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July 8, 2008
 photo credit: danocamera
US tycoon Donald Trump is the talk of the town in Scotland at the moment. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.
Mr Trump (cue immature giggle) is planning a £1 billion golf course on the Menie estate in Aberdeenshire and it’s causing all sorts of och-eys and other Scottish sounding grumbles. It’s not just your ordinary golf course though, it’s a full scale development of two golf courses, a 450-bed hotel, 950 holiday homes, a 400-staff accommodation block and 500 private and ‘affordable’ homes.
Confident Trump
The four-week consultation period on the development is now drawing to a close and Donald (Trump, not Duck) is said to be confident of an approval despite the concerns of local residents and environmental groups over the effect it will have on the area, which includes protected sand dunes.
The Menie estate has previously been kept away from developers but Trump’s resort is being seriously considered because the investment is set to create more than 1,000 jobs and generate £50m a year for the economy. In a massively unbiased and not at all over-the-top statement, his legal team said that not giving the go ahead would be a ‘tragedy’ for Scotland.
Donald’s Dictionary
Colin Boyd QC also said: “In my experience of my client, the word ‘cannot’ does not appear in his dictionary.” Really? What, never? “Mr Trump, you cannot run over all the fluffy bunny rabbits in the country and use them to line the pavements of your new development.”
Technorati Tags: property, property investment, real estate, real estate investing, trump
photo credit: nick farnhill
You haven’t really made it in the world of property until you’ve invested in a trendy, modern, decked-out-in magnolia flat, right? Wrong. According to The Times, despite the fact that London’s Robin Hood Gardens is soon to be demolished, tower blocks from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s are making a comeback. Glass and brick are out, concrete is in.
These blocks are now considered to be a significant part of the country’s architectural heritage and represent an ideal for urban living. The flats tucked away in these ‘brutalist blocks’ are very sought after and, dramatic though it may sound, ‘worshipped’ by young urbanites, architects and designers looking for a bargain.
“Distinctive and distinguished”
Quoted by the The Times, Steve Bee of English Heritage describes London’s listed housing estates as “distinctive and distinguished, with architectural integrity.”
So despite the monolithic design on the outside, don’t judge a flat by its cover because you could be onto a winner. Towers which once housed council flats are the place to pick up a bargain. The Times uses London’s Fifties Golden Lane estate as an example; it was commended this year in the Housing Design Awards but flats here cost ten per cent less than the always-private option next door, which was designed by the same architects.
Beware of Burberry
But does it take more than a few designers and young professionals moving in to make an ex-council estate a viable area for property investment? Let’s face it, they don’t have the best reputation for quality of life. So it certainly sounds like a possibility, but only as long as the whole estate has moved on and you’re not surrounded by Burberry-clad pillars of society who gather outside your door comparing weapons and drinking White Lightning all night.
Technorati Tags: property, property investment, real estate, real estate investing
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