Millions of dollars for beauty are paid by the buyers of central apartments
Mysteries of “Golden triangle”.
It is a well-known fact that our city is one of the most remarkable cities of
As far as I know, it is possible to buy a high-quality apartment in this area for 200,000-300,000 dollars. That is expensive enough. What do buyers pay millions for then?
- For beauty. Essentially, such apartments are not radically different from the similar ones in neighbouring buildings. But if an apartment overlooks the Spit of Vasilievsky island, the Moika or Fontanka, it becomes special. Such waterfront apartments are worth their weight in gold all over the world. They are unique, each in its own way. I would say they are rarities. And like all rarities they are worth correspondingly.
- You mean the owners of such rarities pay millions for the view from the window, don’t you? Isn’t it too expensive?
- Undoubtedly, both the view and location are very important factors. But being a masterpiece, such apartment must satisfy the highest demands. It is evident that a wonderful view can not redeem the ugliness of the building.
- Are there any ugly buildings in the center?
- Yes, they are buildings which were completely spoiled by primitive Soviet time reconstruction. Very often after such reconstructions only walls were left in their initial state, and street doors and staircases were turned into stereotype elements.
- But for the reconstruction, most buildings would have collapsed…
- Not long ago NEVSKY PROSTOR sold an apartment in a building on the Moika river embankment which luckily avoided reconstruction. By the way, it was built in the middle of the XIX century. You know, its walls are
- Does it mean that the combination of a perfect location, a remarkable building and a splendid view is enough to rank an apartment as a rarity?
- And the street door? And the staircase? Can you imagine the main entrance to a nice building from backstairs? That is impossible! In an elite building everything should be perfect! And such buildings are quite frequent in our city! You can see entrance doors which are real masterpieces. Not long ago an apartment was sold in a building where there was a spiral marble staircase (three meters wide!) against a large stained glass. Imagine this vast space full of air and light which can be called a staircase only through misunderstanding! The buyer was really amazed even before he saw the apartment itself. He did not even pay great attention to the very apartment.
– Why? You said that apartments should satisfy certin demands.
Only in a general way, because there are no apartments with original interiors for the time being. High ceilings, large area and the possibility of changing lay-out that is all what is needed.
And only if all requirements starting from the view and finishing with the quality of the apartment are fulfilled, the prospective buyer is in a position to pay a few million dollars for it. However, it is not too expensive as it may seem at first sight. Apartments of such quality available now are still undervalued and in future their prices will go up several times. Say, the apartment which costs 2-3 million dollars now, in 5 years will worth a fortune.
Source "Saint-Petersburg Vedomosti"
15 December 2005
