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Schultz Tops Executive Perk List

The Puget Sound area of Washington State is home of some of the largest publicly traded companies in the US, including Starbucks and Microsoft. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer compiled a chart to compare the salary and other benefits of executives in that part of the country and Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz eclipsed the competition with $104 million in executive perks. One standout in the list of perks was the expense of his personal travel expenses in Starbucks company aircraft. Schultz racked up a bill of $475,685 last year - four to eight times what the average public company gives to their execs. As a contrast, Starbucks CEO James Donald only spent about $11,000 on personal travel perks on company aircraft. Starbucks has two jets, a 2002 Gulfstream GV and a 2004 Bombardier Challenger 604.

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Tags: executive, flight, perks, price, starbucks

Sotheby's NY Building for Sale

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

RFR Holding, the company that owns the building at 1334 York Avenue, has just put it up for sale. We wouldn't necessarily be that concerned with commercial real estate, but this particular building happens to be home to the New York headquarters of Sotheby's and is easily one of the most prestigious auction rooms in the world. The asking price is $500 million.

In 2000, the building was bought by Sotheby's, which spent approximately $140 million dollars above and beyond the $11 million purchase price to have Architects Kohn Pedersen Fox expand the building into a 10-floor, 470,000-sq. ft. "ethereal box," with glass facades in "various degrees of transparency." Sotheby's sold the building to RFR in 2002 for $175 million, retaining the option of a lease of the space for at least 40 years. The lease arrangement, presumably, will not change when the next owners come in.

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Tags: new york, NewYork, ny, price, real estate, RealEstate, sale, Sotheby's

Why Real Estate Is A Good Investment

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

There are entire books written on the subject of what makes real estate a good investment, so we won't go into that here. Instead, we will simply give you an example of exactly how good it can be.

Seven years ago, 10 large, but run-down and abandoned, homes on Hampstead Road, North Benwell, Newcastle were put on the market for 50p. The area was a bit on the unsavory side (to say the least) at the time, but with a deal sweetened by a £26,000 grant, young families were moved in in no time at all. Today, the homes are all valued at over £145,000 ($280,000) - a 290,000% increase! With three stories, large and spacious rooms and up to five bedrooms per unit, it only seems like the value in the properties will be going up for the families who are staying, but you have to admit that those who are selling up now have done pretty well!

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Tags: britain, england, investment, price, prices, real estate, RealEstate

Most Expensive US Hotel Rooms

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Hotel prices are rising so quickly that it's a wonder anyone can keep up with them. The situation isn't helped by the fact that everyone ones to be the one to offer the most expensive, most luxurious suite possible. The average hotel room costs around $90 per night and that number increases every year. Some hotels, of course, are simply not equipped to offer $25,000 per night rooms, but it won't be long before the benchmark set by the Atlantis is surpassed. In fact, rumor has it that New York's Four Seasons Hotel is about to offer a room for $30,000 per night.

Forbes has the newest list of the US's most expensive hotel rooms. Starting at $10,000 per night, these super suites offer a super stay to celebrities and business people every day of the year. The highest priced suites include:

The Penthouse at The Setai in Miami costs $25,000 per night. It includes a personal butler, Andrew Marston, who used to supervise the Buckingham Palace staff. The suite also has four bedrooms, two of which are master suites, and twin living rooms.

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Tags: expensive, forbes, hotel, las vegas, list, miami, new york, price, suite, united states, us