For sale: michael jackson's neverland
Photo: WKHarmon
Give Me Half a Chance, wealthy Michael Jackson fans will be crying to themselves this week, as Colony Capital LLC confirms it is putting Michael Jackson's home up for sale. The company probably thought We've Got a Good Thing Going when they bought a $23.5 million stake in the property back in 2008.
The 2,600-acre estate, famous for its extravagant additions by the King of Pop, earned its place in HIStory with everything from theme park rides to a zoo, not to mention Jackson's pet chimp, Bubbles. I Wanna Be Where You Are, thought many onlookers, as he turned his 1988 purchase into his dream home.
Accusations of child abuse, though, saw the singer Fly Away from the ranch and its seven-bedroom mansion, leaving the place empty. Since his tragic death in 2009, the home fell into disrepair, while the attractions and animals were sold - do not Blame It On the Boogie, though, as this was the result of financial difficulties.
But now, Jackson's daughter has decided to Keep the Faith and restore the ranch. Without the funfair, new inhabitants may have to spend more time looking at the Man in the Mirror, but the restoration has introduced a new Zen garden and re-filled the swimming pools for entertainment.
Since then, the real estate market has begun to turn around in California, particularly the high-end market. A total of 12,826 homes sold for a million dollars or more during the second quarter of 2014, up 60.4 per cent from the first three months of the year, which were the highest for any quarter since the second quarter of 2007, according to CoreLogic DataQuick. 2014 has been a Thriller of a year. The time is right for agents who Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.
"We’ve really just been custodians of an irreplaceable estate and are proud to say we’ve restored it to the original elegance Michael first envisioned," Thomas Barrack Jr told Bloomberg in an email. "We are now considering putting it up for sale."
No asking price has yet been confirmed, although it is not hard to imagine buyers telling themselves "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" to secure ownership of the historical estate. The property's value has been estimated at $30.3 million by Santa Barbara County, thanks to a legal cap of 2 per cent annual increases in real estate prices.
The Jackson estate released a statement: "We are saddened at the prospect of the sale of Neverland which, under the agreement negotiated during Michael’s lifetime, Colony has the right to sell. The Estate will maintain Michael’s family home in Encino, including its iconic recording studio there. We continue to build upon Michael’s legacy as an artistic genius and humanitarian through his music and new projects such as the Michael Jackson ONE show in Las Vegas."
"We hope and trust that any new owners of Neverland will respect the historical importance and special nature of this wonderful property," they added. "Michael’s memory lives on in the hearts of his fans worldwide."
While the prospect of Neverland might see some investors declaring "You Rock My World!", though, zoning laws mean that it cannot be converted into a museum: it is currently registered under agriculture purposes and would need to be subdivided to be turned into a tourist attraction. You would have to be some kind of Smooth Criminal to get around those laws: it would be "very, very difficult", according to Barrack.
For fans and the family alike, the decision to sell Neverland will be a landmark point in Michael Jackson's story. This Is It.