Qatar has put its biggest single investment in London on hold, citing concerns about the British economy.
The gas and oil-rich state has placed the £3bn Chelsea Barracks housing development under review and a source close to the project said that while it could still go ahead, one option was to sell the "super-prime" site without building what has been dubbed a "Gucci ghetto" of 450 luxurious residences and 123 affordable homes.
Qatari Diar, the emirate's property arm, has secured planning permission for the scheme, which includes seven-bedroom mansions as well as one-bedroom flats. But today the £1bn site stands empty with weeds growing through the concrete.
"It now seems a huge gamble to deliver all of this," a Qatari source told the Guardian. "They [the developers] will take their time and see how the numbers stack up in due course." He added that while the scheme could still be built, "they could sell [the site] any time".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/28/qatar-halts-chelsea-barracks-scheme
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