London’s most expensive home ‘owned by Evergrande founder’
London’s most expensive house is owned by the head of embattled Chinese property group Evergrande, according to people familiar with the secretive £210mn sale that was struck just before Covid-19 hit the UK.
The 45-room mansion overlooking Hyde Park was sold by the estate of the former Saudi Arabia crown prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz for its record-breaking price in January 2020.
The public face of the acquisition of 2-8a Rutland Gate was Cheung Chung-kiu, a Chinese property developer whose company CC Land owns London’s “Cheesegrater” skyscraper.
While properties like Rutland Gate are only within the reach of the super-wealthy, a new owner will have to shoulder the cost of finishing the refurbishment of the sprawling, 5,782-square metre home.
There is planning permission for work on the inside and outside of the property, including demolishing and replacing the top two floors, but it has not yet been completed. A website for the property lists CC Land UK as the project’s development manager.
CC Land said the company was connected to the property but does not own it. Evergrande and Hui did not respond to a request for comment.
Blinds were down in all of the property’s 58 Hyde Park-facing windows when the Financial Times visited this week.
Additional reporting by Cynthia O’Murchu
Video: Evergrande: the end of China's property boom
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Primrose Riordan
