Entries Tagged 'Celebrity Real Estate' ↓

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Housing prices are dropping nationwide except if you are in the ultra expensive bracket, there the market is holding firm. The Kimmel Mansion on Palm Beach’s Billionaire’s Row has sold for over 75 million dollars according to those close to the deal.

Some of the new buyers neighbors include Netscape founder Jim Clark, rocker Rod Stewart, Tampa Bay Buccaneers  Malcolm Glazer, and Street expert Terry Allen Kramer. It is funny that when I think of Palm Beach I think of the Rockefellers and Kennedy’s but those folks are yesterdays old money. Now Palm Beach has a new flavor of ultra rich.

Cristina Condon of Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyer but said she can’t divulge the name. “The buyer of the estate wishes to remain confidential, and the name cannot be disclosed,” said Paulette Koch, of The Corcoran Group.
The buyer was the second to make an offer, Koch said, adding that she received a third offer during negotiations. Other prospects submitted back-up contracts during the inspection period. Koch and her son, Dana, marketed the property, although they did not enter it into the Palm Beach Multiple Listing Service. via Palm Beach Daily News

Donald Trump is an expert at link bait.

First he puts his home in Palm Beach up for sale for a record 125 million dollars. Then after a couple of years of no action, he decides to announce to the world that he is going to turn the property into a hotel.

Now if you know anything about Palm Beach and zoning restrictions, the odds of Trump pulling this off are slim to none. In fact, if he pulled this off it would be a miracle. But if your goal is to get pithy bloggers such as myself to write about it and the media to go into a frenzy, then Trump has gotten his wish.

The man may not be the greatest businessman or person in the world but he sure does know how to get media attention.

“What I would really like to do is build a world-class hotel on the site,” Trump said in a phone interview Thursday. “It really sets up incredibly well for a super-luxury hotel.” The 6-acre property includes a 475-foot expanse of beachfront, 24-karat-gold bathroom fixtures, a 48-car garage and a 100-foot-long ballroom. Trump offered no details about how many rooms he might build or how much they might cost.

Trump said he has not asked the town of Palm Beach for permission to build a hotel on the property, although he said he has pitched the idea to “some of the world’s great hoteliers” and received an enthusiastic response.

Not so enthusiastic was Palm Beach Mayor Jack McDonald. He worries about traffic that would be created by a hotel in an area of posh mansions. “It does not sound like a good idea to me,” McDonald said. “It’s a residential neighborhood, and it has the character of a residential neighborhood. A hotel would change that character dramatically.”

Trump would have to persuade the town council to change the property’s zoning and land use, something Councilman David Rosow called unlikely. via the Palm Beach Post

I am always in favor of real estate agents go the full measure to sell their clients homes. But there is a line between full measure and down right sleazy.

A real estate agent selling the home across the street from Tiger Woods on Jupiter Island has been reportedly contacting the tabloids as potential buyers. The thought of my agent selling my house so that someone else could be stalked and think that this is a reputable marketing strategy boggles the mind.

I could see marketing it that your neighbors include stars and celebrities, but not intentionally marketing it to the tabloids so they can infringe on a neighbor.

This sleazy behavior must drive other agents crazy as it really does impugn reputation of the profession.

TMZ got an unbelievable pitch from a big-time Florida realtor, and here it is, verbatim — “I have a FABULOUS piece of property for sale DIRECTLY across from Tiger Woods new property on Jupiter Island (Being built) When a tabloid pays JLO $6mil for photos of her first born, I would think that $4mil for a fabulous piece of property for unlimited photo opts of Tiger would be quite valuable!” via TMZ.com

London real estate is the place to be for the top end these days. Another blockbuster sale has occurred as the Kazakhstan billionaire Horelma Peramam bought the Toprack Mansion on London’s famed billionaire row, Bishop’s Avenue.

The home sold for 50 million pounds, nearly 100 million US dollars. Forbes has recently had the home listed as the 2^nd most expensive home in the United Kingdom.

Toprak Mansion on The Bishop’s Avenue, Barnet, sold last week for £50m, breaking a record for a newly built property which was set only two weeks ago by a nearby house called Palladio, which was sold for £35m. The name of the Toprak purchaser was given as Horelma Peramam, a billionaire from Kazakhstan.
Toprak Mansion was built by Halis Toprak, a Turkish businessman, although it is understood that he has never lived there. He sold up after his bank was seized by the Turkish government.
It was marketed discreetly for several years, and the asking price climbed from £30m to £50m as prime residential London prices soared. The house had been nicknamed Top Whack Mansion but will now be known as Royal Mansion. via the Times Online.

More Coverage:

• Luxist
• Forbes
• The Telegraph
• Fox News

Diamond billionaire and Israeli businessman Lev Leviev has purchased the most expensive new home in Britain’s history for a reported 70 million dollars. With a $100,000 dollar bullet proof front door, this Palladian style home has all of the luxuries that one could imagine.

And for 70 million dollars it should. Leviev is moving to London to avoid the high taxation in Israel. He is reported to be worth 5.6 billion dollars.

The Palladian-style home also features a gym, sauna, ballroom and cinema, a private hair salon and a one-tone bathroom basin carved from a single piece of white Iranian onyx.

A London property agent who asked not to be named said $70 million was the highest ever paid for a new property in Britain. The most paid for any property is believed to be $128 million spent by steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal for a London mansion.  via Haaretz

Update: Interior Shots of the home from the Daily Mail

Who says sales in Northern California are slowing down…

Locksley Hall, the  12 thousand square foot mansion owned by mining magnate, has sold for full price. The Marin County home overlooking San Francisco Bay was originally bought for a mere 5.5 million dollars but extensive upgrades totaling an estimated 32 million dollars enabled Robert Friedland and his wife to sell the home for the full listing price of 65 million dollars.

The 1895 mansion, on a crest with sweeping views of San Francisco Bay, sits on an acre on Belvedere Island, about a half-hour drive north of downtown San Francisco. Called Locksley Hall, the 12,000-square-foot mansion has a wraparound veranda, and there’s a pool and a caretaker’s studio. The sale accord includes the home’s furniture, confirms listing broker Olivia Hsu Decker, co-owner of Decker Bullock Sotheby’s International Realty via RealEstateJournal

Unfortunately getting onto MTV’s Cribs show will not cost 50 cents, you have to be the rap star 50 Cent to get your home previewed before hitting the market on this popular television show.

The rapper 50 Cent is about to put the Farminton, Connecticut home he purchased from Mike Tyson on the market for 18.5 million give or take 50 cents (sorry, could not resist).

The 48,000 square foot home will be previewed on MTV before sale proving that video can help sell homes, if done right.

Now, 50’s stamp is imprinted all over the massive 19-bedroom property in Farmington, Conn. The mansion now includes a nightclub with a swing dangling from the ceiling for some of his wilder parties.
But those touches may not remain. 50 is selling the property for $18.5 million. And Thursday, he’s showing off the property on a special edition of MTV’s “Cribs” so fans can take a peek before he moves out.

“I like the look of an Architectural Digest,” 50 said of his designing style. “There’s a lot of good living going on, and it ain’t based (on) the actual money that’s being spent, it’s the choices that people make. You don’t have to buy a $50 million home to build a lifestyle that’s equivalent.” via  AccessAtlanta.

Well, it looks like the housing slowdown has taken another victim. The royal Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia has pulled his 135 million dollar Aspen estate off of the market due to not receiving a good enough offer. The family decided that they liked the home too much to part with it after not getting a good enough offer.

Darn those low ballers!

“The ranch is off the market and is no longer for sale,” said William Jordan III, an Aspen attorney who represents Bandar’s local interests. “Prince Bandar and his family realized that they enjoyed the ranch, and Aspen, too much to want to part with it.”

Aspen real estate broker Joshua Saslove, who listed the house known as Hala Ranch for sale in July 2006, said there was “enormous interest” in Prince Bandar’s home, which sits on 90 acres in the gated Starwood neighborhood just outside of Aspen.

“However,” Saslove said, “none of the interested parties wrote a contract that was acceptable to the seller.”  Aspen Daily News

New York real estate developer, no not Donald Trump, Leonard Blavanik has reportedly gone to contract on a triplex condo in the Upper East Side condo “The Mark” in New York City. The deal would be the highest price real estate transaction in the country for the year.

The triplex is reported to be 30,000 square feet with 23 bedrooms and 25 bathrooms. If this is not all, the condo has a four thousand square feet  of patio space. Encompassing 3 stories this must be one majestic property.

The prospective purchaser, sources say, is real-estate magnate Leonard Blavatnik, who is worth $7.2 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
The price would be twice as large as the previous record listing in New York City, and nearly $50 million more than last year’s sale of the De Menil estate in East Hampton, believed to be the priciest residential transaction in the country.
“It’s hard to imagine there’s a real-estate slump when a number like that is being bandied about,” said one wide-eyed real-estate agent. “What could possibly be next.”
The famed hotel at 25 E. 77th St., between Madison and Fifth avenues, is undergoing a gut renovation that, in addition to hotel rooms, will include residential suites and apartments.  via the New York Post

When 2 professional sports stars that are known by 1 word nicknames world wide get involved in a real estate transaction you know that big dollars are involved. A-Rod, or Alex Rodriguez and baseballs highest paid player, is buying the Star Island mansion outside of Miami from Shaq, Shaquille O’Neal and the NBA’s most famous player. 

The 8 bedroom, 19,440 square foot home is located just between Miami and Miami Beach and is long been a home for celebrities. Neighbors include Will Smith, Gloria Estefan, Rosie O’Donnell, Madonna, and Sylvester Stallone. The home was originally placed on the market for 35 million 2 years ago.

Two brokers speaking on condition of anonymity said the contract is worth $25 million to $27 million. The assessed value of the house on 2.45 acres is $25.3 million, according to the Miami-Dade County property appraiser’s office.

The sales contract came to be almost two months after the 7-foot-1, 340-pound center filed for divorce from his wife, Shaunie. The couple has been married for five years. They have four children.

Brokers said “A-Rod” Rodriguez has been looking for a bigger home for at least two months. Shaq’s home is more than twice the size of the Coral Gables home occupied by Rodriguez, a former New York Yankee who became a free agent after he opted out of a $252 million contract at the end of the World Series.

Rodriguez is said to have started home shopping shortly before his agent, Scott Boras, announced the third baseman wanted to test free agency.  via Daily Business Review