After a full decade of construction, controversy and cost explosions, we have finally reached the conclusion of Bel-Air’s infamous mansion known as “The One.”
Late last week the enormous Bel Air mansion was auctioned off to the highest bidder. The first bid came in at $50 million. There were 40 in-person showings and ultimately five final bidders who submitted competing offers right up until the 72-hour auction ended. When the final gavel was struck, one enormous winning bid was left standing. The winning offer?
$126 million
With the auction premium, the buyer’s final bill will be closer to $141 million, but $126 million will go to the sellers.
Under any other imaginable human circumstance, auctioning anything for $126 million… even a mansion… should be an extremely happy occasion for all parties involved, but mainly the sellers.
Unfortunately in this case, the sellers are decidedly NOT happy. In fact, they are licking their wounds and calculating their losses.
Developed by Nile Niami, a special effects makeup artist turned luxury mansion developer, The One is a 4-acre behemoth property in Bel Air featuring one of the largest single-family homes in the world. At 105,000 square-feet of living space, The One is the largest home in Los Angeles, doubling the square-footage of the previous LA record holder, the Spelling Manor, which recently popped up for sale at $165 million.
As you may recall from our previous coverage, The One really is a really an incredible property.
There are 21 bedrooms and 45.5 bathrooms!
There’s a 30-car garage.
There’s a 40-seat movie theater.
There’s a 4-lane bowling alley.
There are FIVE swimming pools, including one 180-foot infinity pool overlooking maybe the best view in all of Los Angeles.
The home has more than 30,000 square-feet of white marble flooring.
There’s a nightclub, gym, beauty parlor, a glass-encased jogging track… I could go on and on. Don’t take my word, just watch this video:
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In 2017 Nile Niami finally listed The One for sale. His asking price?
$500 million
Had he achieved that price it would have been the most-expensive private home ever sold in the world.
As you might imagine, constructing The One was not cheap. And therein lies the rub.
Unfortunately when The One was first listed in 2017 it wasn’t actually livable yet. After a number of flaws and defects were discovered by a construction consulting firm, The One did not receive its vital “certificate of occupancy” which would allow someone to actually live in the home.
Two quick examples of the problems –
1) Remember those five pools we mentioned earlier? The water filtration system that was installed was found to be inadequate. Therefore the pools were constantly were filling with algae unless they were scrubbed clean continuously.
2) Remember the 30,000 square-feet of white marble flooring we mentioned earlier? Apparently the marble was not treated properly and so it soon was riddled with cracks.
There’s also reportedly a mysterious mold issue in one section of the house.
All of these fixes caused costs to soar. The total amount that was eventually spent to construct, fix and list The One?
$190 million
And now you see the problem. $190 million – $126 million = A $64 million loss for Niami’s lenders.
It’s not over.
Some estimates have claimed that the new owner will need to pour an additional $20 million into the home to fix the flaws and earn a certificate of occupancy.
So who is the lucky new owner of The One?
According to reports, the owner is an LA fashion mogul named Richard Saghian.
Saghian is the owner of Fashion Nova, a “fast fashion” retail company known for launching limited edition clothing lines in partnerships with Instagram models and celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Saweetie and Lis Nas X.
Speaking with the LA Times, Saghian said:
“The One Bel-Air is a once-in-a-lifetime property that can never be duplicated. There is nothing else like it. As a lifelong Angeleno and avid collector of real estate, I recognized this as a rare opportunity that also lets me own a unique property that is destined to be a part of Los Angeles history.“
Assuming Saghian’s property tax bill will be calculated on the $126 million figure, that means every year he will be forking over around $1.3 million to the state of California. That’s $2.6 million per year in pre-tax income set aside for the property taxes.
Source: Celebrity Net Worth
