This week the
Sunday Telegraph made much of singer
Holly Vallance's romance with UK property "billionaire"
Nick Candy, although she and Candy have been dating for sometime now. (the paper's sister rag
The Herald Sun called Candy a 'millionaire')
How rich are the Candys?. Nick and his brother Christian own a building corporation (like Sydney , London society under New Labour saw the rise of the property developer) but the brotherly entrepreneurs have had a few hic-cups in the past.
In 2004 they were conned by four men into buying the
King's Beeches site once owned by the
King and
Queen of Thailand. The four men who presented credible documents didn't actually own the property which belonged to a Saudi billionaire. The 4 con men were eventually jailed and the Candy's were compensated by the Lands Registry Office which had passed the deal. It's said the Candy's loss of face was almost as bad as their financial loss.
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| Nick & Christian Candy |
Earlier this year a consortium the brothers put together to pay $500M for a choice Beverley Hills plot in Los Angeles fell into default when it couldn't pay two-thirds of the purchase price. The lot was eventually auctioned but failed to cover the cost price.
When the pair bought the plot in 2007 local realtors were already gossiping that they had paid far too much.
The Candy's are based in Monaco and are seen about London with the usual toys- Rolls Royces, Bentleys and Ferarris.
They also had sumptuous headquarters by the Thames River in a building they had paid $39M for and renovated with black marbled floors and black leather lined lifts which they also sold this year for $60M claiming to have made a huge profit. Insiders say they spent nearly $60M alone renovating the building and are puzzled by the claims of a profit.
More recently they came a cropper over plans to re-develop the famous
Chelsea Barracks with yet another glass and concrete monster, when
HRH Prince Charles wrote to their partner and expressed his dismay in the venture. That partner
Sheikh
Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, prime minister of Qatar and the Qatar Royal Family pulled the plug on the venture. When Charle's letter became public there were howls of protest from all corners and the loudest were the Candy's.
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| Charles launches a development he likes-Breakfast Point in Sydney |
The Candy's sued the Qatari Royal Family and won an out of court settlement in July this year.
But they also made a grovelling apology to Prince Charles for dragging his name into the debacle.
However residents of Chelsea cheered Charles for his endeavour.
Other developments in London have been cancelled while their pride and joy-
One Hyde Park , a glass palace of 86 apartments in Knighstbridge due for completion this year is half sold according to the Candys.
Not so says our source in Dubai where one buyer had put a holding deposit on 3 of the super luxury flats. Since the downturn in the Dubai property market he has withdrawn from the sale. There are rumours 2 other buyers have pulled out and others are beginning to re-negotiate the original sale price.
