Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

Harry Hyams

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Name
  
Harry Hyams


Died
  
December 19, 2015

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Harry John Hyams (2 January 1928 – 19 December 2015) was a British millionaire who initially made his money as a speculative property (real estate) developer. He was best known as the developer of the Centre Point office building in London.

Contents

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Early life

Harry Hyams Harry Hyams property developer obituary Telegraph

Hyams was born in Hendon, Middlesex. His father was an importer. After private schooling he joined an advertising agency, then joined an estate agency and switched to property development.

Career

Harry Hyams Jim Armitage Remembering Harry Hyams a property developer who

Hyams made much of his fortune developing office space in London at a time in the 1960s and 1970s when rents there were rising significantly. He preferred to find single, blue-chip tenants for his properties, having them fully repair and insure the buildings they occupied, as is now common with commercial property in the UK. This approach enabled Hyams to manage a valuable and sizable property business with a staff of just six. It was also used by him as justification for keeping his 33-storey Centre Point development empty for years after its completion: he claimed he could find no tenant willing to lease all 202,000 sq ft (18,800 m2) of space.

Private life

Harry Hyams Harry Hyams Property developer who built up an empire but found

In 1954 he married his wife Kay in Chelsea. She died 1 February 2011, aged 91. On 19 December 2015, Hyams died at the age of 87.

Harry Hyams Harry Hyams property developer obituary Telegraph

In 1965 Hyams bought Ramsbury Manor, near Marlborough, Wiltshire, and surrounding land for £650,000 – said at the time to be the highest price paid for a private house in England. In 2008, a raid at Ramsbury Manor by the Johnson Gang was described as the biggest ever private burglary in England. In his will, Hyams gave the house and his collections of fine art and cars to the nation via his Capricorn Foundation, in a bequest reported to be worth £450m.


Harry Hyams He was an elusive recluse reviled for his ruthless greed But what

Harry Hyams HM boss wins battle to build new mansion after pheasant shooting

References

Harry Hyams Wikipedia