21
de Setembre
de
2016 - 04:57
Act.
24
de Febrer
de
2017 - 13:04
Coldwell Banker Prestige Barcelona only sells luxury mansions, and what mansions they are! Many of us are familiar with them, from sitting among cinema audiences, open-mouthed, watching infinite scenes shot in wonderful halls, gigantic kitchens and well-kept gardens. At the moment, the Elrod House is for sale, the home of the fictional character Ernst Stavro Blofeld from the film Diamonds are Forever (Guy Hamilton, 1971), the last Sean Connery film in the James Bond saga. The house, located in Palm Springs, has a sale price of 10.5 million dollars.
In 1998, François Carriere and Josep Poch founded Prestige Real Estate, a property company specialising in the sale of luxury dwellings in Barcelona and Costa Brava. From 2013, it joined the network of Coldwell Banker to take advantage of its international division specialising in luxury properties. "We sell mansion all over the world. The company's HQ is in the United States and thanks to that we get famous clients looking to buy in Spain," says Carriere.
Calling on famous people
Yet luxury is not the only thing that identifies the company, as recently it has featured in the media for managing property operations involving high-profile properties, Carriere explains. "Last year we handled a sale of house of the Piqué family in Pedralbes and also the sale of the famous palace of the Infanta Cristina in Pedralbes, as well as other properties that, not wanting to appear in the press, we cannot comment on," he reveals with an air of mystery.
One that is known and public is a multi-million dollar deal this summer: the firm was involved in the sale of the Playboy mansion, where for more than 40 years Hugh Hefner, the editor of the popular magazine, held his famous private parties. The property went for 100 million dollars, the most expensive house sale in the history of Los Angeles.
In fact, the world of film and show business is a speciality. In recent times it is common for film producers to resort to the firm's services when searching for locations to shoot their stories. The most recent case is the ceding of a mansion in Salem (USA) as the location for the school of Professor Xavier in X-Men Apocalypse, which came out in May. "The credibility, the inheritance and legacy of our brand means we have a major presence in the Hollywood area and are well-connected in this market," says Carriere.
This fact allows for making a sale with a "cinema" history behind one mansion or another. "We have a spectacular stock of properties and they look to rent them for a few weeks or days to do some shooting. This type of demand in Catalonia is growing, to do the same in large mansions in Barcelona," says the businessman. At the same time, having been the set of a shoot is an attraction, "a marketing tool, but then after that it is important not to forget that we are selling a property," he argues.
Locations for Breaking Bad and True Blood
Houses appearing in TV series are also gaining ground. The house of Jesse Pinkman, a character from Breaking Bad, is up for sale. It is a property in the Spanish colonial style located in Albuquerque that was built in 1940 and which could command a price of 1.6 million dollars. Villa Contenta in Malibu is also up for sale for 25 million dollars, which was the home of vampire Sophie-Anne Leclerq, one of the main characters in True Blood.
In 2015, the Catalan company made business worth 55 million euros and its international network saw more than 25,000 operations worth over a million dollars. They are large amounts that help them to face the recent housing crisis. "The crisis was terrible for the whole property sector, indiscriminately. While it is often said that the luxury sector is immune, the crisis in Spain was very tough and affected all sectors due to a problem of confidence. We are now noting a recovery and this year we have seen a consolidation of this recovery; domestic clients have started buying again or looking into offers that have been stalled for seven years," he says.
In 1998, François Carriere and Josep Poch founded Prestige Real Estate, a property company specialising in the sale of luxury dwellings in Barcelona and Costa Brava. From 2013, it joined the network of Coldwell Banker to take advantage of its international division specialising in luxury properties. "We sell mansion all over the world. The company's HQ is in the United States and thanks to that we get famous clients looking to buy in Spain," says Carriere.
 |
| The impressive Elrod House mansion. Ceded |
Calling on famous people
Yet luxury is not the only thing that identifies the company, as recently it has featured in the media for managing property operations involving high-profile properties, Carriere explains. "Last year we handled a sale of house of the Piqué family in Pedralbes and also the sale of the famous palace of the Infanta Cristina in Pedralbes, as well as other properties that, not wanting to appear in the press, we cannot comment on," he reveals with an air of mystery.
One that is known and public is a multi-million dollar deal this summer: the firm was involved in the sale of the Playboy mansion, where for more than 40 years Hugh Hefner, the editor of the popular magazine, held his famous private parties. The property went for 100 million dollars, the most expensive house sale in the history of Los Angeles.
In fact, the world of film and show business is a speciality. In recent times it is common for film producers to resort to the firm's services when searching for locations to shoot their stories. The most recent case is the ceding of a mansion in Salem (USA) as the location for the school of Professor Xavier in X-Men Apocalypse, which came out in May. "The credibility, the inheritance and legacy of our brand means we have a major presence in the Hollywood area and are well-connected in this market," says Carriere.
This fact allows for making a sale with a "cinema" history behind one mansion or another. "We have a spectacular stock of properties and they look to rent them for a few weeks or days to do some shooting. This type of demand in Catalonia is growing, to do the same in large mansions in Barcelona," says the businessman. At the same time, having been the set of a shoot is an attraction, "a marketing tool, but then after that it is important not to forget that we are selling a property," he argues.
 |
| The house of Walter White's partner in the TV series 'Breaking Bad'. Ceded |
Locations for Breaking Bad and True Blood
Houses appearing in TV series are also gaining ground. The house of Jesse Pinkman, a character from Breaking Bad, is up for sale. It is a property in the Spanish colonial style located in Albuquerque that was built in 1940 and which could command a price of 1.6 million dollars. Villa Contenta in Malibu is also up for sale for 25 million dollars, which was the home of vampire Sophie-Anne Leclerq, one of the main characters in True Blood.
In 2015, the Catalan company made business worth 55 million euros and its international network saw more than 25,000 operations worth over a million dollars. They are large amounts that help them to face the recent housing crisis. "The crisis was terrible for the whole property sector, indiscriminately. While it is often said that the luxury sector is immune, the crisis in Spain was very tough and affected all sectors due to a problem of confidence. We are now noting a recovery and this year we have seen a consolidation of this recovery; domestic clients have started buying again or looking into offers that have been stalled for seven years," he says.