Home to palaces, museums and art galleries, central London offers limited property for sale for those looking for a residential address.
Keeping such a market in mind, developers are now turning former office blocks into residences.
One of these is Maddox Street, on the street of the same name. The block is undergoing renovation and transformation into five apartments. Built around 1910, it housed offices and a retail space before the conversion.
The developer Amazon Property is the driver behind the address with a W1 postcode, close to the Victoria Miro and Francis Kyle art galleries.
The apartments come with a price tag in the range of £1.3 million to £6 million. The block includes one-, two- and three-bedroom flats besides a three-bedroom duplex penthouse. Some of them come with a study. All of the units have a private outdoor space. The apartments are between 463 square feet and 2,164 square feet in size.
“With limited space available in the capital, office to residential conversions are the most effective way to deliver chic housing,” says Chris Lanitis, a partner at Amazon Property.
“Many of Mayfair’s period properties were previously converted from their original residential purpose, which are now proving unsuitable for modern open-plan working. These properties are top on the list for residential redevelopment, and we’re working hard to restore these buildings to their former glory.”
Close to stores on Bond, Regent and Oxford Streets, the property is also walking distance to upmarket restaurants. It is also a few minutes from Oxford Circus, where, for those willing to take the underground, connections are available with the Bakerloo, Victoria and Central line services.
Amazon Property is also working on other projects including Paramount House in Soho, 5 Portland Place in Marylebone, The Buckingham Collection at Covent Garden, Pall Mall at St James’s, the Hempel Collection at Bayswater, and projects at Kensington Park Road and Collingham Road. All of these are primarily conversions of office blocks into residential properties, except The Hempel Collection, which is the conversion of two hotels.
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
