Massive 260-acre lot in exclusive Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel-Air up for auction

A huge plot of undeveloped land in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Los Angeles is up for auction at a 70 percent discount, after sitting on the market for 10 years.

The 260-acre property, three times the size of Disneyland, runs through downtown Bel-Air. The Los Angeles neighborhood is well known for its upscale residents and claiming numerous landmark real estate deals.

Covering six percent of the upscale neighborhood, the parcel is a long, undeveloped valley filled with arid scrub known as Senderos Canyon.

Although the offering starts at a whopping $39 million, the sum represents a last-ditch attempt to sell the property, which has been on and off the market since it was listed for $125 million in 2013.

A rendering showing a golf course in Senderos Canyon

The canyon is currently the largest piece of land for sale in Los Angeles, surpassing the 157-acre undeveloped property known as Beverly Hills Mountain.

Beyond the obvious advantages of the property, it hasn’t yet been designated for any specific use, which means it could be developed for almost anything.

Potential buyers have considered turning the property into everything from a retirement community or goat farm, to a school with a sprawling campus or sprawling wellness retreat.

“Everyone has great ideas,” Scott Tamkin, the property’s listing agent for Compass told the The Los Angeles Times.

Representation of a mansion and a vineyard in the Senderos Canyon

A rendering showing the Senderos Canyon integrated into a horse ranch

Renderings in the property’s auction brochure show a nine-hole golf course stretching the length of the canyon, or a horse ranch surrounded by a man-made lake.

Another suggests the land could be turned into a private wine estate.

However, Tamkin said the land will most likely become a luxury home neighborhood.

He told the LA Times the lot would fit about 17 homes.

Representation of a golf course in Senderos Canyon

A rendering of a private pond built in Senderos Canyon

Bidding for the land begins on March 15 under Paramount Realty USA.

The property first came on the market ten years ago, and has seen its price drop steadily ever since.

In 2019 it was listed again for $75 million, before falling again to $60 million.

An aerial view of a rendering of a vineyard built in Senderos Canyon

A representation of an artificial lake built in the Senderos Canyon

One of the issues for buyers that is possibly hindering the sale is the large amount of work that must be done on the land for any type of development.

Currently, there are about 20 acres that are ready for construction, but the lower canyon acres would need to be graded significantly for development.

Bidding ends March 15. Two weeks later, Los Angeles’ new so-called “mansion tax” goes into effect on April 1, which would require the owner to pay a 5.5 percent tax if the sale exceeds $10 million.

If the property sold for $39 million, that tax would equate to about $2.145 million. To try to avoid that hit, the seller is providing a $2 million credit to the buyer if they can close by April 1.

It is not the first time that a vacant lot in Bel-Air asks for millions.

In 2019, a 30-acre undeveloped parcel, a fraction of Senderos, ready to build a sprawling property, was listed for sale for $60 million, nearly double what it Paramount starts bidding on its undeveloped property.

And the Beverly Hills Mountain was listed for a record $1 billion in 2018, before collapsing to a just $100,000 foreclosure sale after the owner failed to pay back the loans he took out to buy the mountain. property.