Mega mansion was once worth the $ 500 million default of $ 100 million in debt, forcing a sale

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In an Instagram post last summer, Nile Niami, the developer of the project, installed the 105,000-square-foot home with seven pools, a 50-car garage, a 10,000-bottle cellar and even her own night club. Promoted as the world’s largest and most expensive urban property, “The One” was expected to hit the market for $ 500 million, according to the video posted by Niami on Instagram. But he suffered many delays and complications and now faces a court-ordered sale to pay off debts.

Niami borrowed $ 82.5 million from Hankey Capital in 2018 to continue building the house. But in March this year, Hankey reported the default by sending the property to a foreclosure sale. Niami had 90 days to pay off or renegotiate the debt, which had grown to more than $ 110 million, according to a court document.

With no payments made in July, the home was placed in a court case, which is an alternative to foreclosure for complicated real estate transactions. The receiver, Theodore Lanes of Lanes Management Services, is tasked with accounting for debts against the property, preparing to sell the property, and ideally paying the lenders and creditors with the proceeds.

Hankey Capital declined to comment on the foul or admission. Nile Niami did not respond to any requests for comment.

But despite Niami’s promises that the property is almost finished (during a video tour of the house posted in April, he said it would take “four more weeks, probably”), a complicated list of hits remains and the property it is not ready for the market, according to Lanes’ first report to the court.

Some of the items described on the rails are pretty typical final details when it comes to building a house: the gas company won’t provide service until a certificate of employment is issued, for example. But others are private property: permission was denied to build a commercial-quality restaurant kitchen and this space remains empty.

Lanes said in an email to CNN Business that he is still learning about new issues that need to be addressed, including obtaining plans and permits and resolving agreements with in-house artists, a staging company. furniture and the gardener.

“It’s a pretty extensive list,” he said.

Other problems facing the property, according to the report: insurance had expired in early 2021; the challenges of social media users to sneak into the property have caused intruders to be affected.

“Clearly, anything that falls under security would have priority,” Lanes said in his email. “As for the rest of the projects, they are all being evaluated based on the requirements to get the certificate of employment. If they are required to get the certificate of employment, they will get priority.”

According to the Lanes report, the house also has more than $ 2 million in unpaid taxes and bills to sellers of concrete, air conditioning and scaffolding.

“This is a very complicated property with quite a few open numbers,” Lanes wrote in his report. “Currently, the goal is to get full insurance and develop a timeline and budget to secure the certificate of employment in order to maximize value and make the property more marketable.”

‘The only one’

For almost a decade now, the house sits atop a Bel Air hill overlooking the Los Angeles Basin. The colossal house has 20 bedrooms, including eight staff bedrooms and a three-bedroom guest house, about 6 elevators, a library, a cigar room and a candy room, according to a two-part tour posted on YouTube at in April.

The house is promoted with a four-lane bowling alley, a 50-seat movie theater, a wellness center and gym, wellness center, beauty salon, juice bar and tennis court.

Despite Niami repeatedly mocking that the house was just weeks away from reaching the market, it never arrived.

In contrast, over the past year, Niami has downloaded other properties at reduced prices.

Earlier this year, it sold a West Hollywood mansion for $ 26 million, well below the previous asking price of $ 35 million, according to property records posted on Realtor.com. In April, it sold a Bel Air mansion for $ 36 million, just over half of its initial price of $ 65 million in 2018, according to Zillow.
Other defaults also came in, including one on a $ 10 million home debt in the Hollywood Hills and another on a $ 23.4 million debt on a Bel Air home, according to the Los Angeles Times .

And Niami is sued by other creditors who want to get their money. According to court documents, real estate firm Compass is suing for non-payment of a $ 200,000 loan it took out while trying to sell a different house to Bel Air.

First construction of the mega mansion built by Nile Niami, in Bel Air, California, in May 2015.

It is unclear at what price “The One” will appear or when it will hit the market.

“I am still evaluating proposals and strategies from several potential agents on the list,” Lanes said in an email.

Although the property had not yet hit the market earlier this year, a Google Forms application was available to fill out potential buyers. Beyond contact information, just ask a question: “What influence have you discovered?”
Several influencers on social media have already introduced him. Last April, Niami toured home with YouTube personality Michael Blakey. The tour offers a view of the nightclub with VIP area and a walk through the master suite of 4,000 square meters with its own pool.

“I gave them everything here,” Niami said in the video. “We have everything anyone could want in this house.”

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