Los Angeles, we have some problems: homelessness, for example, is a problem vast enough to be declared a state of emergency. Mayor Eric Garcetti and the LA City Council recently announced a plan to pledge $100 million to fight homelessness in the city. But of all of our problems, "we need more huge houses" is not exactly on the tip of everyone's tongue. Still, JPMorgan is financing three estates—the Park Bel Air—on a hillside near Hotel Bel-Air for a starting price of $115 million, according to Bloomberg, which is, just for comparison's sake, more than Garcetti's plan to end homelessness.
Domvs London, a developer, along with a real estate investment arm of JPMorgan called Junius Real Estate Partners acquired the 11-acre site about a year ago, Bloomberg reports. They planned to split the site into three properties and sell each individually. Buyers can pay $45 million to build on the land themselves, otherwise, Domvs is planning on constructing the first house starting in February that is supposed to be in the 56,000- to 61,000-square-foot range and priced starting at $115 million—for additional context, the White House is 55,000 square feet.
While we’d like to think that price tag is unfathomable and utterly insane, it turns out that properties in a similar or greater price range exist. There's a Beverly Hills mansion listed for $195 million. Globally, five properties sold for $100 million or more in the last year and at least 23 other properties are on the market with nine-figure asking prices, according to Christie’s International Real Estate.
And in case your eyes are starting to gloss over from reading so many ridiculously huge numbers, here’s another: there is another property being built right now in Bel Air that is expected to hit the market at $500 million. It is a four-house complex with a 74,000-square-foot main residence, three smaller houses, a 30-car garage and a casino. The projected asking price doubles the most expensive property ever sold, which was in London for $221 million.