Despite the general economic uncertainty gripping the nation and the current stock market mass exodus, LA’s luxury residential real estate market has not gone to pieces. Not yet, anyway.
Actually, things are still pretty hot around here. After a sluggish start to 2016, the ultra-high-end niche is shifting back into high gear. Lots of homes entering escrow. A hefty handful selling in the $20 million range. And there’s even a wee bit of action brewing in the ultra-ultra-ultra-high-end pocket of the market, too. Quietly. We’re not sure if the action is here to stay, or if this is just a temporary rebound. We shall see.
Yolanda heard through the real estate grapevine that a major-league spec-mansion located in the endlessly trendy “Trousdale Estates” section of Beverly Hills and listed off-market with a scream-inducing $45 million pricetag recently sold. That’s right, kids, sold. Sold. S-O-L-D.
A quick check of property records confirms the residence in question silently changed hands for a whopping $38,270,000 in late April (2016). The house, it should be noted, sits on a rather stingy .59-acre flag lot. That’s right, folks. Someone paid close to $40 million for a house on a damn flag lot with no front yard that’s so close to the nearest neighbors you could probably have conversations with them through the walls of your respective residences. Okay, maybe not that close. But still.
Clearly, Trousdale Estates is still as fiery hot as ever, what with the $50 million teardowns and other smaller spec houses selling for $20 million+. And this $38 million sale price, happens to be — by far — the biggest sale for a single-family home in LA this year. In fact, it’s the only one to break the $30 million barrier (at least as far as Yolanda knows).
The “Williams Residence” as it is called, was done up by McClean Design for (who else?) ubiquitous high-end property developer Nile Niami, a guy who can’t seem to stop winning with these crazy confections he keeps whipping up. Mr. Niami purchased the site (at the time, it sported a large but rather ugly Middle Eastern-influenced mansion) in April 2013 for just $7,000,000. That means our boy realized a $31 million+ profit in just three years, not counting the many millions invested into demolition expenses, construction costs, permits, architecture fees, real estate commissions, property taxes, etc.
Once upon a time (several months ago), Yolanda heard whispers that reigning entertainment royals Jay-Z and Beyoncé were interested in this house and just had to have it. But, as always, they didn’t buy. Yawn.
Frankly, Yolanda is sick and tired of hearing about these two. We’re not even sure if they’ve looked at any of these houses they supposedly “tried” to buy. Enough with the overtime publicity, please. Y’all are starting to feel like the Kardashians of real estate. (NOTE: Yolanda loves Beyoncé, so don’t get it twisted. We love her so, so much. Please, Beyhive, don’t zap us dead!)
Back to the Trousdale house. The spendy buyer’s identity is, naturally, screened behind a tedious shell company (Taruca Holdings LLC), but Yolanda just happens to know that the new owners are a guy named Brian Sheth and his wife Adria.
According to Forbes, Mr. Sheth is a billionaire at the still rather young age of 40. The Goldman Sachs and Bain Capital veteran co-founded Vista Equity Partners with our boy, fellow Goldman alum Robert F. Smith. Remember Mr. Smith? He’s the guy who recently paid almost $20 million for Real Housewives of Malibu star Yolanda Hadid Foster’s house.
We’re not sure why Mr. Sheth gets the sexy $38 million mod pad in Trousdale Estates and Mr. Smith ends up with a Real Housewife’s beat-up non-oceanfront bungalow in Malibu, but such is life. (We tease. Ms. Hadid’s house is really, really nice.)
Though there are very few publicly available details of the new spec mansion out there, we can tell you the house has a stunning if rather slim infinity pool that runs nearly the entire width of the single-story residence. The house is approximately 14,000 square feet, which includes a cavern-like basement level. According to Mr. Niami himself, there’s also a spinning car turntable that’s visible from the living room. That should help Mr. Sheth remind himself how rich he is at all times.
Terrazzo and marble surfaces abound, and walls of glass seamlessly blend the indoors with the out in a quintessentially California manner. Due to the property’s compact acreage, yard space is limited to a small grassy pocket on the west side of the structure.
As extravagant as this purchase may seem, this is not the only luxury residence clogging up Mr. & Mrs. Sheth’s real estate portfolio. Property records reveal they also — through another LLC — own a large compound in the richie-rich and equestrian-oriented San Diego County CDP of Rancho Santa Fe.
The architecturally-confused crib — we’ll call the poor thing a contemporary Spanish for lack of a more accurate descriptor — was acquired by the Sheths back in October 2012 for $9,200,000. The property includes two contiguous parcels with a total of approximately 7.5 acres of space.
The 12,921 square foot main house was built in 2006 and includes a lot of striking features like those icicle lights in the living room, the disco balls in the family room, and that hideous lounge-type area with that red velvet booth, orangish pillows, those two chandeliers that look like they were borrowed from a klassy strip club in El Paso and the retina-slaying gold lamé fireplace. Egads! Even Liberace couldn’t find love for that mess.
Over in Austin TX (from whence he originally hails), the Sheths also lays claim to a mock-Med mansion (above) with 7 bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms in a generous 8,678 square feet of living space.
Presumably Mr. & Mrs. Sheth also keep an exorbitantly expensive crib in San Francisco (where his company is based), but sorry, we don’t know anything about that one.
So this $38 million pad is your new record-holder for 2016. Anyone care to bet on what house might steal the crown before the year is up? Or will this still be #1 come the dawn of 2017? Who can say?
