Some of the most expensive real estate for sale in U.S. real estate history can be found on a Los Angeles hilltop, and the developer hopes to sell it for a record $500 million. Some believe he can and will make real estate history.
Nile Niami, a film producer and speculative residential developer, is pouring concrete in L.A.’s Bel Air neighborhood for a compound with a 74,000 square foot main residence and three smaller homes, according to city records. The project, which will take at least 20 more months to complete, will exceed 100,000 square feet, including a 5,000 square foot master bedroom, a 30 car garage and a Monaco-style casino. The house will have almost every amenity available in the world, the asking price will be $500 million.
Rendering of Niami’s under-construction mansion in L.A.’s Bel Air neighborhood.
Real estate with views of the Los Angeles basin are the California counterpart to Manhattan’s penthouses or London’s Mayfair manors, drawing a global cast of financiers, technology tycoons and celebrities who collect trophy homes like works of art. Around the world, five properties sold for $100 million or more last year, and at least 20 others have nine figure asking prices, Christie’s International Real Estate reported last month. Source: McClean Design via Bloomberg
The priciest home ever sold was a $221 million London penthouse purchased in 2011, according to Christie’s. The most expensive properties on the market include a $425 million estate in France’s Cote d’Azur, a $400 million penthouse in Monaco and a $365 million London manor.
U.S. Records
The current highest U.S. asking price is $195 million for Palazzo di Amore, a Beverly Hills, California, estate being offered by billionaire real estate entrepreneur Jeff Greene. The record for a sale was the $147 million that Barry Rosenstein, managing partner at hedge fund Jana Partners, paid last year for an estate in East Hampton, New York.
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Nile Niami House at 944 Airole Way stands in Bel Air, California, U.S. on Monday, May 18, 2015. Photographer: David Paul Morris of Bloomberg
Niami’s project, on a 4-acre hilltop lot, will have 360 degree views of the Pacific Ocean, Beverly Hills, downtown Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Plans called for removal of almost 40,000 cubic yards of earth, the equivalent of an American football field covered by 20 feet of dirt.
Spec Homes
New luxury mansions are proliferating in Los Angeles, often without buyers in place, known as building on spec. Niami, whose production credits include “The Patriot,” a 1998 action movie starring Steven Seagal, last September sold a Los Angeles home to entertainer Sean “Diddy” Combs for $40 million.
That was followed by the December sale of a Beverly Hills spec home for $70 million to Markus Persson, who last year sold his video-game company to Microsoft Corp. for $2.5 billion. In January, hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen closed on a Beverly Hills spec home for more than $30 million.
The mansion includes a 45-seat Imax style theater. Source: McClean Design via Bloomberg
Los Angeles real estate, particularly luxury homes have ballooned in size in the past 30 years, said Peter McCoy, contractor for a 53,000 square foot mansion under construction on a Bel Air hilltop visible from Niami’s project.
“We used to think 18,000 or 20,000 square feet was massive,” said McCoy, who became a builder after working as chief of staff for former First Lady Nancy Reagan. “The guys that are doing spec homes, they’re all sitting there hoping to hit a home run. You’ve got to be a big risk-taker, like building some of the most expensive homes rather than going to Las Vegas.”
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Four Pools
Construction costs for Los Angeles luxury homes average $700 to $800 a square foot before finishings and furniture, McCoy said. Niami, who wouldn’t discuss his sources of funding, has plans that call for four swimming pools, including a 180-foot infinity pool, and about 20,000 square feet of grass. That grass will most likely be synthetic, Niami said.
The mansion has plans that call for four swimming pools. Source: McClean Design via Bloomberg
There are a “lot of things” in the house that will help to preserve water as California suffers from a record drought, Paul McClean, the mansion’s architect, said in a telephone interview.
“But those are things that correspond with luxury homes, and I can’t tell you that it’s a green and energy-efficient house,” he said. The “jelly fish room” has tanks on three walls and a light-changing ceiling. Source: McClean Design via Bloomberg
McClean, who also designed a 14,000 square foot spec house down the hill from Niami’s project, is known for creating sleek hillside mansions sold to entertainers and technology executives such as Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. McClean said he studied commercial buildings such as hotels, museums and art galleries for his latest design. “It’s very similar to a palace,” he said. “The house is about public functions rather than domestic living.”
Topping Versailles
An 8,500 square foot night club in the under-construction mansion. Source: McClean Design via Bloomberg
Niami’s mansion is set to be the largest built in the U.S. this century, surpassing Versailles, a 90,000-square-foot chateau in Windermere, Florida, under construction for David Siegel, founder and chief executive officer of Westgate Resorts.
If you’re interested in purchasing this property or would like more information about other homes for sale in the Los Angeles real estate market, contact LeMark Estates now or call 877-773-7331.
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John Gittelsohn
