Luxury real estate news from around the world. Ups, downs, new developments and disasters abound.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a new luxury development in downtown Houston. The WaterLights District.

The WaterLights District will include a careful planned array of office, hotels, restaurants, boutique retail, and residential structures amid a park setting along the banks of Clear Creek, just south of the world’s largest medical and research center, the Texas Medical Center.

1927 villa for sale, Bucharest, Romania

The Diplomat, a Bucharest-based online magazine announces a refurbished interwar villa for sale or rent.Price - €15,000 per month; for sale at  €3.5 million.

Pache Protopopescu Built in 1927 and completely refurbished in 2007, this interwar villa in the east-centre of Bucharest was built for a Jewish family 80 years ago and is now available for sale or rent. Avoiding nationalisation, the house was acquired by Romanians, whose descendants still retain ownership. The iron entrance gate gives access to an impressive interior court with high walls, arches and two beautiful terraces placed on the ground and first floor of the building.

TRLV Group will be at this year’s Cityscape Convention in New York’s Javits Center, Booth D36, September 10th and 11th presenting a unique project site on the Las Vegas Strip next to the MGM/Dubai/Kerzner future hotel & casino and the Stratosphere Hotel & Casino recently acquired by Goldman Sachs.

A $1.74 billion residential development on the north coast, about a two hour drive from Cairo, Marassi will eventually cover more than 1,500 acres and include a marina, golf course, retail space and 3,000 hotel rooms.

Perth’s millionaires are finding it hard to move their second (or third or fourth) homes. Dunsborough, the premier town of the region and conveniently close to the Margaret River wineries, has seen the median house price fall 11.4% to $655,000 in the year to June.

One of Manteca’s biggest builders - Woodside Homes - has filed for bankruptcy protection. The home builder has housing projects that are part of the 402-lot Tesoro neighborhood bounded by Woodward Avenue, Atherton Drive and Van Ryn Road as well as a portion of the 497-homeUnion Ranch East directly east of Del Webb at Woodbridge on North Union Road.

The purchase is not his first property in Singapore. Modi has two other luxury condominiums in Singapore located in Orchard Road, the city’s shopping district. He also has another penthouse in Sentosa Cove, described as “an exclusive weekend hideout” on Singapore’s Sentosa Island.

An industry source is quoted as saying Trump flew to Bangkok last month to talk with a Gaysorn executive about development plans for a four rai plot located at Ratchaprasong intersection.

Whist this is not specifically real estate marketing, it is an interesting luxury brand marketing ploy gone awry. Last Year, Giorgio Armani came in for some criticism with the release of a marketing campaign for “Armani Junior,” using this particular image:

The Institute for the Defense of Children in Spain called for these advertisements to be removed on the basis that they promote sexual tourism.

Several fashion bloggers have decried this as being an issue of “censoring children,” and the fashion police suggests that we should, “let kids be kids while they still can.”

I have to say that dressing children up, covering them in make up and paying their parents large sums of money to have them photographed is not exactly what I have in mind for that idyllic childhood.

It certainly brings to mind Seth Godin’s maxim, “If I think it’s broken, then it’s broken.” And I come down on the side of the Spanish Institute – I think it’s broken.

Although the cynic in me thinks that may be Armani has achieved their desired goal. Take a look at another image from their collection and see if you can see the difference.

In one image, I see a little girl – a child, being a child. In the other, I see two little girls dressed as adults, holding the type of pose we are familiar seeing adult models holding. What do you think? Is this sort of marketing acceptable. Is it just a storm in a teacup – or are they sexually suggestive? This is not the first time Armani has had this particular critiscism leveled at them, and withdrew a series of advertisment along similar lines in 2004. This one being an example:

I do wonder why they would try a similar ploy again, unless it was to create controversy. Is this what they want? Have they achieved their goals?

As the dollars, euros and pounds continue to pour into China, a new breed has emerged. Wealthy, high-net-worth individuals with the desire and wherewithal to flaunt their wealth. China is rapidly becoming one of the largest consumers of high-end goods in the world. Estimates put China as the third largest luxury goods consumer, accounting for a minimum of 12% of the market, with Goldman Sachs suggesting that this will rise to around 30% by the year 2015.

No wonder then, that luxury retailers are flocking to the Chinese high streets and Malls, creating some of the most expensive retail real estate in the process.

Giorgio Armani was one of the first brands to enter the market, opening their  flagship store in 2004. Armani now have no less than 12 stores in Shanghai alone. Next to jump on the band wagon was Louis Vuitton, closely followed by Cartier, Hermes, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Gucci, Escada, Celine and Emmenengildo Zegna.

Luxury automobile manufacturers were the next group: Porsche, Ferrari, Bentley and Rolls Royce all opening new dealerships in China by 2005.

Indicators of the luxury retail rush are everywhere. Saks Fifth Avenue will open its first store in China in 2008, in Shanghai, under a licensing deal with Roosevelt China Investments Corp. Tiffany & Co. is set to unveil new stores this year in Beijing and Shanghai, both of which already have one Tiffany store each. New York City-based watch retailer Tourneau opened two stores in Shanghai in August, the first of 30 it plans to have in China within five years. Cartier operates 12 stores there now and has five more under construction. The company anticipates that 10 percent of its sales will be coming from China by 2012.

Ernst & Young published a report last year on the Chinese luxury market that says 13.5 percent of China’s consumers can afford luxury items. Most of these are between 20 and 40 years old and have a “spend now and worry later” attitude, the report says. The most active consumers are men.

Luxury department store Saks fifth avenue are also planning an entry into the Chinese market, but seem to be having trouble with the local sub licensee. Roosevelt China Investment Corp. recently announced that it has terminated its sublicense agreement with I.T. Ltd. "While we have terminated the arrangement with IT, we continue to seek an alliance with local market experts and remain committed to opening a licensed Saks Fifth Avenue store in Shanghai in 2009," said Tweed Roosevelt, Chairman of Roosevelt China Corp. Current plans are for the licensed Saks Fifth Avenue store to be situated in one of the most dramatic and historical buildings in China, the former Jardine-Matheson headquarters on the Bund. Plans call for the building to be fully renovated to its original grandeur with a flagship presence in the newly renovated Bund area. Saks Fifth Avenue is a part of Saks Incorporated.

"We are committed to bringing Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the world’s finest luxury department stores, to the burgeoning Chinese retail market,” said Mr. Roosevelt.

Napa Reserve recently opened a flagship store in Shanghai, selling premium Napa Valley wines. Shanghai is currently being described as the Manhattan of China, although one Napa valley wag on a recent trip described Shanghai as “New York on steroids.” Doesn’t bear thinking about.  
 
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