Chinese magnate to break UK record and pay €246m for London house
Deirdre Hipwell and Jack Sidders
A CHINESE property magnate is close to breaking UK records with the purchase of a 45-room mansion in Knightsbridge for more than £200m (€235m).
The private family office of Cheung Chung Kiu has agreed to buy the home at 2-8a Rutland Gate, overlooking Hyde
Park, a spokesman said. The deal would be a sign that the world’s wealthiest are being lured to the British capital by the weak pound as Brexit draws near.
The sale price is set to be £210m (€246m), according to a source. It would be the biggest ever for a house in the UK.
It would also be one of the richest deals worldwide, topping the $238m that
Ken Griffin, founder of hedge fund firm Citadel, paid last year for a penthouse in Manhattan. No decision has been made on whether the London property will remain a single house or be converted into luxury apartments.
Based on sale prices at the nearby Peninsula London project, a redevelopment of the building that turned it into apartments could be worth as much as £700m. The property was once the home of Rafic Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon, who was assassinated in 2005. It was also the London home of Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the late crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
The seven-storey white stucco house provides 5,760 sq m of living space. It was originally built in the 1830s as a terrace of four townhouses, but in the mid1980s, the terrace was remodelled into a single Italianate palace. The house has a series of state rooms, with bullet-proof windows, several passenger lifts, a pool, private health spa and gym.