Wetherell Mayfairs Fitnes Properties

Laura Dixon & Rebecca O`Connor

Simon Halabi, the billionaire owner of a £500 million trophy collection of London office blocks that was handed to administrators last month, is selling a property in Mayfair for £30.5 million.
Mr Halabi has put the four-storey, Grade II-listed 21 Charles Street on the market with two estate agents. The run-down Georgian terrace is in urgent need of repair and has been left empty for years, according to Westminster Council.
The sale comes weeks after the six properties in Mr Halabi’s commercial property portfolio went into administration and shortly after reports emerged that the tycoon was in talks to buy them back.
The office buildings are now under the joint control of Ernst & Young, the accountacy firm, and CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), the property consultancy. Mr Halabi is understood to have met CBRE this month, although he has not yet tabled a formal offer.
Mr Halabi could have come under pressure to sell amid concerns within Westminster Council that the near-derelict property could be occupied by squatters. Councils have the power to issue compulsory purchase orders on empty properties that have fallen into disrepair.
Savills, which with Wetherell has been appointed to market the Mayfair property by Charles Street Holdings, the registered owner, said that the mansion required “complete modernisation”. Although it is boarded up, the house, which covers 12,300 sq ft and comes with the neighbouring mews house, is described by Savills as having the potential to become “one of Mayfair’s finest residences”.
Once restored, the house would have ten bedrooms, ten bathrooms and ten reception rooms. The master bedroom suite would fill the entire second floor.
The enormous price tag of the property reveals the grandeur of the location: the house next door was once the home of the Duke of Clarence, who later became William IV, and a few doors down is the Burmese Embassy.
Jonathan Hewlett, an agent at Savills, said: “This is a very special house with masses of potential. It has planning permission for something much bigger. A similar unmodernised property in Eaton Square recently sold for £33 million. I am very confident we can sell it for the asking price.”
Recent sales on the street appear to back this up. Five months ago one of the red-brick mansions on the street, No 14 Charles Street, was repossessed. Eventually it was sold for £20 million, which is a record for a repossession. Indeed, Charles Street is a hot spot for empty properties; there are several homes that appear vacant on the street.
The High Court appointed Ernst & Young last month as administrator for six properties owned by Halabi, after his whole portfolio fell in value to £929 million in June, lower than the £1.15 billion loan secured against it.
The office blocks that went into administration, together worth an estimated £500 million, are: Aviva Tower, in the City of London; 60 Victoria Embankment; Millennium Bridge House; New Court; Ludgate House; and Leadenhall Court, also in the City.
CBRE refused to comment on reports that Mr Halabi had made an offer. The consultancy favours selling off the assets on a piecemeal basis, according to a strategy note published on Friday. CBRE said that the value of the portfolio had risen by about 5 per cent since its June valuation.
Mr Halabi was not immediately available for comment.

This article was published by The Times on 18th November 2009. Please click here to view