Most Expensive Home Ever Being Built in Bel Air
If you thought the $195 million asking price for Beverly Hills’ 53,000 square foot Palazzo di Amore was outrageous, wait until you hear about film producer/developer Nile Niami’s latest spec home in Bel Air. He’s broken ground on a compound that will include a 74,000 square foot main residence plus three smaller homes for a total that will exceed 100,000 square feet, and he plans to ask a whopping $500 million for it when it’s complete. And yes, if he gets his asking price, it will be a record–a world record. A $221 million London penthouse purchased in 2011 currently holds top honors.
So what would the outrageously well-heeled buyer get for that lofty price? Well, some of its flashier amenities include a 5,000-square foot master suite (more than twice the size of most people’s complete homes), and four swimming pools, because three just aren’t enough. The entire compound sits on a four acre hilltop, with city, canyon and ocean views. In addition there will be a Monaco-style casino, and a 30-car garage.
Eyebrows have been raised at the 20,000 square feet of grassy lawn planned for the property in these times of severe drought, but the developer has gone on record stating that the turf will probably be synthetic. You can’t help but wonder if he’ll apply for the water wise credit, which, at the current rate of $2.00 per square foot of faux turf installed, could reach up to $40,000. At this level, though, that’s a mere drop in the bucket.
Niami, whose most prominent film production is a Steven Seagal starrer called The Patriot, is better known for his huge, sleek, modern spec homes. Sean “Diddy” Combs picked one up for $40 million last September. Then in December, Minecraft founder Markus Persson bought one of my favorite homes in L.A. from Niami for $70 million. Those homes, formerly considered stratospherically pricy, will be dwarfed by this new project, however. It’s speculated that this new one will be more about large, public functions rather than private living. I mean, really, even Utah’s largest polygamous families couldn’t fully utilize 100,000 square feet.
With all those lawns and pools, I’m thinking perhaps the entire U.S. Olympics team could be happy training there. But seriously,it will most likely go to a Chinese or Indian billionaire, or perhaps a Russian oligarch. And they’ll probably use it about 10-12 days per year.
Most Expensive Home Ever Being Built in Bel Air
See more about the most expensive home ever at Bloomberg.com.