Court Orders Sale of 'Most Expensive Home in the US'

A home billed as the "biggest and most expensive in the urban world" is going to be hitting the market at a steep discount. "The One," a 105,000-square-foot megamansion in Los Angeles' Bel Air neighborhood, was expected to go on sale for $500 million years ago, but the project from high-end developer Nile Niami hit numerous delays, CNN reports. Niami has now defaulted on more than $165 million in loans and debt and the home has been placed in court-ordered receivership, an alternative to foreclosure, according to court documents. It will be sold to pay off the debts.

The mansion, which sits on eight acres on a hilltop, includes a 50-car garage, 20 bedrooms, a 10,000-bottle wine cellar, and its own nightclub and bowling alley, CNBC reports. The 4,000-square foot master suite has its own pool. Niami has described the project as his "life mission." The largest lender, Hankey Capitoal, loaned him more than $80 million in 2018 to continue the project. It will now be relisted a price likely to be well below $500 million, reports Los Angeles Magazine. The magazine notes that it is actually the third-biggest home in the US. Niami has sold off other properties this year at well below their original prices.

Niami described the property as weeks away from completion in a home tour posted on YouTube earlier this year, but receiver Theodore Lanes of Lanes Management Services says it still has multiple issues. Lanes tells CNN that a permit to build a commercial-grade kitchen was denied and that space remains empty. He says the project also has more than $2 million in unpaid taxes and debts to vendors for scaffolding and air-conditioning. (Read more mansion stories.)