Neverland Ranch on market for $100 million
Colony Capital, the Santa Monica-based firm headed by real estate mogul Tom Barrack, is trying to sell late pop star Michael Jackson’s notorious Neverland Ranch for $100 million.
Located at 5225 Figueroa Mountain Road in Los Olivos, the property features a 12,500-square-foot, six-bedroom Normandy-style main house, a four-acre lake and waterfall and a pool. Additionally, there is a tennis court and four-bedroom guest house, plus numerous others structures, including a 5,500-square foot, 50-seat movie theater with a stage, several barns, animal shelter facilities, corrals and a maintenance shop. The amusement park rides are gone, but the train tracks still exist.
According to Business Times research, the property, which sits on nearly 2,600 acres, has a total assessed value of $30.3 million. The improvement value — the structures and other built features — of the property is about $6.9 million.
A number of reports about the property’s listing indicate that Colony has spent millions on renovating the ranch since it bought it in 2008.
Jackson paid $19.5 million for the ranch in 1988 and lived there more than 15 years. But in the run up to his untimely death in 2009, Jackson fell into financial trouble and defaulted on a $24.5 million loan backed by the ranch. Colony swooped in and bought the note for roughly $24 million and put the title into a joint venture it formed with the king of pop.
In February, the New York Post’s Page Six reported that there were at least three bids from private investors for the property, two of which were interested turning Neverland into a “Graceland-like attraction,” while the other wanted to develop a sexual assault rehab for children.
The Business Times was not able to verify these reports. Caroline Luz, a spokeswoman for Colony wouldn’t confirm or deny the previous offers and said the company isn’t willing to comment on listing.
Luz also declined to answer whether or not the Jackson estate is interested in trying to buy the property back.
Sotheby’s Suzanne Perkins, who also represents the $125 million-priced Rancho San Carlos mega estate and was involved in the $110 million sale of Rancho El Cojo on Jalama Road, said she is absolutely convinced there are multiple buyers out there.
“It’s really about having the right person come along at the right time,” she said.
