One Hyde Park, the world's most expensive apartments, opens its doors for the first time
The world’s most expensive aprtments at One Hyde Park have been officially unveiled today by the colourful property duo, the Candy brothers.

A valet, a wine cellar, a private spa, a panic room, and home cooking from a team of award-winning chefs: if these are on your list of must-have creature comforts, then here’s the apartment for you.

A total of 86 flats at One Hyde Park, thought to be the most expensive residential development in the world, have been officially unveiled by the property duo, the Candy brothers. Prices at the highly anticipated Knightsbridge project start at £6.5m for a simple one-bedroom flat and soar to £140m for one of the penthouses. Averaging about £6,000 a square foot, the prices are higher than any other residential space, according to property experts.

City grandees including Lord Fink, the hedge fund guru, Ken Costa of Lazards, and Bernie Ecclestone of F1 joined international investors and celebrities including Gary Lineker, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Theo Fennell at the launch.

The project is a joint venture between the Candys’ Guernseybased vehicle, CPC Group, and Waterknights, a company owned by the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani.

The launch is being carefully watched as a litmus test for the financial health of the world’s super-rich and their appetite for London in the wake of the financial crisis.

When the brothers started the project four years ago, it was roundly mocked for being far too extravagant. With the onslaught of the economic downturn, critics argued the development would flop.

But the Candys claim 60pc of the apartments have been snapped up, mainly by foreign business leaders from the Middle East, Africa, Russia, China and India.

Ned Baring, the lead agent from Savills in charge of selling the apartments, said: “We’ve had strong interest from clients around the world. The launch has been extremely successful and resulted in around 60 bookings for viewings next week. This is the best residential development in the world, and the international interest, in particular, is very strong.”

Residents have access to a shared cinema, a 21m swimming pool, saunas, a gym, virtual games room and a golf simulator. There is a private underground tunnel to the Mandarin Oriental next door which gives open access to the five-star facilities and allows a 60-strong army of hotel staff to serve residents in their apartments 24 hours a day.

The build included 15 different types of stone and marble from Turkey, Italy, Brazil, China and Egypt as well as £50m of “sparkly” concrete with limestone aggregate.

The development is Christian and Nick Candy’s most ambitious project yet. The brothers, who started out with a £6,000 loan from their grandmother, have enjoyed a meteoric rise.

In 2008 they brokered a deal with the Qatari government to buy Chelsea Barracks from the Ministry of Defence for a record £900m.

Property experts say international buyers view London as a stable, safe market for money. The weakness of the pound, trading 20pc lower against the dollar compared to 2008, has also helped.