Candy brothers' US site to be sold after development collapse

The site of a multimillion-pound Candy brothers development in America is to be auctioned after plans to develop the land collapsed.

Project Lotus, a venture between the Candy brothers' CPC Group Limited and Icelandic bank Kaupthing, paid $500 million for the 7.95-acre site in Beverly Hills in April 2007.

They planned to turn it into a complex of 235 apartments, shops and restaurants designed by renowned architect Richard Meier.

But the project stalled when the Icelandic bank went into administration and was unable to pay its part of a $385 million bank loan. As a result, the site must now be sold at auction under US laws.

Experts today said it would only fetch half of its original sale price. A Los Angeles estate agent, who would not be named, said: "With the economy in the state it's in, no way will they get anywhere near the $385 million which they owe the banks.

"In fact, they'll be lucky to get anything over $250 million".