1652 Tower Grove Drive (Credit: Realtor)
UPDATED on Feb. 21, at 1:30 p.m.: When the so-called “Mountain of Beverly Hills” hit the market seeking a record-breaking $1 billion last summer, it drew snickers from real estate industry experts who balked at the price tag of the undeveloped land.
Now, less than seven months later, its sellers have cut its ask by 35 percent to $650 million, The Real Deal has learned. It re-listed on the Multiple Listing Service Wednesday.
The 157-acre mountaintop spread in Beverly Hills Post Office still surpasses any other listing on the market. It’s unclear how the new sticker price will affect the chances of a sale.
“They still have a long way to go,” Steve Lewis, founder of CORE Real Estate Group and the original listing agent three decades ago, said Thursday.
Stephen Shapiro, the co-founder of the Westside Estate Agency, said he anticipates it will “still be a struggle” to find a buyer at $650 million.
“I just don’t know what the likelihood of an arm’s length transaction is here,” he said. “It’s a long hard road.”
The property’s sellers — Secured Capital Partners LLC — have received at least one offer. Last month, developer Scott Gillen offered to pay $400 million for the six lots. The selling entity, controlled by the Victorino Noval family, reportedly countered at $600 million to no avail.
Listing agent Aaron Kirman of Compass has the listing. Representatives for Kirman and the sellers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The sprawling property, which has nearly 25 acres of usable land on six graded pads, has a storied history that includes the late television and radio mogul Merv Griffin, Iranian and Saudi royalty and Hollywood hotshots like Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise, The Real Deal previously reported.
It gained nationwide attention when it listed at $1 billion, a record for L.A. County.
When he won the listing last July, Kirman told the Los Angeles Times that he planned to spend up to $1 million on marketing the massive swath of land, including jetting around the world to spur interest among Russian billionaires and Middle Eastern royals. His team also was supposedly planning a “Hollywood-style video” to showcase the property.
That apparently hasn’t happened yet. And on Thursday Kirman’s website still listed The Mountain at $1 billion.