We’ll always have Dubai
Dubai’s next world’s tallest building, currently going under the simple moniker of The Tower, already has a nickname. With lines that taper to an observation deck, it is known by locals – not least those in Cluttons’ office in the emirate – as the Dubaiffel Tower. As is the way of things in Dubai, its exact height is unlikely to be announced until the opening itself, expected in time for Expo 2020, but it promises to be a notch taller than the current world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. Just as it takes developers in London some time to embrace new buildings’ nicknames, so it may be in Dubai. Diary notices the website address dubaiffeltower.com is still available. If you’re quick, you could yet own a slice of the world’s tallest building. Listen to our podcast with the tower’s architect at estatesgazette.libsyn.com.
Brexit: drink it in
Diary enjoyed the opportunity to savour our EU referendum vote in the form of inventively named cocktails at a Helix Property event this week. Brexit Bellini (which came in a shade of pale pink), Vote to Remain-tini (sunshine yellow) and On The Fence (moody red) were on the menu, and if we could gauge sentiment in the room by the number of each cocktail consumed, then the crowd, shock horror, was decidedly pro-Brexit. So we put it down to a simple penchant for bubbles and a splash of vodka instead.
Common catchphrases caught
Predicting William Newsom’s most commonly uttered phrases during his famous Property Financing presentation (p54) has become something of a game, akin to Boycott bingo on Test Match Special. But instead of “My mother could have batted better with a stick of rhubarb”, it tended to be something more focused on the lending market. Despite insisting on “no funny business”, he was honoured by his colleagues at his last presentation before retirement this week with a tour T-shirt ahead of his countrywide roadshow next week, with all his best catchphrases imposed over a picture of him undertaking one of his mountaineering expeditions.
Billionaire’s pad next door
Many thought paying $200m (£138m) for the privilege of housing a nonagenarian until the day he dies was a big ask, but not the 32-year-old billionaire owner of Twinkies, Daren Metropoulos, who currently lives next door. The Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, California, went on the market in January with the caveat that current resident and Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner gets to live out his days in the 29-bedroom home. Metropoulos plans to join the neighbouring sites when Hefner eventually, ahem, vacates the property for good.
ICYMI
Diary learned a lot more than just the critical factor of connectivity across London’s streets and workplaces at an EG roundtable last week (p88). Talk to the experts on virtual long enough and you quickly learn there is a giant tech-shaped hole in your vocabulary. The mystery term in this instance was IRL, which of course stands for “in real life”, the alternative universe to online, naturally.
The countdown to the Property Triathlons has begun. The events take place at Dorney Lake, near Windsor, on 1 July and MediaCityUK, Manchester, in partnership with Peel Holdings, on 29 July. To get you in the competitive spirit, try figuring out who from Team JLL has donned a stormtrooper outfits for Dorney’s fancy dress wave? Winner gets EG editor Damian Wild’s signed trisuit… or champagne. Tweet us @estategazette using #iwantwildonesy
The Peloton awakens
The countdown to the Property Triathlons has begun. The events take place at Dorney Lake, near Windsor, on 1 July and MediaCityUK, Manchester, in partnership with Peel Holdings, on 29 July. To get you in the competitive spirit, try figuring out who from Team JLL has donned a stormtrooper outfit for Dorney’s fancy dress wave and how many how many Lego pieces were used to build the JLL tri cyclist pictured below left? Winner gets EG editor Damian Wild’s signed trisuit… or champagne. Tweet us @estategazette using #iwantwildonesy
