Caan eyes luxury houses as he teams up with K10
James Caan, the entrepreneur best known for his role in the BBC TV programme Dragon’s Den, has joined forces with Kam Babaee of K10 Developments to launch Hamilton Bradshaw Real Estate (HBRE).
The new venture aims to combine Caan’s investment insight with the K10 Developments’ experience in high-end central London development to become the market leader in luxurious residential property.
HBRE is ambitiously positioning itself to rival Candy & Candy’s One Hyde Park development, targeting properties “within a five minute taxi from Knightsbridge” and representing “aspirational London living”.
HBRE is currently working on its first development acquisition, valued at over £20m and is looking to invest over £100m over the next two years.
Caan plans to focus his investment on what he describes as “the golden triangle” – Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Mayfair.
Caan said: “The market for luxury flats is indeed saturated but we are focusing on bespoke homes, targeting individual homebuyers and offering them quality. High end London property has been extremely resilient in the downturn and while supply is scarce demand is still plentiful for luxury homes. This is a great opportunity for us.”
JAMES CAAN
ENTREPRENEUR
Investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist James Caan who left school at 16 (later attaining a degree in business from the Harvard management school) now acts as CEO of private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw. Founded in 2004, the firm specialises in real estate, buyouts, venture capital and turnarounds in the UK. Besides his entrepreneurial work Caan is known for charitable efforts, being appointed chairman of The Big Issue in December 2009. His role was to instill a sense of entrepreneurship into the company and modernise its approach. Beyond this, Caan was responsible for setting up the James Caan Foundation in 2006 to help children’s education in Pakistan. Caan, a father of two, lives in London with his wife Aisha.