Christian Candy

Nicholas Anthony Christopher Candy (born 23 January 1973) and Christian Peter Candy (born 31 July 1974) are British luxury property developers. The brothers are partly of Greek Cypriot descent, and were estimated to share a joint net worth of £1.5 billion in the Estates Gazette rich list 2010, placing them at position 52 in the list of the richest property developers in the United Kingdom.

Early life

The brothers were educated at Priory Preparatory School and Epsom College in Surrey. They grew up in Banstead, Surrey, where their father Anthony Candy ran an art studio and a media production company, and their Cypriot mother Patricia was a drama teacher.

While Christian was later studying for a business management degree at King's College London, Nick graduated from University of Reading with a degree in Human Geography.

Career

In 1995, they bought their first property, a one-bedroom flat in Redcliffe Square, Earl's Court, London. Using a £6,000 loan from their grandmother, the brothers renovated the £122,000 apartment while living in it. Eighteen months later they sold it for £172,000, making a £50,000 profit.

In their spare time between 1995 and 1999, the brothers began renovating flats and working their way up the property ladder. Eventually they were able to give up their day jobs where Nick worked in advertising for J. Walter Thompson and Christian for investment bank Merrill Lynch and established Candy & Candy in 1999, of which Nick is CEO. Nicholas and Christian, who did collaborate on the prestigious One Hyde Park scheme in London, operate separate independent businesses and have done for a number of years. In June 2018, Candy & Candy was renamed Candy Property in order to reinforce Nick Candy's sole ownership of the business and to align with his wider portfolio of companies. In 2004, Christian established CPC Group in Guernsey, to specialise in high-end residential developments around the world. Some of their more high-profile developments, however, have been in London.

In 2016 and 2017 they were involved in high-profile litigation in the High Court in London which put their reputations on the line. Mark Holyoake claimed in the High Court action that the Candy Brothers had used threats against him and his family to extort total repayments of £37m against a £12m loan. Although they were cleared of extortion, Mr Justice Nugee said in his judgment "the protagonists...have been willing to lie when they consider their commercial interests justify them doing so". Mr Justice Nugee went on to say "he had found none of Mr Holyoake’s claims to be true, and that there had been no undue duress, influence, intimidation or unlawful interference with economic interests.” In June 2018, following another application by Mr. Holyoake, the Court of Appeal rejected Mark Holyoake's bid challenging the high-profile high court ruling in December 2017 (above). Lord Justice David Richards concluded that Mr Holyoake's arguments had “no real prospect of success” meaning Mr Justice Nugee's original decision in 2017 was affirmed.

In recent years Nick Candy has diversified his interests outside of real estate and developed a portfolio of global investments (often in high tech, leading edge technology) through his private investment fund Candy Ventures. Candy Ventures, alongside Qualcomm Ventures was reported to have led a $37 million funding round for a leading augmented reality and computer vision company. Candy Ventures acquired the intellectual property assets of leading augmented reality start-up Blippar in January 2019.

Notable development projects

One Hyde Park (2004)

In 2004, the brothers sought an investment partner to help them buy the site of Bowater House in Knightsbridge, with plans to demolish it and construct 86 luxury apartments.

After setting up a joint venture with Waterknights – a private company owned by the Prime Minister of Qatar – they purchased the site from Land Securities in 2005 for £150m.

They then hired the architect Richard Rogers to design the exterior, and used their own Candy & Candy to handle interior design. One Hyde Park: The Residences of Mandarin Oriental, London, was constructed in four years after obtaining planning permission in 2006, with the finished development housing three commercial units: Rolex, McLaren Automotive and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. Despite its name, the building's address is located at 68-114 Knightsbridge, London.

The One Hyde Park development officially launched in January 2011 and had a profound effect on the global real estate market, breaking a number of industry records as the most expensive residential development in the world. It was reported that the penthouse apartments alone fetched some of the highest prices on record.

In October 2018, it was reported that Nick Candy refinanced his penthouse at One Hyde Park with an £80 million mortgage from Credit Suisse in order to pursue rental opportunities. The property is reportedly valued at £160 million.

NoHo Square (2006)

In 2006, the site of the former Middlesex Hospital was purchased for £175m by Project Abbey (Guernsey) Holdings Ltd – an investment consortium which included Kaupthing Bank, the now defunct Icelandic bank, and was led by the Candy's CPC Group. In February 2007, the brothers applied to Westminster City Council for planning permission to redevelop the 1.2 hectare (3 acre) site into a mixed use development of several hundred new residential units and office space. The plans were met with strong criticism from local residents over the Candy's choice of NoHo Square as the name for the new development.

Planning permission for NoHo Square was granted in November 2007; however, the completion of demolition of the hospital in 2008 coincided with the collapse of Kaupthing as a result of the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. Kaupthing was the largest shareholder in the Guernsey-based consortium which bought the Middlesex site from University College Hospital in 2006, and with the bank in administration, the NoHo Square development stalled. As a result of CPC Group being partners with Kaupthing in another property development over in the US, the Candy brothers were able to transfer their equity stake in NoHo Square to the bank and in exchange take full control of the US development.

Chelsea Barracks (2007)

In April 2007, the Candy brothers acquired the Chelsea Barracks in a joint venture with Qatari Diar, part of the Qatar government's investment arm. In what is believed to be Britain's costliest residential property deal, the Candy brothers and the Qatari government have bought the 12.8-acre site from the Ministry of Defence for £959m.

Beverly Hills 9900 Wilshire development (2008)

In April 2007, the Candy brothers purchased – through CPC Group – an eight-acre site in Beverly Hills, California, known as 9900 Wilshire, with their equity partners Kaupthing for a reported £250m.

CPC Group hired architect Richard Meier to design a condominium and retail complex in place of the former Robinsons-May department store. Victor Bardack of the Beverly Hills North Homeowners Association said: "To put two huge projects on the already-impacted intersection of Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards is grossly detrimental to the community,[...] It'll be gridlock forever." The controversy stemmed from the Sheikh being part owner of a Middle Eastern newspaper that has been accused of being anti-Semitic and anti-American.

CPC Group served a written notice of default on Kaupthing shortly after. In the same month, the situation was made worse when the acquisition loan to the project from Credit Suisse became past due, and, additionally, it became increasingly difficult to get financing on the 250 condominiums that the original plans catered for. This was due to the collapse of the property market and banks pulling their funding. It was later reported that CPC Group – after negotiating full control of the development from Kaupthing – defaulted on a US$365.5 million bank loan.

Personal life

Christian wed Emily Crompton, socialite and former nightclub hostess, in a lavish ceremony in 2010. They had twins in 2013, Isabella Monaco Evanthia and Cayman Charles Wolf. They lived between UK and Monaco.

On 29 September 2012, Nick wed the Australian-British actress-musician-TV presenter Holly Valance in Beverly Hills, California. In November 2013, they had their first child in London, a daughter, Luka Violet Toni Candy.