Luxury home construction in Brooklyn at a standstill; luxury home foreclosures attract the vultures, Russia’s luxury goods market dies a quick death; Luxury property portfolio goes to Auction in South Africa and Noho Square is sold at 66% off.
As luxury home construction comes to a standstill in Brooklyn, owners are finding themselves living in part-finished projects with abandoned lots and rusting foundations.
“It looks like a bomb hit over here. It’s just blocks and blocks of everything torn down, and most of the permits are expired,” said Williamsburg housing activist Philip DePaolo about the neighborhood’s large swaths of boarded-up lots. New York Daily News.
Melville House retains "Scotland's Most Expensive Foreclosure" Title
Luxury home buyers are circling repossessions in the multi-million dollar bracket as banks begin seizing properties that have devalued to the point where they are worth far less than the outstanding loans. Although, Melville House still holds the record for Scotland’s most expensive foreclosure so far this year.
Arjan Buikema has been in love for five years. He has yearned and lusted. And soon, perhaps in just a few months, he will finally realise his dream. The object of his affection is a plot outside Cape Town. It’s in a sought-after area and has a glorious sea view. He has done his research: the owner’s debt outweighs the value of her various properties and she’s been trying to sell this one for more than a year. Buikema, 39, a research analyst with Naspers, the South Africa-based media company, suspects her lender may seize it soon. Financial Times
Russia’s luxury goods market has collapsed, leaving empty shops all across Moscow’s most expensive shopping districts, including brands like Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen.
Hankerchiefed women peddle fake Louis Vuitton handbags in front of the now-empty Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney stores, both of whom have had their signs scratched off by hand less than 18 months after their grand openings. The British designers’ stilettos, diaphanous gowns and Italian-made wool coats were stuffed to the back of the adjoined stores and sold at a 70% discount before the financial crisis closed them down for good this month. Like many cities across Europe, the fake designer bag “industry,” is Mafia run and only a tiny portion of the profits go to the sellers. Russian luxury goods market
South African luxury property developer, MKB property, went broke recently, and their portfolio goes to auction on April 17th.
A ‘treasure trove’ of luxury residential properties both completed and under construction, is to go under the hammer in a liquidation sale on the 17th April. The auction represents the last chapter in, ‘The Meteoric Rise and fall of MKB,’ before the book closes – not with a bang, but a whimper. The company’s fleet of silver cars proudly bearing the company logo, the twin Porsches and the helicopter executive travel service have already been sold in what MKB founder, Andrew Botha described as ‘a fire sale. Now it’s the turn of the Group’s flagship property developments. Real Estate Web
We have seen a massive increase in the amount of luxury real estate auctions recently, and will be keeping an eye on this one.
Candy and Candy’s vaunted £1 billion development “Noho Square,” development has been picked up for the bargain price of £50 million, less than a third of the amount Icelandic bank, Kaupthing paid three years ago. No doubt the Candy brothers are counting their lucky stars to have got our from under that one when they swapped their interest in it for another development in Beverly Hills. Candy Brothers drop NoHo. No news yet what the new plans for the site are, but they will probably not include £1 billion worth of luxury condominiums.
