The concrete is already being poured on what will become one of the biggest homes in U.S. history. The developer’s dreams aren’t just of chart-topping square-footage, he plans on selling the home for a record smashing half a billion dollars.
On top of a hillside in Bel-Air, film producer and speculative real estate developer Nile Niami is building a compound that will exceed 100,000 square feet in total living and entertaining space.
The main residence alone will boast 74,000 square feet, according to plans already filed with the city. Three smaller homes on the grounds will house such amenities as a “Monaco-style” casino and a 30 car garage.
“The house will have almost every amenity available in the world,” Niami wrote in an e-mail to the Bloomberg website this week. “The asking price will be $500 million.”
Though the Platinum Triangle of the Hollywood Hills, Bel-Air and Beverly Hills is home to some of the most expensive properties in the world, the crown for most expensive home ever sold still rests in London. In 2011, a penthouse in Mayfair manors sold for $221 million.
Throughout the world, there are an estimated 20 properties with nine figure listings. Tops on that list, for now, are an estate in France’s Cote d’Azur with an asking price of $425 million, a penthouse in Monaco for $400 million and manor in London for $365 million.
So Niami’s $500 million ask is more than double the previous record holder. Can he get even close to that for a home built on spec without owner input?
“I’m skeptical,” said Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. “My first reaction is laughter. But we’re in this perpetual state of surprise as new thresholds are broken.”
Niami’s yet unnamed project sits on only a four acre plot. But the hilltop will afford complete 360 degree views from downtown to the Pacific Ocean and back around the Valley. Over 40,000 cubic yards of earth will have to be moved to make way for the four structures and four pools.
“It’s a jaw-dropping property,” said president of Beverly Hills brokerage the Agency, Billy Rose. “What he’s looking to build will be the everything house on the premier site in L.A.”
Niami won’t comment on where his funding is coming from. His most expensive spec home to date was last year’s $40 million sale to Sean “P Diddy” Combs. And he hasn’t produced a movie since 2001.
The compound has plans for four swimming pools, a 180-foot infinity pool is the largest of the lot. The grounds will require some 20,000 square feet of grass. Niami said that due to the recent drought, the grass will most likely be synthetic. Although it’s doubtful that any potential buyers would be worried about paying their water bills.
Other highlights include a 45-seat Imax theater, a “jelly fish room”, composed almost entirely of aquarium walls with a “light-changing” ceiling. And don’t forget about the 8,500 square foot nightclub.
If Niami succeeds in completing the build, the mansion would be the largest built in the U.S. this century. It would even topple the infamous and still under construction 90,000 square-foot Windermere, Florida “Versailles”, which was the subject of a critically acclaimed documentary “The Queen of Versailles”.
If you’re looking to build a nine figure home in Bel-Air yourself, a 258-acre Bel Air plot permitted for 18 homes has a current asking price of only $125 million.
Bel-Air is certainly home to some of the largest most extravagant trophy properties in the world. Only time will tell if Mr. Niami can first build the largest home of the century and then sell it for a cool half billion.
If you’re looking to buy or sell anywhere in Los Angeles, please call us at 323-829-8811. Or email Susan Andrews at susan@luxurylahomes.com.
Contact us anytime if you ever wonder “What’s my home worth”? Or visit HollywoodHillsValue.com for a free no obligation home valuation.