A Mayfair Folly ; Simon Halabi Built Up a Gigantic Property Portfolio with the in and Out Club As Its Centrepiece. Now the Party's Over for the Syrian Tycoon and 94 Piccadilly Is Back On the Market. Peter Colville On a Billionaire in Crisis

Summary

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For anyone with an interest in London's historic buildings, the decline of the former In and Out Club at 94 Piccadilly has been one of the capital's most disheartening sights. Cambridge House, the Grade I-listed Palladian mansion overlooking Green Park, was once home to the Victorian prime minister Lord Palmerston. For 130 years after his death it was the premises of the Naval & Military Club, although the words painted on the two entrances gave it its less formal nickname.

Occasionally civilians were allowed a glimpse of its fine interior, as the club hosted a number of glamorous events. This most English of locations was the venue in 1994 for the after-party of the premiere of that most English of films Four Weddings and a Funeral. Here, Elizabeth Hurley announced herself to the world in the black Versace number held together by gold safety pins. A number of male guests - this writer included - found themselves rather distracted on the first-floor landing as Miss Hurley's astounding decolletage shimmered below.

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A Mayfair Folly ; Simon Halabi Built Up a Gigantic Property Portfolio with the in and Out Club As Its Centrepiece. Now the Party's Over for the Syrian Tycoon and 94 Piccadilly Is Back On the Market. Peter Colville On a Billionaire in Crisis

Then, in 1996, property tycoon Simon Halabi bought the premises for Pounds 50 million. The Syrian-born businessman, who in 2007 was described as Britain's 14th richest man with a fortune of Pounds 3 billion, planned to turn 94 Piccadilly into a 'six-star' hotel in the style of Dubai's Burj Al Arab, and a Pounds 50,000-a-year private members' club; it was to be the London f...

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