Seattle-based Microsoft founder Bill Gates - and second richest man in the world - remarkably, doesn't own an excess of properties. Previously, when his horse-loving daughter competed in Florida, the multi-billionaire rented homes for his family rather than buying. Not any longer. According to South Florida's Gossip Extra and property records, Gates now owns a place in Wellington, FL, paying US$ 8.7 million in cash. The Mediterranean-style residence is vastly different and much smaller than Gates' high-tech and modern compound spanning over 5 acres with 4650 square meters of living space on Lake Washington, about 13 kilometers east of Seattle. The home Gates just purchased in Wellington is reportedly a residence he and his family rented last year in January while his teenage daughter competed in the Winter Equestrian Festival. Built in 2010, the estate has 4 beds and 4 baths with a 670 square meters, open floor plan. Horse-friendly features like a 20-stall barn and show-jumping arena were likely part of Gates' decision to buy the home. Gates isn't the only business man buying in Wellington. New York City Mayor and Bloomberg Founder Michael Bloomberg has a home there as well as the former owner of the L.A. Dodgers, Frank McCourt.

In homage to the mammals, insects, birds and other wildlife of days past, Adjaye Associates has designed a spiraling Mass Extinction Memorial Observatory and education center. MEMO rises like a bee hive from the earth near Bowers Quarry on the Isle of Portland in England. The center is designed to be made from stone, and features stone carvings of 860 extinct animal species. Rising almost 100 feet into the air, the Mass Extinction Memorial Observatory will include an exhibition space, an information center, and an observatory. The project is designed for a site overlooking Bowers Quarry, which has been a source of Portland Stone since the 1700s. The spiraling structure emulates the ancient fossils of extinct gastropods that workers often find in the quarry. Images of 860 species that have become extinct since the dodo will be carved in relief on the surface of the stone facade. Inside, stone statues of the same 860 species will flank the spiraling inner floors that gradually ascend to the top of the structure in a gently sloping ramp. The center of the building will hold a "bell of biodiversity" that will morbidly be rung each time a new species becomes extinct. The exterior of the center will be made from recycled materials and local indigenous stone, emulating the sharp cliffs of the Isle of Portland.

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal says he is looking at the world's largest cities, including Shanghai, Moscow, London and New York, as possible locations to build a 1.6-kilometer - high skyscraper that would be the world's tallest building by far. The prince is inviting Dubai's biggest real estate developer Emaar Properties, chaired by Mohammed Alabbar, to team up with his investment firm Kingdom Holding on the project. Alwaleed did not say how the project would be financed if it went ahead, or when it might be completed. He said the cost had yet to be decided. But his ambition reflects the growing confidence of many Gulf companies as they expand overseas, aided by booming economies and rising asset prices in their home countries. He also added countries interested in hosting the world's tallest tower would have to offer attractive financing terms, tax breaks and other government support. Alabbar could not immediately be reached for comment. Over the past year, Emaar has committed itself to several other huge projects in Dubai and nearby countries. Industry experts have said building a 1.6 kilometer skyscraper would involve technical and design challenges, such as how to supply water economically at that height, but would not be impossible. If it is built, the 1.6 kilometer-high tower would surpass the world's current tallest skyscraper, the 828-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai, as well as the 1 kilometer-high Kingdom Tower now being built by Kingdom Holding in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. The Kingdom Tower is expected to cost around US$ 1.2 billion and will form part of a hotel, retail and luxury residential project. The structure is expected to reach ground level by the end of this year and to be completed in 2017, said Talal Al Maiman, executive director at Kingdom Holding. About 30 percent of useable land in the overall project, which will have an area of about 5.3 million square meters, will be allocated to hotels. The remainder will be divided equally between retail and premium residential space, Al Maiman added. Kingdom Holding, which went public in 2007, has a market value of about $18.5 billion, making it one of the largest listed investment firms in the Middle East. Its assets include stakes in top Western firms such as Citigroup, News Corp and Twitter as well as luxury hotels around the world.

The greenest building is the one that's already standing, and this week London officials announced that the buildings from the 2012 Olympic Village will be transformed into rental units, and many of them will be reserved for low-income housing. It has just been announced that the Olympic Village in London will be getting a face-lift to accommodate a new neighborhood, which London is calling the East Village. The East Village will have 2,818 brand new homes to be rented for this summer, and 1,379 of these homes will go to low-income Londoners. This is a great solution for London, since the city's housing shortage was intensified by the global recession in 2007. Cranes and construction crews have been busy at the Olympic Village since it was purchased by the Qatar wealth fund Qatari Diar and British developer Delancey for US$ 870 million. The Olympic Delivery Authority is currently removing all the temporary structures that were in place for the Olympics so that new kitchens can be retrofitted into the 2,818 apartments in the village. The first batch of apartments should be ready for rent by August. London Housing Association Triathlon Homes will be offering the low-income apartments, while Qatari Diar will lease the other properties at market rates. The move will add some much-needed inventory to the London housing market. The UK has traditionally been unkind to renters, and a study by the housing charity Shelter found that 55 percent of renters believed that they wouldn't ever be able to save enough to buy a home. The new East Village will offer rental apartments at reasonable rates in order to begin to change that perception. The residential housing system, Get Living London, has launched a campaign to begin to move people towards East Village. Who wouldn't want to live in an area that has a new education campus, health center, restaurants, and is close to the Olympic Park? Earlier announced, that after the 2012 Summer Olympics are over, the Olympic Park will again be transformed. In 2013, the roughly 500 thousand square meters Park in East London will reopen as Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The 114.5-meters tall ArcelorMittal Orbit will still tower over the park, and the Olympic stadium will be downsized to a permanent stadium that will seat 25 thousand people. Now the Olympic Delivery Authority is currently removing all the temporary structures.

A huge new city for pilgrims covering an area of 1.6 million square meters with a capacity to handle 200 thousand visitors is being planned for Saudi Arabia's holy city in Madinah. The new city will be aimed at accommodating the large number of visitors who flock to the city to make Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. The project will be based close to the Al Masjid Al Nabawi - the Prophet's Mosque and will include a number of hotels and furnished apartments, a railway and bus station, offices of government agencies and a 400-bed hospital. The project has been welcomed by Muslim organizations and state-owned Public Investment Fund will finance the project. Construction is expected to start during several months.