Red Square is up for sale
Special offer: bijou apartments, unique location in Red Army military installation in central Moscow, a stone's throw from the Kremlin and St Basil's Cathedral. Quiet neighbours, including one long-dead Soviet leader.
Part of Red Square, the iconic symbol of the former Soviet Union and home to the mausoleum housing its first leader, is to become a playground for the fabulously rich.
One of the ornate, pre-revolution buildings overlooking the historic square is being transformed into a palatial £250 million hotel and elite apartment complex. With Moscow property prices doubling every year and now topping £372 per square foot, it is anyone's guess how much the flats will cost when they go on sale. One thing is for sure; they will be beyond the wildest dreams of the average Russian on a monthly salary equivalent to £162.
The French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, who is designing the complex, said it was a dream project.
"For me it is a unique and incredible opportunity, and to be honest one that I have not taken in yet," he told The Sunday Telegraph.
"Red Square is a trademark, a mythical place that features in thousands of tourist photographs every single day. The challenge for us is to do something that respects the history of the place while introducing something contemporary. It is an extraordinary thing to be doing."
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Part of Red Square, the iconic symbol of the former Soviet Union and home to the mausoleum housing its first leader, is to become a playground for the fabulously rich.
One of the ornate, pre-revolution buildings overlooking the historic square is being transformed into a palatial £250 million hotel and elite apartment complex. With Moscow property prices doubling every year and now topping £372 per square foot, it is anyone's guess how much the flats will cost when they go on sale. One thing is for sure; they will be beyond the wildest dreams of the average Russian on a monthly salary equivalent to £162.
The French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, who is designing the complex, said it was a dream project.
"For me it is a unique and incredible opportunity, and to be honest one that I have not taken in yet," he told The Sunday Telegraph.
"Red Square is a trademark, a mythical place that features in thousands of tourist photographs every single day. The challenge for us is to do something that respects the history of the place while introducing something contemporary. It is an extraordinary thing to be doing."