Meet 25 year old Richard Louis Grosvenor, who this week became the third
richest person in the UK - and actually now owns much of Mayfair in real
life. Mansions, mountains, shopping centres, olive groves and masterpieces -look into 25 year old New Duke of Westminster's £9BILLION inheritance. See photos after the cut
The prime real estate in the heart of west London however in reality makes up just a small part of the £9.3BILLION fortune he has inherited from his late father Gerald, the 64-year-old former Duke of Westminster who died on Tuesday.Hugh's dad Gerald was an intensely astute businessman - he himself inherited in his words an estate "in very bad shape" which he turned around - as well as an incredibly generous man, giving time and money to various charities close to his heart.
Now all of his titles, worldwide property portfolio and duties - which have taken the best part of a millennium to create since the days of William the Conqueror - have fallen to his son.
So what exactly does baby-faced Hugh - who is godfather to future King Prince George - get with his £9.3bn fortune?
Property
The legacy involves a complex number of companies - including:- Property firm Grosvenor (employing 520+ people) - the largest part of the firm which "operates in property development, investment and fund management"
- Development company Wheatsheaf (employing 450+ people) - which finds solutions to global challenges facing the world's population covering food, energy and water
- The Family Investment Office (employing 470+ people) including the management of four rural estates in the UK and one in Spain.
- The Westminster Foundation - the Grosvenor family's charity arm.
The group is active in 60 cities and directly owns 1,550 properties - specialising in urban regeneration.
The group itself owns nearly 165,000 acres of rural land worldwide and in the UK it is 133,100 acres - more than the Queen.
London
The vast majority of the Grosvenor fortune was built from on land in the wealthiest areas of London - including 100 acres of Mayfair and 200 acres of Belgravia, once described as a "few boggy fields".
Hugh now owns freehold to extensive real estate dotted all over the capital.
The area is aplenty with private members’ clubs, luxury shops, Michelin-starred restaurants, hedge fund offices and sky-high property prices which have proved a magnet for the super rich.
Properties Grosvenor owns include 10, 20, 33 Grosvenor Street and 20 and 50 Grosvenor Hill.
If those addresses mean nothing to you then perhaps the sale value of another they sold in 69 Grosvenor Street earlier this year will - £35million for a 'boutique' townhouse turned into offices.
Other addresses in the portfolio also include The Beaumont, Brown Hart Gardens, Grosvenor Square, Mount Street, Pantechnicon building, Eaton Square, Elizabeth Street, 1999 Ebury Street and Eccelston Street.
There are a number of familiar addresses in each - not least Scott's in Mount Street which is the No.1 restaurant destination of choice for A-List Hollywood stars.
Rest of England
Hugh also inherits the Grosvenor's sprawling ancestral estate - the family seat - called Eaton Hall near Chester, set in 11,500 acres and featuring 526 properties.
The building was originally a neo-Gothic palace designed by Alfred Waterhouse (the architect of the Natural History Museum) and required a household staff of 300 to run it.
There is also the 23,500-acres of a sporting estate at Abbeystead in the Trough of Bowland, Lancashire - where dad Gerald collapsed on Tuesday - popular for shooting parties.
Plus there are Grosvenor's interests in shopping centres throughout the UK including the Liverpool One complex - valued at £920m alone.
Hugh Grosvenor now owns 96,000 acres in Scotland - home to the peaks of Ben Stack, Arkle and Foinaven - and the some 3,500 deer that come with it.
This includes a vast tract of the Reay Forest - some 11,000 acres - and grouse moors in Sutherland in the Highlands.
There is also the Springside residential development in Edinburgh, and Hugh now owns the 1,800 acres of the Halkyn estate in north Wales - which is rich in limestone, church stone and lead.
It was actually quarrying of these commodities which created the family's original wealth.
Worldwide
One of the most significant developments in the Grosvenor empire is the thousands of acres which make up the La Garganta estate in the Castilla La Mancha region of Spain.
It's where Princes William and Harry have hunted - and features acres of groves including 19,000 olive trees and 34,0000 evergreen oak trees.
Richly diverse flora and fauna, it is one of only very few places in Europe where a number of rare species are found - including the Lynx and the Spanish Imperial Eagle.
* USA - The portfolio includes 917 acres of California's Silicon Valley
Then there is residential block F1rst on Capitol Riverfront and The Campus at Sunrise office block in Washington DC.
There are 325 rental apartments at F1rst - 50 will offered below market rental rates - a 170-room Marriott ill and more than 2,300 sq m of retail space. Residents have access to a pool, a gym, cooking stations and rooftop with a view into Nationals Park baseball stadium.
Then in San Francisco there is also: the six-storey retail complex 185 Post Street (where Christian Dior has a flagship store): Trailside Terrace (a garden community with 195 flats and pool on the roof); 1645 Pacific Avenue (an elegant development of 39 residences and penthouses).
* Australia - there is known to be property in Melbourne, the result of a deal last year between Grosvenor Group and Goldman Sachs.
They invested with Propertylink, the Australian property investment and asset management company, in the acquisition of a combined office and industrial transaction valued at AUS$303.3million.
* Canada - Steps away from the beach in Vancouver, the Grosvenor Ambleside development boasts a collection of 98 "unique residences" embracing the best in West Coast architecture, art and culture.
It's advertised as "the gateway to West Vancouver’s most charming seaside village" online - with "each home is an expression of contemporary design and beachfront lifestyle".
The Grosvenor estate also includes Connaught (near ski slopes and hiking trails at the foot of the North Shore Mountains) and The Rise (92 live/work apartments with views of the mountains) plus Annacis Island in the city - a mostly industrial island which contains a wastewater plant.
And there is the residential block Avenue (a new apartment complex being built near the city's waterfront) and the Drake and Smith residential tower developments of 250 homes - which promote car-free living - in an arty area in Calgary
* France - There are 73 retail units and offices on Rue de la Republique in Lyons in a 33 building portfolio belonging to the Grosvenor Estate.
The 1.1km-long street - the town's main thoroughfare - is considered one of the most beautiful in France and is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
* Sweden - Shopping centres it owns include the Haninge, Balsta and Vasby Centrums in Stockholm - part of a 98,000 sq m retail portfolio it owns in the country.
Each houses dozens of stores selling a range of groceries, health, sports, toys and local services.
Well-known brands including Systembolaget, Hemtex, Lindex, Intersport, Kicks, Deichman and Apoteket Hjärtat.
* China - Parksize Plaza, 160,000 sq m shopping mall and office block Sui On Plaza in Shanghai offers a "one-stop shopping experience with international fast fashion brands". They include brands such as H&M, Uniqlo and C&A.
* Japan - Its high-end apartments blocks in Tokyo include residential towers: Grosvenor Place Kamizono (which has achieved some of the highest rents in the capital); Westminster Roppongi (where residents can rent one of two electric cars to get around); the Belgravia Azabu (where you get a woodside view in the heart of one of the world’s most densely populated cities - and a view of Mount Etna from the top).
* Singapore - the Grosvenor estate is believe to own office blocks here although there is nothing listed on its website.
* Ireland - it is unclear if the Grosvenors still own the family farm on the island of Ely on Lough Erne near Enniskillen where Gerald grew up
In 1986 Ely Lodge was listed as the permanent residence of Viola, Duchess of Westminster, situated on the edge of the water, in its own secluded grounds.
World Youngest Billionaire: Mansions, mountains, shopping centres, olive groves and masterpieces -look into 25 year old New Duke of Westminster's £9BILLION inheritance
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