Parking for the upwardly mobile

Inside Bentley tower’s $6m apartments with high-rise parking in Miami

These $6m apartments could help, writes  It is one of life’s great first world problems. You buy a luxury apartment in a high-rise building but then have to lug your Whole Foods shopping from the communal car park to your door.

It was a conundrum bosses at Bentley, the carmaker, were keen to solve in its first branded residential tower, which opens in 2028 in Miami. The Dezervator lift — named after Bentley’s partner, Dezer Development — is designed to be the “ultimate in seamless privacy” allowing residents to travel directly up to their apartments inside their cars.

Each apartment will have its own huge garage next to it. Residences on the east side of the building have an 144 square metre area that can hold up to four vehicles, while those on the west side have 106 square metres, where they can park three cars.

The 216 residences will be spread over the 62 floors, while each balcony will have its own private heated swimming pool and summer kitchen — with sweeping views of the ocean.

Prices for the apartments start at $5.8 million. The building will also have a private residents’ only restaurant led by Todd English, a four times winner of the James Beard culinary awards, who will curate the dining experiences.

There will also be a cinema, a whisky bar and a beauty salon complete with hair styling, manicure, pedicure, and make-up facilities. Four-legged residents will be able to indulge at the pet spa that is “designed in partnership with Bentley Motors” and features washing and drying services.

Ben Saltmer, the product and lifestyle design manager for Bentley, said: “We have applied the same attention to detail that goes into our cars into this very building. “Each space is different, but with distinctive Bentley design cues styled harmoniously throughout — right down to a functional area like Bentley pet spa concept.

“Despite practicality being paramount, the area should have an elevated experience. We achieve this through exquisite materiality and subtle Bentley design signatures, an ethos we’ve followed throughout the design of the building.

“For instance, in the pet spa we’ve used the Bentley diamond motif when giving the surfaces a non-slip quality. This diamond signature extends graphically to the shelving above the main bath area that houses towels, shampoos, and pet-friendly fragrances.”

Saltmer said that pets visiting the spa will be “guided up the steps, washed in the bath, guided up to the grey marble surface for drying, then guided down the steps once dry”, adding: “This is a practical space but also a luxurious sanctuary for pet and owner.”

The building’s cinema has been designed to mimic the concept of a Bentley car interior. Saltmer said: “A cosseting sofa wraps around the back of the rear three walls, embracing residents in the space.”

There is also a “state of the art” games room equipped with VR headsets and golf simulators.

“The whisky bar design is inspired by the iconic matrix grille of Bentley’s cars,” Saltmer added. As it will be suspended from the ceiling, the bar will appear to be floating.

Car manufacturers moving into bricks and mortar has become a trend recently. Porsche has already opened a property in Miami while Aston Martin is preparing to do the same. Mercedes-Benz and JDS Development Group are celebrating the sales launch of the second tower at Mercedes-Benz Places in Miami.

It is the brand’s first real estate project in the US and one of the largest under construction in Florida. It launched Tower 1 last year and sold all 100 apartments in just four days.  

Source: The Times

Open spaces in a subdivision are beyond the commerce of man

In the Philippines, open spaces in a subdivision—such as parks, playgrounds, and roads—are typically beyond the commerce of man, meaning they cannot be sold or privately owned once they are designated as common areas.

Legal Basis:

1. Presidential Decree No. 957 (Subdivision and Condominium Buyers' Protective Decree)

   • Requires developers to allocate at least 30% of the total subdivision area for open spaces, roads, and other community facilities.

   • These open spaces are meant for public or homeowners' association (HOA) use and cannot be sold or used for commercial purposes.

2. Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160)

   • Upon completion of the subdivision, the roads and open spaces must be turned over to the local government or the HOA for maintenance.

   • If turned over to the local government, these spaces become public domain and cannot be sold.

3. Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of PD 957

   • Open spaces are considered part of the subdivision’s amenities and should not be converted for private or commercial use unless properly reclassified by authorities.

     
     

Exceptions:

• In some cases, developers or HOAs may petition the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB, now DHSUD) or the local government unit (LGU) for reclassification. If approved, these open spaces might be used differently (e.g., converted into commercial property), but this is rare and subject to strict legal processes.

  
  

Source: Ziggurat Real Estate.

UK First-time buyers’ chances evaporate

Only 11.5% can afford a property in their own area without relying on their family, research shows, and stamp duty change will make it harder

Barely one in ten potential first-time buyers could afford to get on the property ladder without relying on their family for financial help. Only 11.5 per cent of all those trying to buy their first home can do so in their local area under their own means, according to Skipton Group, the owner of Connells Group, the estate agency.

Having analysed an area’s average incomes and house prices, it found that Ceredigion in west Wales was the least affordable part of the UK for locals to buy their first home.

Fewer than 3 per cent of local people wanting to stay in Ceredigion could afford to buy a typical first home in the county, Skipton calculated. The four least affordable places for first-time buyers were all in Wales, a reflection more of “very low” average incomes than house prices.

In the City of London, 3.2 per cent of first-time buyers could afford to buy without tapping the Bank of Mum and Dad, with much higher house prices somewhat offset by higher incomes. All but one of the most affordable areas were in Scotland. In Aberdeen, close to 33 per cent of locals could buy a home independently.

In Manchester, the only place in England in the top ten, the proportion was about 23 per cent. With house prices having risen much faster than wages over the past decade, younger people trying to buy their first home increasingly rely on help from their families.

Legal & General estimates parents gave £9.2 billion last year to help their children get on the ladder. Stuart Haire, chief executive of Skipton Group, owner of Skipton Building Society, said the “chronic lack of affordability is about to get even worse”, in reference to looming changes to stamp duty.

From April the threshold at which first-time buyers pay stamp duty will drop from £425,000 to the previous level of £300,000, adding up to £6,250 to the overall purchase cost.

The typical first-time buyer home will now be liable for stamp duty in 32 per cent of local authorities, up from 8 per cent at present, Skipton said.

“We know the public finances are tight, but we urge the government not to move the goalposts and exacerbate the pain already being felt by first-time buyers,” Haire said.

“We are calling on the government to maintain the nil rate stamp duty threshold of £425,000 for people buying their first home and to uprate this threshold in line with inflation each year.”

Source: The Times