The BBC has sold its historic Television Centre premises in west London in a deal worth more than US$ 310 million. The historic doughnut-shaped building, which dates back to 1960, has been bought by property developer Stanhope plc, the corporation confirmed on Monday. BBC director general Mark Thompson said the deal was secured after the First Night of the Proms on Saturday. TV Centre - once the home of TV classics from Top of the Pops to Blue Peter and which once bore the blast from a car bomb - was put up for sale last year as part of the BBC's latest cost-cutting drive. Thompson said its sale "represents another milestone in the way the BBC is changing" from a number of broadcasting bases to key HQs in the capital and around the country, including the newly-refurbished Broadcasting House in central London and BBC North in Salford. The BBC's chief financial officer, Zarin Patel, said the corporation's property footprint had been reduced by a third, although in the short term spending on property has increased, by £37m to a total of £187m. Spending on technology was also up, according to the corporation's annual report published on Monday. Many programmers have already left TV Centre, including Blue Peter which was relocated along with its famous garden and the rest of the BBC's children's output to Salford. The sale did not go down well with everyone, however. Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman criticised the decision in February, saying: "What organisation - at a time when it has no money, allegedly - would move from cheap square footage in west London to Oxford Circus?" In a statement, the BBC said TV Centre had been sold to Stanhope plc "for a total price in the order of £200m. Full details of the sale will be available on completion." The sale of the site, parts of which were given Grade II listed status by English Heritage in 2009, prompted an outpouring of nostalgia on Twitter, including many who worked there and one who had slept under her desk. The 14-acre site will be empty by 2015 with staff moving to the newly-refurbished Broadcasting House in central London as well as the BBC North HQ in Salford. The BBC originally announced it wanted to sell the building, which opened in 1960, in 2007.

Living big in 40 square meters of space takes some creative planning and ingenious space-saving design, and this small apartment in Tel Aviv is a great example. Israel-based SFARO turned a cramped space into one that feels like a never-ending roundabout. By moving all the main utilities, storage and programmatic units into a central cube, the apartment is now a one-bedroom space with excellent circulation and lots of light. Housing prices in Tel Aviv have soared in recent years and many people are unable to afford moving, but still want to upgrade or improve their space. As a result, many have resorted to remodeling their spaces, no matter how small. The owner of this small apartment decided to transform her cramped studio space into a more luxurious 1 bedroom that also included storage units, a large separate kitchen and a full size queen bedroom. SFARO completely transformed the long narrow 40 square meters apartment by gutting the space and creating a new circulation. They moved the utilities, kitchen, bathroom, storage and other programmatic areas into a central multi-functional cube. Now there are four distinct zones around the cube: hallway, living room, long galley kitchen, and bedroom. Sliding doors store away into the cube and allow the owner to open or close spaces depending on the time of day, guests or needs. Built-in storage keeps items neatly packed away and bright white finishes help bounce light around to make the space seem much larger.

Designed to house up to half a million people, China's largest new "satellite city" project, the city Kilamba in Africa remains a ghost town due to high living costs and failed access to bank credit, reported The CNN. Perched in an isolated spot some 30 kilometers outside Angola's capital, Luanda, Nova Cidade de Kilamba is a brand-new mixed residential development of 750 apartment buildings, a dozen schools and more than 100 retail units. Designed to house up to half a million people when complete, Kilamba has been built by the state-owned China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) in under three years at a reported cost of US$ 3.5 billion. Spanning 5000 hectares, the development is the largest of several new "satellite cities" being constructed by Chinese firms around Angola, and it is believed to be one of the largest new-build projects on the continent. However, after sales start revealed, that two-thirds of Angolans cannot afford Kilamba's apartments which are advertised online as being between US$ 120and US$ 200 thousand. The jewel in Angola's post-war reconstruction crown, Kilamba is the star of glossy government promotional videos which show smiling families enjoying a new style of living away from the dust and confusion of central Luanda where millions live in sprawling slums. But the people in these films are only actors, and despite all the hype, nearly a year since the first batch of 2800 apartments went on sale, only 220 have been sold. Apartments at Kilamba are being advertised online costing between US$ 120 and US$ 200 thousand - well out of reach of the estimated two-thirds of Angolans who live on less than US$ 2 a day. However, Paulo Cascao, general Manager at Delta Imobiliaria, the real estate agency handling the sales, told the BBC that the problem was not the price, but difficulty in accessing bank credit. Now the authorities are planning rent houses for long term, but BBC experts believe that it will not help to improve the situation as the majority of Angolan citizens are too poor and the rich part of the population is interested only in luxury accommodation.

The powerful prime minister of Qatar is ready to plunk down nearly US$ 100 million for the city's most expensive penthouse - an ultra-luxe, two-story pad atop the under-construction One57 condominium across the street from Carnegie Hall, The New-York Post reported. The stunning duplex penthouse, with total area 1 thousand square meters, features a "grand salon," a large mezzanine, four fireplaces, floor-to-ceiling windows, at least five bedrooms, and motorized window shades, placed in the 90-story One57 building. Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani first eyed the spread after a Fifth Avenue board rejected his bid to spend US$ 31.5 million on two apartments owned by the late Huguette Clark, an eccentric American copper heiress and he decided to buy the One57 penthouse only after the Huguette Clark rejection. Sheik Hamad also opened discussions with Extell Development about buying a cluster of four separate, full-floor condos in One57 building. According to publication, that would up the total purchase to a staggering US$ 250 million. He wants his relatives to live in these apartments. The sheik has two wives and 15 children and a huge entourage. Previous price record belonged to an unknown buyer, who paid US$ 90 million in May for the penthouse in the same building, One57. Earlier the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev bought an apartment in New York for US$ 88 million for his student daughter.

According to US publications, an unknown buyer has paid over US$ 90 million for an unfinished penthouse apartment, setting a new mark for the priciest home in New York City. He bought the 1015 square meters penthouse on the 89th and 90th floors of One57, the building currently under construction at 157 West 57th Street. The building, which features a Park Hyatt below the condominium units, will offer striking views of the southern end of Central Park and will be among New York's tallest residential structures when it is completed next year. Since One57 opened for sales in December, about half of its 92 apartments have been sold. This purchase breaks the previous New York City record of US$ 88 million paid by a Russian billionaire to buy a Central Park West apartment for his daughter last year. As we reported earlier, it is 10-room penthouse with total area of 626 square meters. On a per-square foot basis, however, this is a much better deal. The latest sale went for about US$ 8 thousand a square foot (US$ 88 600 for 1 square meter), while the Central Park West pad went for more than US$ 13 thousand (US$ 140 000 for 1 square meter). Foreign buyers, including Brazilians, Chinese and Russians, have been on a buying spree in New York and Miami in recent months, developers and brokers say. Russian and Ukrainian buyers have shown a particular willingness to pay top dollar for so-called trophy properties. Gary Barnett, president of Extell Development Company, was quick to dispel any notion that the One57 penthouse was sold to a Russian, saying the buyer was not Russian, Ukrainian or from "any other part of the former Soviet Union." He described the buyer as a "very nice family" who plans to use the penthouse as a residence, and as "someone that people would recognize." One57 is a 90-story skyscraper currently under-construction in New York City. Upon completion in 2013, it will stand at 306 meters tall, making it one of the tallest buildings in the city. The mixed use tower is developed by the Extell Development Company and the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Atelier Christian de Portzamparc designed One57 with SLCE Architects. The building will have 135 residential units on top of a Park Hyatt Hotel with 210 rooms. Foundation work started in January 2010.