Real Estate Woes of the Rich and Famous
Even the stars are not immune from today’s hard hitting real estate market. Kelsie Grammar recently sold his Los Angeles home for $3. 3 million. This was almost 20% less than he paid for it in 2007. The 7,600 square foot home was constructed in 1999 and sat on 1. 5 acres in Bel-Air, with gorgeous canyon and city views. Adding insult to injury, Grammar was forced to lease another home after it failed to sell for $18. 9 million. This recently renovated, English-style manor in Holmby Hills has a cobblestone driveway, pool and media room. He paid $13. 7 million for the home in 2007. Mauricio Umansky, of Hilton & Hyland/Christie’s Great Estates was the listing agent for Mr. Grammar. Tom DeLonge of band Blink-182, just lowered the selling price of his San Diego home to $5. 1 million – over 20% less than his original purchase price and subsequent $1 million spent on renovations. The 6,500 square foot home sits on 1. 1 acres in The Bridges, an upscale 540 acre golf community in Rancho Santa Fe, and features five bedrooms and six bathrooms. In 2005, DeLonge paid $5. 5 million for the home and first listed it at $6. 25 million in 2007. Laura Barry, of Barry Estates is DeLonge’s listing agent. Producer John Peters will accept $19. 95 million for three partially developed Beverly Hills lots. This is about half the price he was looking for in 2008. Jeffrey Hyland and Brooke Kaufman, of Hilton & Hyland/Christie’s Great Estates, are holding the listing. Beverly Hills investor Stanley Chais, who was tied to the Bernard Madoff scandal, has reduced the price of his Sierra Towers condominium to $4 million. This is 15% less than the $4. 4 million he paid for it in 2007. He is also accepting leasing offers of $20,000 a month (reduced from $28,000). See Coldwell Banker’s Guy Levy and Linda May for information regarding the listing. A New York Harlem mansion owned by famed circus owner James Bailey, has its selling price reduced by $10 million. This represents a 35% cut in under 6 months. The home is owned by Marguerite Blake, a former funeral-home director. Listing agents are Lori Huler Glick and Cindy Kurtin. This 12,000 square foot, circus-like structure features stained glass windows, multiple turrets, extensive mahogany interior trim and paneling and ornate chandeliers. It needs a fair amount of work, but would make a great bed & breakfast or school. Sorry, no moat. Back in April, Greenwich, Conn. estate of the late Leona Helmsley was cut to $75 million. At possibly the biggest real estate price cut in history, this was a $50 million reduction from the original price of $125 million it was listed for last year. The 20,000 square foot Jacobean-style brick mansion sits on a 40-acre country property, and features 13 bedrooms (six for servants), a walk-in silver closet, marble reflecting pool and fountain, back terrace that leads to a koi pond, elaborate flower beds, large rectangular indoor pool, wine cellar and two dining rooms. Mrs. Helmsley and her husband paid $11 million for the home in the early 1980s and later extended it by purchasing neighboring property.
