Jennifer Aniston nabs $36 million; high-end homes are moving in the wealthy
enclave
By JULIET
CHUNG OCTOBER 28, 2011 for WSJ.com
In August, fashion designer Vera Wang bought a midcentury modern-style home in
Beverly Hills for $9 million from real-estate investor and designer Steven
Hermann. He'd bought it for $5 million in 2008, then spent more than $3 million
on a gut renovation.
In nearby Holmby Hills, Lions Gate Entertainment Chief Executive Jon
Feltheimer and his wife, Laurie, recently sold a five-bedroom home that they had
bought in 2009 for $9.8 million. A family spokesman said the Feltheimers
intended to build a new home but sold after deciding the process would be too
time-consuming. They got $14.4 million, from Russian soccer player Gurgen
Khachatryan.
At a time when luxury homes are making up an increasingly large share of
foreclosures, an unexpected number of high-end owners in and near Beverly Hills
are demanding—and in some cases getting—millions more for properties they've
recently bought.
Brokers say the appetite has remained remarkably healthy for prime property
in this area, particularly for renovated homes. For the year to date ended
Thursday, 25 homes in the greater Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Holmby Hills area
had sold for $10 million or more, according to Jeff Hyland of Hilton &
Hyland, a Christie's International Real Estate affiliate. That's more than the
16 and 21 sold over the same period in the hot years of 2006 and 2007.
Last summer, Jennifer Aniston sold her nearly 10,000-square-foot Beverly
Hills home, which she bought in 2006 for $13.5 million, for $36 million. The
actress set a local price-per-square-foot record—$3,600—with the sale. Designed
by late architect Harold W. Levitt, the home recalled Bali and featured five
bedrooms, extensive stonework and a bridge over a koi pond. A spokesman for Ms.
Aniston didn't respond to requests for comment.
Not far from Ms. Aniston's former home is another house designed by Mr.
Levitt that's been heavily renovated to include Asian influences. The house went
on the market in June asking $14.9 million; it's now asking $10.9 million. Owner
Tim Mulcahy says he bought the house speculatively, paying $4.6 million for it
last year and spending a further $3.5 million on the renovation. Mr. Mulcahy
says he's aware there's a housing downturn but calls Beverly Hills a unique
market. "I don't feel I've lost money; I feel that I will have some gain," he
adds.
In Beverly Hills' gated enclave of Beverly Park, a European businessman
bought a 20,000-square-foot contemporary, sight unseen, for $16.5 million last
fall. Now, he is asking $25 million for the house—without having done any work
on it.
"We thought, 'Let's throw it up on the market and see what happens,' " says
the broker, Josh Altman of Hilton & Hyland, of the home, which sits on
nearly seven acres and has a dining room with a grotto and waterfall. The
attempted sale makes sense, Mr. Altman says, because he was able to get his
client a good price on the home and because similar super-size homes in the area
are scarce.
Also testing the waters: Paramount Chairman Brad Grey, who, after
buying a home in Holmby Hills in the winter for $18.5 million, put it back on
the market in September for $23.5 million. Mr. Grey never intended to sell the
property, says his broker, Stephen Shapiro of the Westside Estate Agency. He
adds that Mr. Grey decided to sell after renovating another property he owns
nearby.
Write to Juliet Chung at juliet.chung@wsj.com
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