3 ms·

The whole initial concept is so bizarre to me. The point of owning a grand mansion is to show it off. If it is identical with all the neighbours then that under

The whole initial concept is so bizarre to me. The point of owning a grand mansion is to show it off. If it is identical with all the neighbours then that undercuts the mansion's value. Honestly it feels like someone thought: "Let's make a neighbourhood for rich people." and didn't quite think it through what those people will need or want.

kwanbix 3y ago
I would love to have a grand mansion to have lots of space, I don't care to show off at all.
jncfhnb 3y ago
Local governments built these things because people were buying them. It was a way to raise money. Now they’re not selling so the developers are deep in the red and unable to sell what they have or finish what they started, and the local governments have budgeted income that they will never receive.
ChainOfFools 3y ago
This is for people who have the money to forge their own unique identity, but not the personal store of creativity or confidence to do so. It is literally for the petty bouge class who above all wants to flex that they are living among the "rich people", that they are part of a class that is distinct from everyone else. There are plenty of people like this in America and Europe as well. I highly doubt that it failed because there wasn't a market for this type of community but because there was a problem with financing or not finding the correct fit on other factors such as distance to transportation or to a similar dollhouse toy community of insta-culture shopping and dining.
- krisoft 3y ago
  > I highly doubt that it failed because there wasn't a market for this type of community But then surelly we can find somewhere on earth a semi-succesfull “this type of community”. Is there such a thing? The problem as I can see is that people who want, and can pay for, grand marble staircases, and huge windows with intricate moulding around them don’t want to see their neighbor’s ass a mere meters away from those panorama windows. These type of houses are designed to stand on large grounds and overlook manicured lawn. The kind of people who want to live in a mansion like this also want a private pool, and a tenis court, and stables and a spot on the green to land a helicopter. That is the lifestyle which goes with a mansion like these. But with these ones you don’t even have enough garden to kick a football in.
  - ChainOfFools 3y ago
    Sure we can, every single super luxury condominium tower (of which there are thousands all over the planet) offers this same type of community, though even more closely packed in - and inconveniently for those who might make use of them - a little too close to the rest of civilization. If anything, as a newly minted robber baron or junior member of a minor royal family or undersecretary of an ossified military dictatorship, this kind of development is a major step up when you're looking for a place quiet and out of the way to tuck your third or fourth mistress our of sight. where she is perfectly happy to idly sit around sticking on different kinds of eyelashes all day, getting foot rubs (and more) from the stable of live-in domestic staff who can't travel around town gossiping (because there is no town), and and taking Insta selfies to humblebrag about how wealthy and "blessed" she and her family are. Family whom you have gladly moved in at her request because like her are now walled in the same garden. Then there's the enormous market for Airbnb McMillionaire people who want to live like this but can only afford it for two or three weeks, or those who travel with an enormous entourage and need to house them all in one place for the same, ahem, privacy reasons as above. Throw in a sprinkling of other mixed uses like day rate rent-a-mansions for tv and music video shoots and aspiring wealth influencers and you have a tidy little business here. This definitely could have made money assuming it wasn't compromised by some showstopping flaw like the highway (or sewer or water or electricity) your inside contact in the regional government could never get approved.
refurb 3y ago
They have something similar in Vietnam. I was in HCMC and from the place we were staying you can see huge developments of row houses (very nice ones though). At night time, not a single light to be seen. Get closer and they are all finished on the outside, but empty on the inside. And this development was finished years ago. It's basically an investment. All the homes had been sold, likely for prices approaching $1M USD (it was pretty close to city center), but it was purely an investment. The property taxes in Vietnam are very low, so the carry costs are a rounding error. No need to rent it out (that would take more money to finish the interior!). Plus local laws require houses be built - you can't buy land intended for residential homes without building something. And it's a great investment! It's probably the only asset the government respects ownership of, it's a tangible asset unlike equity in a stock market ripe with fraud.

kwanbix 3y ago

I would love to have a grand mansion to have lots of space, I don't care to show off at all.

jncfhnb 3y ago

Local governments built these things because people were buying them. It was a way to raise money. Now they’re not selling so the developers are deep in the red and unable to sell what they have or finish what they started, and the local governments have budgeted income that they will never receive.

ChainOfFools 3y ago

This is for people who have the money to forge their own unique identity, but not the personal store of creativity or confidence to do so. It is literally for the petty bouge class who above all wants to flex that they are living among the "rich people", that they are part of a class that is distinct from everyone else. There are plenty of people like this in America and Europe as well. I highly doubt that it failed because there wasn't a market for this type of community but because there was a problem with financing or not finding the correct fit on other factors such as distance to transportation or to a similar dollhouse toy community of insta-culture shopping and dining.

krisoft 3y ago
> I highly doubt that it failed because there wasn't a market for this type of community But then surelly we can find somewhere on earth a semi-succesfull “this type of community”. Is there such a thing? The problem as I can see is that people who want, and can pay for, grand marble staircases, and huge windows with intricate moulding around them don’t want to see their neighbor’s ass a mere meters away from those panorama windows. These type of houses are designed to stand on large grounds and overlook manicured lawn. The kind of people who want to live in a mansion like this also want a private pool, and a tenis court, and stables and a spot on the green to land a helicopter. That is the lifestyle which goes with a mansion like these. But with these ones you don’t even have enough garden to kick a football in.
- ChainOfFools 3y ago
  Sure we can, every single super luxury condominium tower (of which there are thousands all over the planet) offers this same type of community, though even more closely packed in - and inconveniently for those who might make use of them - a little too close to the rest of civilization. If anything, as a newly minted robber baron or junior member of a minor royal family or undersecretary of an ossified military dictatorship, this kind of development is a major step up when you're looking for a place quiet and out of the way to tuck your third or fourth mistress our of sight. where she is perfectly happy to idly sit around sticking on different kinds of eyelashes all day, getting foot rubs (and more) from the stable of live-in domestic staff who can't travel around town gossiping (because there is no town), and and taking Insta selfies to humblebrag about how wealthy and "blessed" she and her family are. Family whom you have gladly moved in at her request because like her are now walled in the same garden. Then there's the enormous market for Airbnb McMillionaire people who want to live like this but can only afford it for two or three weeks, or those who travel with an enormous entourage and need to house them all in one place for the same, ahem, privacy reasons as above. Throw in a sprinkling of other mixed uses like day rate rent-a-mansions for tv and music video shoots and aspiring wealth influencers and you have a tidy little business here. This definitely could have made money assuming it wasn't compromised by some showstopping flaw like the highway (or sewer or water or electricity) your inside contact in the regional government could never get approved.

refurb 3y ago

They have something similar in Vietnam. I was in HCMC and from the place we were staying you can see huge developments of row houses (very nice ones though). At night time, not a single light to be seen. Get closer and they are all finished on the outside, but empty on the inside. And this development was finished years ago. It's basically an investment. All the homes had been sold, likely for prices approaching $1M USD (it was pretty close to city center), but it was purely an investment. The property taxes in Vietnam are very low, so the carry costs are a rounding error. No need to rent it out (that would take more money to finish the interior!). Plus local laws require houses be built - you can't buy land intended for residential homes without building something. And it's a great investment! It's probably the only asset the government respects ownership of, it's a tangible asset unlike equity in a stock market ripe with fraud.