Inman

Buyers can bid on America’s priciest home via Google Forms

Michael Leonard | The Society Group

In an effort to sell the highly marketed LA spec mansion called “The One,” developer Nile Niami has cut the asking price by $150 million and is asking interested bidders to submit an application through Google Forms.

Known for his stratospheric asking prices and extravagantly over-the-top mansions, producer-turned-developer Niami has been working on his biggest project to date for the past eight years. “The One” sits at over 100,000 square feet and overlooks Bel Air. After numerous delays with construction and financing, the home was listed for $500 million in February 2020.

Using enormous asking prices and “the most” qualifiers (if sold for the current asking price, the mansion will be the priciest residential sale in the United States) is a common strategy used by LA developers to draw both media and public attention to a home. Nearly a year later, “The One” has been cut in price to $350 million, the New York Post first reported.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CBWrGneF9u6/?utm_source=ig_embed

But despite the sky-high price tag, Niami is taking a rather pedestrian and impersonal marketing approach: Interested buyers are being asked to fill out a Google Forms application asking them for their name, email address and phone number. A proof of funds, the application states, should be emailed alongside the application.

“This is not an opportunity for just anyone,” the form reads. “Sold to the highest bidder. This is for serious applicants only.”

Another interesting feature is the question asking applicants from which influencer they found out about the home.

To build the property, Niami bought three ranches from late video game heiress Rita Kogan in 2012 for $28 million and took out an $82.5 million loan to build a house as steeped in over-the-top luxury as possible. In the end, the property stretches five acres and has a 105,000-square-foot residence with 21 bedrooms and 42 bathrooms. At 4,000 square feet, the master bedroom alone is larger than the average single-family home.

It will also likely be the last of such a size since the city of Los Angeles approved changes to its building guidelines since Niami began construction.

“Due to recently approved city ordinances, a house of this magnitude will never again be built in Los Angeles, which means The One will truly remain one of a kind,” reads a report from Architectural Digest.

A 50-car garage, a skydeck, four swimming pools, a 10,000-bottle wine cellar, a nightclub and a 400-foot-long jogging track are just some of the amenities heralded by Niami. These types of over-the-top, amenity-rich homes are characteristic of Niami’s style — last February, he sold his 20,500-square-foot Opus mansion in Beverly Hills for just over $50 million.

The listing is held by Branden and Rayni Williams of Williams & Williams Estates Group and Aaron Kirman from Compass.

Email Veronika Bondarenko