From the February issue: This month, The Real Deal sifted through land registry records, public listings and news reports and also interviewed experts to find the priciest residential listings and most expensive recent sales on the planet. In the second web installment, we look at the tiny principality famed for high-rollers, super yachts, James Bond movies, and of course, the late American screen goddess Grace Kelly who became its princess.
Monaco
Tour Odéon penthouse
$400 million (listing)
Tour Odéon is one of Monaco’s newest and most buzz-worthy developments, largely due to its five-story Sky Penthouse. Though the 35,500-square-foot unit hasn’t been publicly listed, the asking price is widely reported to be in the ballpark of $400 million.
The building, which is located in the hills of La Rousse, is billed as the principality’s tallest, rising 558 feet. The penthouse is one of 70 units in the high-rise And Features A Private Terrace, dance floor, private pool and waterslide.
Though Monte Carlo — home to the famed Casino Monte Carlo, as well as luxury hotels, villas and apartments — is widely considered the most prestigious district in the tiny sovereign state, new luxury construction is largely springing up elsewhere, due to a shortage of land, according to Savills. Tour Odéon is Monaco’s first new skyscraper in decades.
Monaco, of course, is a magnet for the world’s wealthy, who are lured not just by its location on the French Riviera, yachting, motor sports and gambling culture, but also by the lack of an income tax.
Edward de Mallet Morgan, an associate with Knight Frank, said Monaco has an aging housing stock but is seeing “very high-class developments” enter the market.
“Given Monaco is so small and the demand for property is so high, the price per square foot is more expensive than New York City,” he said. “Generally speaking, the quality of buildings and services in the main market in Monaco will not be as good as New York City, but at the top end of the market, the quality of interiors and finishings rival the best in the world.”
The principality topped Knight Frank’s ranking of priciest locations by square foot: $1 million there only buys 182.9 square feet. And with available property scarce, the competition is fierce.
“As soon as there’s a new development, people fight for them,” said Daniel Masnaghetti, managing director of John Taylor, a real estate firm that specializes in international luxury properties and works in Monaco.