SimonCowell

Development Delays Mean Paradise Postponed For Simon Cowell

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping, Real Estate Developments

It's not always easy to feel sorry for professional crankypants Simon Cowell but we have to feel a little sorry for the American Idol judge over the trouble facing his Barbados home. According to the Daily Mail, Cowell shelled out £15 million in Barbados for his own luxury home but has yet to be able to move in. Cowell who usually spends the holidays at the luxurious Sandy Lane hotel resort in Barbados is spending this year on a £625,000-a-week super-yacht cruising round Barbados, Grenada and Antigua and St Barts.

Cowell's home was supposed to be finished in 2008 but the official finishing date for his home is now 2011. The Daily Mail article says that there are currently no signs of work at the Four Seasons compound at Black Rock which also includes plots owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Formula One boss Eddie Jordan. Work ended last February and debts are mounting on the property. The developers have said there will be an update soon but many investors are worried and some have been quietly asking about getting their money back.

British developer and hotelier Mike Pemberton and his business partner, Robin Paterson bought the site in 2005 with a $40 million loan from the Bank of Scotland. They planned 36 luxury villas and a Four Seasons hotel. Buyers snapped up the first phase and the second phase sold well at prices between £6 and £11 million. Cowell bought two home sites. All the villas would include the services of butlers and other staff from the Four Seasons hotel whenever the villa owners were in residence. The villas would be outfitted with the finest finishes including teak doors from Indonesia and antiques sourced from French flea markets.

It sounds perfect but the Daily Mail article says the project was plagued with problems including controversy over Chinese laborers. Some also said the project was in a place that was too touristy. The Four Seasons has said that construction would resume on the project soon and that the 2011 completion date was still valid. Pemberton has spent the last few months seeking investors and has said that all creditors will eventually be paid. Cowell, who has a brother in the property development business, is said to be unconcerned about the delay. After all, with a house in London, one in Los Angeles and plenty of money, he's never lacking for a place to stay.

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Tags: barbados, four seasons, FourSeasons, simon cowell, SimonCowell

Kate Moss to Sign $80 Million Deal with Simon Cowell

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth, Celebrity Design

Kate Moss is set to become the world's richest model thanks to a lucrative new deal she's about to ink with British mogul Sir Philip Green, shown with Kate above, and TV producer extraordinaire Simon Cowell. The 35-year-old supermodel is joining forces with the two men on a new $1.6 billion global multi-faceted entertainment company. Green owns the Topshop brand which Moss recently collaborated with for a new collection. Moss will direct the style and image of the as-yet-unnamed empire, as well as give fashion-related branding advice, under the terms of the deal which could net her up to $80 million based on profit-sharing arrangements, the London Daily Mail reports. The sum would double Moss' fortune giving her a net worth of about $160 million, the paper notes. In essence the plan is to merchandise the hell out of Cowell's hit TV shows both here and abroad. The prospect of Moss getting involved in the music side of the business has also been floated.

Gallery: Kate Moss for Longchamp

Tags: business, entertainment, Kate Moss, KateMoss, Simon Cowell, SimonCowell, Sir Philip Green, SirPhilipGreen, supermodels, Topshop, UK

Simon Cowell Moves Into New $22 Million Mansion

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Back in March we reported that American Idol star Simon Cowell was installing a private tanning salon in his new $22 million mansion in Beverly Hills. Now the London Daily Mail reports Cowell is finally ready to occupy the lavish 11,550-sq.-ft. estate. Cowell bought the property for $12 million nearly two years ago but razed the original structure. The new modern mansion has 24-ft. tall windows in the living rooms with sweeping views over Los Angeles. Neighbors include Tom Cruise, Madonna, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne and Victoria and David Beckham.

"I look out over the Hollywood Hills into my neighbors' gardens," Cowell said in an interview last year. "It's an amazing view." Not good enough to "see into their homes," he noted, "so you can't see them in the shower - but you can see into their gardens. It's great fun. I just like to keep an eye on what is happening." Cowell has described the modern mansion as his "dream home" and has said he's been involved in the design "right down to the doorknobs."

The five-bedroom mansion features a state-of-the-art gym in the basement, a luxury spa complete with wet steam room, a custom-made media room with a marble bar area and plush leather seating for 20, a gallery for Cowell's gold and platinum records and awards, and an indoor lap pool. The property has a separate staff quarters containing a servants' kitchen for Cowell's live-in butler and maid. The pool cabana has a retractable roof, wet bar and changing rooms and there's a putting green at the rear of the property.

Tags: American Idol, AmericanIdol, Beverly Hills, BeverlyHills, celebrity, Hollywood Hills, HollywoodHills, mansion, Simon Cowell, SimonCowell, TV

Simon Cowell Installs Private Tanning Salon in New $22 Million Mansion

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wealth

TV star Simon Cowell obviously hasn't been much affected by the credit crunch; he's installing a private tanning salon in his brand new $22 million Beverly Hills mansion (above) so he can maintain the perfect bronzed appearance, the London Daily Mail reports. The paper got an exclusive look at plans for the lavish 11,550-sq.-ft. estate, which is due to be completed next week, and they revealed a solarium off the master bedroom complete with one full-length tanning machine and a smaller "booster" facial tanner. Cowell, 49, is reportedly worth $190 million.

He bought the property for $12 million nearly two years ago but razed the original structure to build what he has called his "dream home," the paper reports. The new modern mansion has 24-ft. tall windows in the living rooms with sweeping views over Los Angeles. Neighbors include Tom Cruise, Madonna, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne and Victoria and David Beckham. "I've been involved in every aspect of the design of the new place, right down to the doorknobs," Cowell tells the paper. "I have other houses but this is my dream home."

Cowell and his ex-girlfriend Terri Seymour, who will have her own suite at the house, visited the property last weekend in his Bugatti Veyron and he later returned in his black Bentley convertible, the paper reports. The five-bedroom mansion also features a state-of-the-art gym in the basement, a luxury spa complete with wet steam room, and an indoor lap pool in addition to the solarium. The property has a separate staff quarters containing a servants' kitchen, and a source tells the paper Cowell will have a live-in butler and maid.

Other features of the estate include a custom-made media room with a marble bar area and plush leather seating for 20 in a private cinema. The pool cabana has a retractable roof, wet bar and changing rooms and there is a putting green at the rear of the property. Cowell s also building a $13 million vacation home in Barbados. His main UK property is an $11 million house in London's upscale Holland Park. He also owns a villa in Spain and a $1.5 million investment property on the Palm Jumeirah island in Dubai.

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Tags: Beverly Hills, BeverlyHills, celebrity, Los Angeles, LosAngeles, mansion, Simon Cowell, SimonCowell, television

Simon Cowell Picks Up A Bugatti Veyron

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Celebrity Shopping

Simon Cowell blew some serious cash on some serious wheels recently when he had some spare time on his hands (and apparently some spare cash) due to a week off work for the Rugby World Cup. He dropped over £1,000,000 in LA on two new cars: a £750,000 Bugatti Veyron and a £400,000 Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe.

Somehow this doesn't surprise me. Simon Cowell hardly seems to shy away from flash and attention, and although fast cars don't necessarily mean an ego problem (I would love to have a Veyron myself!) I think in his case they might!

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Tags: auto, automobile, automobiles, autos, bugatti, bugatti veyron, BugattiVeyron, car, cars, cowell, ferrari, phantom, phantom coupe, PhantomCoupe, rolls royce, RollsRoyce, simon cowell, SimonCowell, veyron, wheels

Is Simon Cowell Tearing Down J. Lo.'s Old House?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Nothing is ever good enough for American Idol judge Simon Cowell. According to the 3AM Girls, Cowell is tearing down his Beverly Hills home. The mansion, which cost over $10 million used to belong to Jennifer Lopez. J. Lo.'s white-on-white minimalist style wasn't right for Simon and so he is tearing it down and building a new one more to his liking. I'm wondering if this is the same house Sam Nazarian bought last year. Either way it's a pretty expensive tear-down even by Beverly Hills standards.

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Tags: beverly hills, celebrity real estate, jennifer lopez, simon cowell, SimonCowell