Neverland Ranch asking price is a cool $100 million
The sprawling property that was once home to late King of Pop Michael Jackson is on the market.
His Neverland Ranch and amusement park is up for sale for $US100 million ($131 million), real estate agents say.
• The many dangers of overseas property investment
• Kanye thinks he’s Jesus, but can’t walk on water
• Why Madonna posted this divisive pic
But an expert said the price tag was “optimistic,” given the unproven charges of child molestation which tainted Jackson’s final years before his death in 2009.
The late star built up his Neverland Ranch on 1,000 hectares outside Santa Barbara to include zoo animals, numerous amusement rides and lavish gardens.The animals have been removed, save for a single llama, and the property has changed hands and is now called the Sycamore Valley Ranch.
A chandelier hangs over a lofted main entryway.It has 22 buildings, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Online property listing included pictures of the Normandy-style property, complete with pools and fountains, bridges and a decorative shrubbery with the name Neverland spelled out above a floral clock face.
An investment firm renovated the property and several real estate agents are looking for a buyer at the listing price of a cool $100 million.
But experts said the sellers may struggle to reach their asking price, because of the property’s former owner’s tainted reputation.
“There is obviously a lot of affection for him and his talent,” Randall Bell, a specialist in valuing stigmatised properties, told the Los Angeles Times.
“But it’s hard to get by the fact that Neverland is closely associated with child molestation.
“I think $100 million is very optimistic.”
The property was bought about six years ago for $22.5 million by Thomas Barrack Jr’s Colony Capital, the LA Times said.
The property includes a massive six-bedroom main house, a movie theatre and stage.
Jackson, considered by some to be the greatest pop artist of all time, wrote some of his top hits on the ranch.
Landscaped gardens and a pool are features of Neverland Ranch.
The ranch was also the infamous location where Jackson invited children to visit and sleep over and where he was accused of molesting young boys.He was never found guilty in court, but the charges engulfed Jackson in the mid-2000s before the singer-songwriter died in 2009.
The Wall Street Journal reported that tours of the property will not be given.
At the time of his death Jackson was planning a global comeback tour to help him stave off bankruptcy, five years after being acquitted of child molestation charges that left his career in tatters.
He had debts of up to $500 million before his death, but in the five years since his executors have earned more than $700 million, according to a book published last year, Michael Jackson Inc.
Money-making ventures have included the This Is It movie of rehearsals for the doomed tour, a touring Cirque du Soleil stage show and two posthumous albums.
A footpath leads to the main house inside Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch