinn, James (7 November 2010). "Rolex moves into One Hyde Park". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  3. Moore, Matthew (10 August 2010). "One Hyde Park penthouse sells for record-breaking £140m". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  4. Fletcher, Martin (18 April 2010). "What recession? Flats in Central London go on sale at £5m-plus". The Times. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  5. "Candy Brothers in Monaco Make Millions in London Housing Slump". Bloomberg L.P. 8 September 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  6. "Home page". One Hyde Park. Archived from the original on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  7. Fernandez, Colin (11 August 2010). "The £140m flat: World-record price earns mystery buyer room service from a TV chef, a panic room and SAS-trained bodyguards". Daily Mail. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  8. "McLaren join race to Formula 1 Hyde Park". London Evening Standard. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  9. "Knightsbridge gets new Tube entrance by hotel". Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  10. Pryer, Nick; Sanderson, Elizabeth (23 January 2011). "Two fully sold (to the owners and developers)... Just 84 to go! Truth about the most hyped luxury flats in the world". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  11. Sarah Lyall (1 April 2013). "A Slice of London So Exclusive Even the Owners Are Visitors". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  12. Angela Monaghan and Jennifer Rankin (10 September 2013). "Luxury £5.25m apartment in One Hyde Park repossessed". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  13. "Search for Enlightenment unveiled at One Hyde Park". Candy & Candy. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  14. Boffey, Daniel (26 November 2011). "Only nine pay council tax in enclave for super-rich". The Guardian. London.
  15. ""Das wurde immer so gemacht"". Zeit Online GmbH. Hamburg. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2014.

Further reading
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