Los Angeles Mega-Mansion Sells for $141M at Auction

“I think the court should approve the amount,” Don Hankey, who court records show is owed $124 million for loans and advances to the project, said in an email. Hankey said he wasn’t the high bidder, but declined to say whether he entered the auction.

Niami, a former film producer, spent almost a decade developing The One before lenders moved to foreclose on the project. That led his firm, Crestlloyd LLC, to file for bankruptcy last year, setting up the auction.

The project has $196.4 million in secured debt and $59.3 million in unsecured debt, according to a March 2 filing by David Golubchik, the bankruptcy attorney representing Crestlloyd.

More than 40 potential buyers toured the property, including representatives of Middle Eastern royalty, Asian high-net-worth families and U.S. tech titans. Bidders were required to deposit $250,000, show ability to pay and agree to accept the home, which still doesn’t have a certificate of occupancy, as is.

“There’s still a lot of work to do and now it’s in the hands of the bankruptcy courts to move the sale forward,” said Aaron Kirman, a real estate agent who shared the listing with Branden and Rayni Williams.