InsideLux – The Luxury News Authority

The price of renting retail space on the most expensive shopping streets around the world has seen the biggest drop in 24 years.

According to real estate brokers Cushman & Wakefield Inc. rental prices haven’t gone down to such a low level since 1985. Their report also found that Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a haven for luxury shoppers, has retained it’s title as the priciest retail address for the eighth year in a row.
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The Russian billionaire Roman Abromavich has purchased a luxurious Caribbean estate, in one of the most expensive private home sales of all time. With an $89 million sale price, the property is described as a Balinese-style bungalow with ocean views, tennis courts, swimming pools, music and dining pavilions. However, the former owner insists it remains a naturally beautiful venue: ‘“It’s very open bungalows, and it’s like you’re basically living on a beach. It’s not like a lot of things you might see on St. Bart’s which are kind of fancy.” This appears to be in reference to the illustrious reputation that the island of St. Barts is known for as a popular vacation spot for celebrities and millionaires.

Frequented by the jet-set, Russian oligarchs and royalty – where Prince William and Kate Middleton vacationed last winter – Courcheval in the French Alps has become not only the place to be seen on some of the world’s best ski slopes, but also home to some of the most expensive real estate. Not everyone can afford a chalet in this exclusive ski destination, but for those who don’t have private villas, it’s still worth the splurge to stay at the newly renovated five-star Hotel de Charme Les Airelles. Read the rest of this entry »

Disgraced Wall Street Financier Bernard Madoff has been forced to sell his $7m Hamptons pad. The Money will be used to compensate the victims of his huge Ponzi scheme, who are estimated to have lost $50bn in all.

The property in New York has 4 bedrooms, a pool and 1.2 acres of land-Madoff’s house is considered as relatively modest compared with some of the houses that belong to the billionaires near by who escape to the Hamptons in the summer.

Other properties belonging to Madoff including his Palm Beach villa and his Manhattan apartment will all be auctioned off at a later date to the highest bidder.

Madoff might have made off with billions of dollars from his victims, but it seems he won’t be let off by being allowed to keep his assets.

Forget stunning luxury apartments with views of the river, that’s so passe.

If you want to really live the life of luxury next to the water don’t just live by it, live on it.

The new Citadel Floating apartment complex has been designed by Dutch architect Koen Olthuis for Waterstudio and not only is it going to be the first floating complex to be built in Europe, it’s also eco-friendly because the apartments will harness the power of the water and cut energy use by 25%.

Citadel will be constructed on a Dutch lake and is designed to rise and fall with the ebb and flow of the changing water levels.

The Citadel complex will include 60 luxury apartments, garage, floating road and garden terraces and boat docking stations for every home.

Here’s the official company blurb from Waterstudio:

“The first project of the New Water will be the apartment complex ‘The Citadel’. Ecological, recreational and residential demands are integrated into a landscape that is organized into different thematic compartments , each offering a specific experience of the water, specific building typologies, and a range of different ecological habitats, in the ecological zone there will be the stilthouses they are free from the floor so they don’t effect the zone. Construction will start in 2009.”

At the moment there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of information about how to invest or register interest in one of the apartments. However, if you click here you can sign up to the Citadel newsletter which will inform subscribers of any news as and when it becomes available.

Sergei Polonsky is the head of the Mirax Group and he was worth £730 Million in 2008. The company have reportedly stopped construction works, such as the Federation Tower in Moscow, which was set to be completed in 2010. The halting of the company’s assets occurred after a failed payment of  $242 million which was loaned to Mirax. He has resorted to selling his luxurious hotel for a bargain, as it’s worth $340 million,  in order to steady his financial situation. It appears the economic crisis is more serious than the billionaire brushed off , as speculation suggests Mirax’s current debt is $700 millon. Ouch.

The Mardan Palace was built in Turkey by billionaire Telman Ismailov and opened earlier this year. To describe the Hotels luxurious worth becomes very analytical but here goes…. It cost $1.4 Billion, it holds over 500 rooms, has a 12,000 ft Spa, 17 Bars, 10 Restaurants, a Crystal Staircase and even possesses it’s own beach, which contains 9,000 tons of unique grains of Egyptian sand. The interior consists of Crystals,  Italian Marble and a heck of a lot of Gold. Phew, Basically, the  definition of Luxury is the breathtaking, Mardan Palace.

A new exclusive private members resort called Dall House is to be created in Kinloch Rannoch, Scotland. You can join as long as you have liquid assets worth £100million or more!

Members of Dall House will pay a £2million joining fee and around £500,000 a year in further rates in order to enjoy the privacy, security and tranquility of the new luxury resort.

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NorthStar Moving is a Californian moving company that offers a bespoke moving service when you change your residence.

With past clients that include Eva Longoria and Angelina Jolie, NorthStar say “Celebrities and other A Listers have always been concerned about security and privacy as paparazzi will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for even the slightest glimpse into one moving box. That’s why the stars choose a company that can deploy decoy moving trucks to throw off photographers. Stars trust movers who have been well trained to work with security and know that privacy is our most valuable possession.”

Other services supplied by NorthStar Moving include “Photo Perfect Packing”. This is when every book-shelf, room layout and china cabinet is photographed so that when the movers arrive at your new home they can unpack and place everything exactly how you like it.

Click here for more details about NorthStar Moving.

Manhattan had previously been at the forefront of the world’s luxury real estate market but it’s been revealed that sales have now dropped by 50%. Thats the biggest fall since New York appraiser Miller Samuel began collecting data on the real estate markets in 1989.
The CEO of Miller Samuel has said “Sales were off by 50% because of the weak economy, rising unemployment and, most important, the credit crunch.”

There are even more interesting stats in Miller Samuel’s report including the fact that the price of an apartment in Manhattan has dropped by 24% and the average price is now about $1.26 million.