Most expensive apartment in the history of Barcelona for sale at €40m

BarcelonaThe most expensive apartment in the history of Barcelona, and probably of all Catalonia, is formally for sale. The 650-square metre luxury penthouse is part of the Mandrin Oriental residential complex and has four bedrooms and spectacular views over the entire city. "We are taking offers in excess of €40m," explains Josep Maria Farré, founder of the KKH Property Investors group.

The duplex in question is the most expensive of the 34 homes that make up the complex, located on Passeig de Gràcia and Avinguda Diagonal, above the Casa Seat. The cheapest among the rest of the apartments is still above €2.5m, figures that break records for sales prices in the Spanish real estate market. According to KKH Group, half of the 34 properties have already been sold, and they expect to sell them all by the end of the year.

Average prices for these apartments are, for the lower storeys, about €30,000 per square metre. For the higher and therefore more expensive storeys, prices are around €40,000 or €45,000 per square metre, on average. It also depends on the size: apartments range from 120 to 500 square meters, without taking into account the penthouse, which is 650 square metres and in which each square metre is priced at €61,538.

The total investment KKH has made for the purchase and remodelling of the building, including Casa Seat, amounts to €160m, a figure that with the apartments' sale they expect to "exceed by far". In addition to the apartments, the building has a 450 m² commercial space on the ground floor, which still has no tenant and is not finished, but which will be offered for sale "soon".

As for the type of buyer for the apartments, the fund explains that half of them are foreigners and the other half are from Barcelona or the rest of Spain. "Owners will be able to start moving in in September, and most of them have bought off-plan," explained Farré. Among the buyers, there are mainly businessmen who live part-time in Barcelona and also some elite athletes, although they did not want to make any names public.

Super-luxury

The concept of these apartments revolves around super-luxury, and is the reason for KKH's alliance with Mandarin Oriental. "It's about offering a unique lifestyle," the investment group explains. The building has 1,000 m² of communal services such as a meeting room, a library, a spa, a gym, swimming pool and garden for the owners. In addition, the building will be managed by Mandarin Oriental and services such as 24-hour security, maintenance, gardening, etc. will be provided. "The idea is to offer the same services you could have in a five-star hotel," explains KKH CEO Jordi Bono. The building has been designed by the well-known architect Carlos Ferrater, winner of the National Architecture Award, and the interior design was done by the famous London studio Muza Lab.