Thursday, January 31, 2013

Keyshawn Johnson Re-Lists Calabasas Albatross

SELLER: Keyshawn Johnson
LOCATION: Calabasas, CA
PRICE: $10,500,000
SIZE: 11,746 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 7 full and 2 half bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Yesterday Your Mama discussed the Pacific Palisades mansion that Miami-based professional basketball player Chris Bosh bought late last year for $9.4 million and currently has up for lease at $45,000 per month. Today, much to our own surprise since we're not very athletically inclined, we've decided to continue in the professional athlete real estate vein and discuss the Calabasas, CA estate listed in early December 2012 for $10,500,000 by former professional footballer turned television commentator Keyshawn Johnson.

This isn't, as it turns out, the first time at the real estate rodeo for Mister Johnson and his custom built Calabasas crib. In fact, the Superbowl winning former wide receiver has been trying to unload his real estate albatross in Calabasas since at least March 2011 when it was unsuccessfully heaved on the open market with an asking price of $11,995,000. By late 2011 the price tag had plummeted to $9,500,000 but, alas... In early 2012 the hard-to-sell estate popped back up on the open market with a surprisingly higher $10,995,000 asking price that ten months later was dropped to it's current $10.5 million.

The difficulty Mister Johnson has had selling his big ol' house in the guard-gated Oaks community isn't even the most interesting part of the story though, children. Property records show Mister Johnson purchased the then vacant 1.86 acre property in April—or maybe August—2004 for an undisclosed amount of money. By early 2007, according to online documentation we perused, Mister Johnson had secured at least six million dollars in mortgages against the property, presumably for the construction of the residence.

For reasons Your Mama can't possibly know or fathom, especially since he surely earned many millions during his 11 seasons as a professional pig skinner, by late 2009 Mister Johnson fallen enough behind on his mortgage payment(s) that his lender began the ugly foreclosure process. The property was scheduled to be auctioned on the third of June 2010 but sometime before that happened, Mister Johnson must have made good on mortgage because by late June the foreclosure wolves had been called off with a Notice of Rescission recorded on the tenth of June.

Anyhoo, while Your Mama might describe it in less flattering terms, current listing information describes the 11,746 square foot Richard Landry-designed residence as a "Contemporary, Mediterranean" that was completed in 2011 and includes six bedrooms and seven full and two half bathrooms.

The double-height foyer, study/library and formal living and dining areas are complimented, according to listing information, by less formal family quarters that include a colossal and contemporary double-island kitchen that opens to a spacious family room, a media/game room, home theater/multi-purpose room, a bonus room and a home spa and exercise room set up with sauna.

Additional amenities listed in marketing materials include an elevator, a gated driveway with garage space for four cars, various fruit and shade trees, guest/staff quarters and a whole house sound system.

Steel framed windows and doors connect the luxurious interior spaces to the expansive outdoor entertaining spaces that include a wide terrace that hugs the back of the house, a covered veranda with outdoor fireplace and long views over the surrounding mountains, a broad free-form lawn area, a built-in barbecue center, a lighted sunken basketball court, an extra-long rectangular swimming pool with inset spa and plenty of sunbathing space and and adjacent cabana/gazebo.

Far be it from Your Mama to place any kind of value on a property—all property is worth, of course, as much as someone will pay for it—but a few minutes research on the interweb indicates that Mister Johnson and his extremely successful real estate agent(s) may have a tough time getting someone to cough up more than ten million clams for his Calabasas mansion considering it's current price tag is substantially higher, according to the peeps at Redfin, than any other sale in Calabasas in the last three years.

In the last three years, according to Redin, there are only four recorded sales in Calabasas above six million dollars, all of them in gated enclave known as the Estates at The Oaks where—lucky for him—Mister Johnson's mansion is also located. In July 2010 professional baseball pitcher Jeff Suppan and his wife Dana scooped up a 10,816 square foot faux Italian macmansion with six bedrooms and seven full and two half bathrooms for $6,250,000.

Property records (and previous reports) reveal the following January (2011) chat show host Phil McGraw and wife Robin shelled out $6,575,000 for an 11,127 square foot mansion on more than three acres. So the stories go, the six bedroom and 8.5 bathroom pseudo Tuscan villa was purchased for their television producer son Jay McGraw and his former Playboy Playmate wife Erica Dahm.


In April 2012,18-year old bubble gum pop super star Justin Bieber paid $6.5 million for a very grown up 1.28 acre spread with a 9,214 square foot mansion that includes six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, six fireplaces, two three-car garages, an elevator, a movie theater, a second floor game room, a family room with wet bar and wine cellar—somewhat ironic since he's not even close to being old enough to imbibe booze legally—and a poolside guest casita with outdoor living room and a complete indoor kitchen.


The most recent and most expensive purchase in the Estates at the Oaks enclave occurred just last November (2012) when a wealthy businessman paid an abnormally high $9,200,000 for a single story architectural pastiche of a mansion with seven bedrooms and seven full and two half bathrooms in 11,649 square feet. The seller, according to property records we peeped, was tax consultant Ramin Salari. Mister Salari's name won't ring a bell for most of the children but Los Angeles-based real estate watchers may recall Mister Ramin reportedly paid $185,000 in bribes to L.A. County Tax Assessor John Noguez in exchange for reduced property taxes for his wealthy clients. But that's another sordid real estate story for another blog...

Your Mama, who does not know a pencil from a pinhead, has no idea if Mister Johnson lives in this house or if he ever even intended to occupy the premises. What we do know based upon a care perusal of property record data bases is that he maintains some sort of ownership in at least one other luxurious Los Angeles area residence including a 6,549 square foot house in Tarzana that he bought way back in December 1996 for $1,143,000.

Propety records also reveal that back in December 2004 Mister Johnson sold an 11,206 square foot mansion with six bedrooms and nine bathrooms in the guard-gated Beverly Ridge community for $10,500,000. The modern Mediterranean mansion is currently back on the market for lease at $75,000 per month and for sale at $11,750,000, reduced from $13,750,000. The house was later (and very briefly) owned by Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis and was used as the Esquire House by Esquire magazine. It's also just down the street from the massive mega-mansion recently completed by Showbiz tycoon Tyler Perry.

listing photos: Prudential California Realty

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

My eyes! Pass the nerve pills, Mama!

Anonymous said...

Better take control of the money before it's all gone......

Anonymous said...

I'm disappointed in you, Richard Landry

Anonymous said...

These overpaid, undereducated sports players keeping buying and building totally tacky, classless homes.

Just shows what money will not accomplish.

Marina Development said...

FEELING RELAXATION AFTER READING SUCH POST.......

Anonymous said...

Very beautiful and not cookie-cutter like so many other mansions. It's unique and different. Richard Landry is a great architect.

Anonymous said...

As you said this house has been on and off the market for an ice age with the price hoping up and down. The house is pretty bad-- even by Landry standards. Given an exterior paint job and interior nice-gay decorator I am sure it could be a decent house-- if oversized contemporary mock meds' are your thing.

I can say--- I have been in the house and it shows better in person than photo's of it look. Huge flat rear grounds, great pool and beautiful peaceful views.

The house was designed by Landry and built by Gordon Gibson --- also, I believe I recall Gibson at one point was also suing Keyshawn over unpaid construction bills on the house.

Keyshawn is a bit of a real estate developer so I am sure he may have totally built this on spec. or may at the very least intended on living in it briefly to sell at a profit. $6m sounds about right ( maybe a lil on the high side )for the construction of this house. The lot is maybe $2.5m ( there are two lots similar sized within a stones throw of this house on the market for $2.775m.

8 Beverly Ridge Terrace is the house Keyshawn built in Beverly Ridge Estates. He initially bought the lot and hired Landry & Gordon Gibson to build him the house,however during construction was traded to another team. Esquire approached Landry / Gibson while the house was under-construction to make it (I believe the second ever ) Esquire house.

Esquire added up-grades by the finest designers for free to the owner in exchange for the house being a venue for a certain number of parties. After that Keyshawn listed the house for like $11.995m and it was sold to Paris Latsis, who moved then Paris Hilton in for a VERY SHORT period of time. Paris & Paris, separated, Latsis sold the house for $12.25m and the new owners are now trying to unload it.

Considering the last unbuilt lot sold in Beverly Ridge for around $8m, the current ask seems relatively reasonable as an 11k plus sq.ft. house certainly costs more than $3.75m in LA to build. The problem is the Esquire up-grades are horribly dated and the house is probably in need of a $1m interior up-grade . Again, this house is one of Landry's poorer works. It has a very odd floorplan and layout. The formal living room is down a long hallway from the Foyer, divided by an outdoor living space. I think the house could be decent just like this with the right gay do over, but def both are some of Landry least refined works, and I don't consider much the man has ever done overly refined.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

The problem with this is to me--- if you can afford $10.5m you could probably spend $12-13m and I'd go out to Thousand Oaks and negotiate the price on the former Gretzky / Dykstra house at 1072 Newbern down from its $14.995m. It's in a far better gated suburban community, a good 1,500 sq.ft. large, much better lot and one of Landry's few works that I like ( although I'd probably rip the port-cochere off the front of that house and just have the front porch.

I love the redo the new owners who bought the house out of foreclosure did on that place, I just can't imagine wanting to live out in Calabasas / Thousand Oaks if I was moving to LA.

Drop Newbern in Beverly Park and I'd be all over that shit.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Thousand-Oaks/1072-Newbern-Ct-91361/home/4733156

Anonymous said...

"Richard Landry is a great architect." Take a look at the house and say that again, please. When you are sober.

Anonymous said...

Keyshawn is notorious for not paying his bills. He stiffed everyone on this house to the point where his AV guy was repossessing his gear.
Just another washed up, broke ex-nfl'er.

Keyshawn, pay your damn bills!

On the architecture, yep another Landry McMansion.... Yawn. The perfect architect for people with lots of cash and no taste.

lil' gay boy said...

"Richard Landry is a great architect." Take a look at the house and say that again, please. When you are sober.

Beat me to it -- damn!

The lot is fabulous; the house? Not so much. As usual, the Landry-size proportions are off, and to guarantee his payday he once again has allowed a client with what is clearly an "under-educated" architectural palette to dictate design -- the result being an overwrought, mismatched melange of "...what I saw in a bunch of those magazines printed on 60 pound stock..." funhouse.

Gawd Ahmighty...

Anonymous said...

Kimye should've bought this house. It's in her hood and seems like her style. That plastic reindeer out front is real Klassy.

Anonymous said...

Whoa, you guys should check out the house on the northwest corner of parkway calabasas and prado felicidad. It's a monster! Kinda pretty too. The company that did the precast concrete has a flickr page with tons of pics and tons more of a few different Beverly Park houses they dkd

Anonymous said...

Ugh, Landry. Isn't the point of hiring an architect to get the proportions right? We could all put up four walls and a roof without paying for the Starchitect.

At least the pool looks rather lovely.

Lady J

Anonymous said...

ew. didn't an NBA player in NYC just buy a 16m penthouse? get on it stat. deron williams.

The Beverly Hills School District homes said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

What's with all the hate on Calabasas? Last I heard it's still remains one of the richest cities in the US. Lovely House, will sell for 10 million.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a Brentwood garden apartment complex.

Stone Resurfacing said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.