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Absolute Bubble Insanity: For Nearly Half A Billion Dollars, Here Is The World's Most Expensive Penthouse
Forget Hong Kong, London and New York: when it comes to the pinnacle in absolute real estate insanity - perhaps in all of history - look no further than James Bond's favorite gambling mecca, Monaco.
It is in this tiny Riviera principality where we find the Tour Odeon, a double-skyscraper being built by Groupe Marzocco SAM near Monaco’s Mediterranean seafront, which will contain a 3,300 square-meter (35,500 square-foot) penthouse with a water slide connecting a dance floor to a circular open-air swimming pool. The description is nice, but it is the bottom line that is mindblowing: Bloomberg reports that the apartment may sell for more than 300 million euros ($400 million) when it goes on the market next year, French magazine Challenges reported. That would make it the world’s most expensive penthouse, according to broker Knight Frank LLP.
“We think we can get a little bit more,” Daniele Marzocco, a director at the company, said in June. So far, the developer has found buyers for 26 of the 36 luxury homes that have been offered for sale. A car parking space at the project costs 250,000 euros, Marzocco said. That’s about 50 percent more than the median value of an existing U.S. home, according to data compiled by the National Association of Realtors.
“What we sell is Monaco,” commercial director Niccolo Marzocco said during a viewing of the skyscraper, which is costing more than 600 million euros to build, excluding the land. He cited security, stability and the convenience of living in a city-state about two-thirds the size of New York’s Central Park.
How is this astronomical price possible? Simple: now that traditional luxury property markets are rapidly losing their glamor, not only due to the imposition of fresh "fairness doctrine" luxury real-estate taxes as previously reproted, but also due to the loss of such tax-havens as Geneva and Zurich, the world's uber wealthy are left few places where they can live in relative quiet without the government constantly threatening to demand an ever greater part of their income and/or wealth.
"New levies on luxury homes in London and a U.S.-led global crackdown on hiding assets will also probably attract the affluent to Monaco, which already counts pop stars, Formula One drivers and Russian billionaires among its inhabitants. One in three of Monaco’s 38,000 residents are millionaires, according to a study by Spear’s magazine and WealthInsight. As that number increases, home values will rise by about a fifth by June 2015, according to London-based Savills. That would almost erase losses sustained since the market’s 2007 peak. "
As a reminder, the principality’s residents, who include Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and pop singer Shirley Bassey, don’t pay taxes on income. The French have to pay taxes there, with certain exceptions dating back more than 50 years. Rybolovlev lives in the Belle Epoque building overlooking the harbor, according to a New York state court filing in 2012. For the rich, however, there is no more welcome sound than "no income tax" to make the price of any local lodging attractive, regardless of what it actually is.
Because judging by pricing data, what Monaco has discovered is perfectly inelastic demand: For $1 million, you could buy about 15 square meters (160 square feet) of space, Knight Frank estimates. That’s about a third of the size of the median studio in Manhattan, according to the Naked Apartments website. While just 15 new apartments sold there last year, the average price was 9.3 million euros, compared with 2.9 million euros two years earlier, according to government data. A model apartment now being offered has 270 meters of internal space and 130 square meters of balconies and is valued at 28 million euros. The lower floors were sold to Monaco’s government for use by local citizens, who will enter the building through a separate entrance.
In short, roughly an 80% annualized price increase in new home prices or, as Janet Yellen would call it "noise."
As to where the biggest marginal demand comes from, take a wild guess:
The Tour Odeon will be Monaco’s first high-rise since the 1980s. A quarter of the apartments sold on the open market by Groupe Marzocco have gone to expatriates from the former Soviet Union, the company said, without disclosing where they’re based.
Surely, they will all be crushed by Obama's "costs" any minute now.
That said, not everyone is absolutely insane when it comes to what is now the world's biggest real-estate bubble in history: “It’s just a crazy market,” Pierre Vaquier, chief executive officer of Axa Real Estate Investment Managers, said in a March interview. “You buy there not only for the environment, but also for the tax regime,” said Vaquier, who said he’s not interested in developing homes in the principality.
However for the time being the lunatics are clearly not only in charge of the asylum, but are holding the checkbooks.
So for the low, low price of $400 million, this is what they will get. From the Tour Odeon's official website:

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Cheap at double the (fiat) price.
<Notice how FRN's and other fiat are being converted into 'real' assets?>
https://screen.yahoo.com/mikes-marbleopolis-050000761.html
I would rather have miles upon miles of land in Montana, pre-stocked with everything needed to survive and grow independently indefinitely.
That amount of wealth is incredible, to blow it on an apartment simply demonstrates that those who run the world today did not earn those positions themselves, revolutions have started for less.
If there is a next year....
How Many from Ferguson Planning A Move Here???
A 0.5B house ought come with at least a 10M servant quarters. The people of Palo Alto can't afford being servants in Monacan (?) elite penthouse. LOL!
Scuba and surf all in the same day.
the gene pool needs a good culling...
For $400M I'd expect a tall fence, a taller wall, and less than 5 people within a 10 mile radius.
Monégasque ;)
it'll never last...the shit's gonna hit the fan everywhere and that place along with millions of others will end up being empyt, run-down, dumps.
For $ 1 BILLION - you can buy that penthouse, one Pollock painting, one Van Gogh painting and some lawn furniture...
I Saw A Giacometti Sculpture In One Of The Pics, Maybe Thats Included ???
To save money you could skip the Pollock and frame the painter's drop cloth.
Cracker gotz shit up in thurr to loot.
Come on Nigga, weeze gonna get paid sellin this shit.
Dumb cunt comment of the day ?
.
@ save America
They will become rundown dumps? I don't think so. When the shit hits, the rich will mostly be ready if not prosper. There will be enclaves that will be fortified against looting, theft and the peasants will be inside the enclave area serving them by necessity. Think of it in terms of controlled zones.
The elite doesn't know what to blow their money on first. Such a drag and sucks to be them. In the meantime, the medical system in West Africa is below substandard and people are dying in the streets from Ebola. Most of the outbreak could have been prevented if the elite had simply built proper facilities in the bush and paid well trained doctors and nurses to locate and work there.
I'm sure it doesn't cost 400 million to build and operate dozens of hospitals in Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
The rich fucks have too much and to keep them floating on the top, is too expensive for the rest of us. Even 2.4% on 30yr UST is not serviceable.
We need a good culling at the top.
Your talking about something money can not buy.
Empathy.
Those sick bastards are going to beg for the days when they only had to hide from government.
Sorry, the colonial era ended 50 years ago. No more White Man's Burden. The Africans are on their own now.
Will chop wood, carry water, permaculture land, and maintain a functioning greenhouse for room board and 25k tax free.
Here Are 10 Countries Hoarding Enormous Piles Of Gold Read more:
http://www.businessinsider.com/countries-with-largest-gold-reserves-2014...
Monaco is a rat infested dump!
I'd rather put that kind of money into some secluded spot in Switzerland cause after all
Geld allein macht nicht glücklich.
Man muss es auch in der Schwiez haben!
http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/junge-schweizer--geld-allein-macht-nicht-glu...
I'd rather put that kind of money into weapons.
Not enough models girls, good restaurants, and beaches in Montana.
MT is a placeholder for anywhere where you can live off grid independently in a sustainable manner.
When you grow up you'll discover that cute but dumb entitled model girls on a beach are worthless compared to well educated, independent unentitled women who are great mothers and partners. The later are much harder to find these days.
Think about all the hookers and coke one could fit in there... Not to mention the number of bankers who can jump or can be thrown from there.
"...cute but dumb entitled model girls on a beach are worthless compared to well educated, independent unentitled women who are great mothers and partners."
Exactly...
Hot Crazy Matrix - A Man's Guide to Womenhttp://youtu.be/hKWmFWRVLlU
+10 . Funny and real. (sorry can't upvote/downvote. must be something wrong with windows)
The website is in French (understandable by location), English (everyone speaks it who has that kind of money) and Russian (who will actually buy it).
For that kind of money, I'd expect to get the whole Building.
I'd rather have the Penthouse on the new Pattaya tower thats going up. But thats just me....
600 million euros for the building (36 units) and 300 million euros for the penthouse. Someone should be able to make a buck here.
Jesus James, for that kind of money i'd expect to get the Enterprise
The seventh picture down needs a nice painting of Dogs Playing Cards on that white wall to add some color and give the place some class.
Next time I'm in Monaco and need to use the John, that sweet condo is my first choice.
An upper decker from the proletariat.
So, is Monaco the new "Capitol" city? (Hunger Games)
Awesome. We have been here before, "let them eat cake"...
The units with the open balconies are reserved for employees of JP Morgan only
It's getting advertized but will it get built?
When the building is actually built, they may change their minds and use the space for 20 or 30 more modestly priced abodes.
But, thanks for the world wide free publicity.
Guaranteed front seat and sweeping views of the boatloads of ebola ridden North African refugee ships rolling into every French and Italian port?
ISIS France revolutionary HQ in 35 years when every 2nd resident of France is muslim?
Not sure what else to think anymore. I used to be impressed by stuff like this. Now I just see the downside potential. My cabin in the woods on hundreds of acres is a fraction of the cost and offers more chance at survival and definitely more privacy.
In the beginning of the 20 th century the Riviera was the playing ground of British Arsitocracy and Russian Princes of the Romanov era.
I guess we still have the same type of profile today: think Anglo-American replacing the Brit aristos of Downtown Abbey fame.
@falak pema
At the beginning of the 20th century the French Riviera was nothing more than hot, sleepy fishing villages until the American couple Gerald and Sara Murphy transformed it into the favourite bronzing/partying place for some of the last century's most influential artists.
you forgot Gunter Sachs and Adnan Khashoggi
If it were being offered by Costco, it would only be $350 million, but you'd have to buy 3.
Costco no longer offers those kinds of discounts. Now you get 3 in a box, for the triple the price of one.
No, if you pay triple the price for one, you get two more for free.
Unless it's "BOGO" I won't even consider it.
It's too clinical. Needs gold fixtures, shag carpets, ceiling mirrors, spinning water beds, nude statuary, and a support staff of obsequious eunechs.
An outhouse is still an outhouse even if you pay a million for it.
Tacky. I like old houses and buildings.
I found Monaco (on a quick afternoon visit) to be unfriendly and fake. Some wannabe sailor types in blazers and white trousers wandering around, yacht crew people on their breaks, some tacky looking leathery wrinkled blonde gold diggers and a few empty champagne bars with their doors open which looked real tacky and as if dudley moore might walk out any minute. Some snooty nobody models strutting around and a few sleazy moustached characters and also some Saudi prince lecherous types poncing about. Afternoon snack and sandwich prices were astronomical.
Totally ridiculous place. An hour down the coast either direction is a lot better and more genuine.
A sunny place for shady people?
Can I have two of those, please?
No Americans need apply:
TAX-BASED CITIZENSHIP RENUNCIANTS Under section 212(a)(10)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to deny admission to former U.S. citizens that are deemed to have expatriated for purposes of tax avoidance. In over a decade, the Department has not issued regulations nor has it undertaken any significant steps to enforce this provision. The Committee directs the Secretary to report within 90 days on the steps the Department is undertaking to enforce this law, including a schedule for issuing guidance or regulations, if necessary.
S. Rept. 113-198 - DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2015 https://beta.congress.gov/congressional-report/113th-congress/senate-rep...
Lot of money to spend to still feel hollow inside.
What's the point? You can't see the F1 very well from there.
If I were a pirate I'd like to chase all the world's wealthy into one lil corner against the sea-for safe keeping
Then you would be among "the world's wealthy." Then what?
A wise investment if you have 400 million in fiat units that are about to become worthless.
So this is what grandpa and grandmas stolen ira money buys.....
One less happy meal for every man woman and a child in the USA.
The Zombies will enjoy it.
Does it come with a 12V power source for a nail gun?
I'd buy it but heights give me a nose bleed.
I'd be happy just for the 5% real estate commission!
You'd think for that kind of money they'd buy furniture from someplace other than Walmart.
Location, location, location.
O.T. sort of, but Ex-Im bank looking for help:
Job Title: Deputy Chief Financial Officer
Agency: Export-Import Bank of the United States
Salary: $120,749.00 to $175,000.00 / Per Year
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/378296800
"Assists in the monitoring of the Bank's $57 billion portfolio of loans, guarantees, and insurance and in developing policies on evaluating of the quality of the portfolio, on reserves against bad debts, and on write-offs."
What happened to the last one?
More time with fambly or suicide?
These days, Monaco is so crowded no one goes there anymore.
They couldn't pay me 500 million to buy it. Doesn't do anything for me. I'll pass.
500 million isn't really allot of money these days.
Survival of the fittest, BITCHEZZ!
Billionaire's ghetto
Fly in some squatters from Tampa with spraypaint, hookers, and Bud Light.
They'll fix the place right up.
sounds like a great deal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Signed, Zimbabwe
Great way to get free publicity...
Makes the job easier when they are all corralled into a luxury pen.
Double trouble
omfg I have to vomit
Mirrors in every room. Probably never want to lose sight of yourself if you were able to pluck down a cool half billion for this place.
Fuck that. You'd have to spend your time doing too much dusting and vacuuming to keep it clean.
I wonder how many real, middle class people could have had homes built using the construction materials and labor expended on this monument to waste, excess and modern-day slavery?
Why not just construct NEW great pyramids using slaves from all over Africa and Asia? It would amount to the same waste of resources but at least it would still be around thousands of years later for people to enjoy. Unlike this overpriced piece of crap that will fall apart the moment maintenance on the building stops.
The new wealth created by central banks has, as figures prove, flowed into the hands of a tiny minority with dorect connections to the flows of ZIRP liquidity. There are many different routes and financial engineering methods to transfer this giant liquidity dump into the hands of Bankers, Hedge Funds, Big Trading Firms, Private Equity, you know who they are.
Anyways, this transfer since 2008 has exceeded all human experience in wealth giving. Please don't come on here and tell me the people who got the printed money earned it by capitalist means, I know what capitalism and free markets are, and the world has changed since 2008, there is not market, no capitalism, no competition that is making people this vast ocean of money. It comes from central banks and their printing and dumping.
The point has been reached where the difference between the fraction of the connected 1% and the rest of working humanity is something out of a science fiction novel. Our a horror film of a social order gone mad in which a tiny elite lords it up over everyone else and creates a bast military and police and spy network that creates an Orwellian world for the masses. We are living in a novel, one from Orwell of some great science fiction writer. I think it is past the point whre ordinary mortals can chane anything. I challange you to vote! Go ahead, use democracy to change this hellish new system we live under. Give it that old 1950's democratic voting American try to get some hope and change. The elites will wipe their asses with your ballots!
I had a friend from NYC whose family ran with the Rockefellers.
His father's dying words were....
"First class... all the way."
Comments like this are what makes this site worth coming to.
Nice view. I called my mortgage broker for some numbers. He started laughing and said he'd get back when he stopped. He hasn't called yet. Oh, and he needed to know who the agent is.
Future ISIS headquarters!
For that kind of money, you'd think that they could afford 2 chairs for the balcony!!
Print it and they will spend...well that is the people getting the printed money.
I read that 6 month ago ...
The stupid thing is the building probably didn't cost that much to build
'with a water slide connecting a dance floor to a circular open-air swimming pool. '
Thats nothing, I have three fridges so I never have to walk more than 20 feet to get a beer, bet they don't have that!
Only guy I know who can afford that is our pal 'Al' Gore! But I'm not sure if its big enough?
I would be looking for a discount on the basis that I am so high up travel time in the lift could become problematic.
Astounding to me that these stratospherically expensive interiors - frequently profiled in the interwebs - always look like a 1985 bank lobby, but with even less personality. The gent on the porch in "It's a Wonderful Life" remarked that "Youth is wasted on the wrong people." Money too, it seems.
I once saw a bumper sticker on a Lamborghini in Monaco...it said " Fuck the Poor"
I laughed.
I'm generally a law abiding citizen but even I would have no problem keying that Lamborghini given 10 seconds opportunity to do so.
"I can't see it."
Janet Yellen
The good news is, you can still buy those in dollars.
There must be better ways to get rid of your dollars, though.
But does is come with a parking spot?
Where do you keep the lawnmower? And the firewood?
How much is the whole Building worth?