He didn’t do much, but media mogul David Geffen still walked away with a $3.75-million profit in Beverly Hills.
About a year after dropping $30 million on an empty 1-acre lot in the ultra-exclusive Billionaire’s Row enclave, Geffen just sold the land for $33.75 million to investor Randall Van Wolfswinkel.
When Geffen bought it last year, the vacant lot came with plans for a 24,500-square-foot modern mansion designed by architecture firm Shubin Donaldson. Blueprints called for seven bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, a bowling alley, nightclub, bar, theater, salon, gym and a giant 140-foot swimming pool — but so far, nothing has been built.
Perched on a hillside, the property boasts sweeping views that stretch from downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean.
The $33.75-million deal ranks among the priciest Southern California home sales in November, but it wasn’t quite the most expensive sale on its street. That title belongs to a 20,000-square-foot showplace designed by Paul McLean that traded hands for $48.5 million two days before Thanksgiving.
Billionaire’s Row has seen some massive transactions in the last few years. In 2014, Minecraft creator Markus Persson spent $70 million on an extravagant 23,000-square-foot spec house built by Bruce Makowsky on the same street, and four years later, businessman Evan Metropoulos paid $65 million for the former home of late comedian Danny Thomas.
Geffen’s been wheeling and dealing in real estate all year long, kicking off 2020 with a bang by selling the famed Jack Warner estate to Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos for $165 million — a deal that shattered California’s all-time price record.
Over the summer he bought a little something for himself: a striking Beverly Hills mansion that cost him $68 million. The 3.25-acre estate was owned by Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee President Casey Wasserman and centers on a colossal 18,500-square-foot home made of stone, glass and white oak.
The 77-year-old is known for founding the music labels Asylum Records, Geffen Records and DGC Records, which is now known as Interscope Geffen A&M Records. In 1990, he co-founded DreamWorks Pictures with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Barbara Duskin of Hilton & Hyland represented the buyer.