Barely Built Beverly Hills Mansion With Nothing but a Basement Foundation Hits the Market for $32 Million

A unique (and expensive) opportunity to own a newly built mansion in a prime location in Beverly Hills, CA, has come on the market for the sky-high price of $32 million. The catch? You have to build it yourself.

The dwelling, which is billed as a “rare opportunity to complete an iconic estate,” currently consists of only a basement foundation and perimeter walls—with no other elements of the property having been built before it was listed.

It has been sitting unfinished for several years now, having first been put on the market in 2021, when it was listed at almost $10 million less than what its owners are now asking.

The property last changed hands in 2014 for $9.1 million, according to Realtor.com®.

Although the home comes without so much as a single completed room, the description notes that it does boast “approved plans.”

The dwelling is “fully prepped for construction,” the description states, having undergone all of the necessary grading and compacting required for such an imposing hillside abode.

The 13,600-square-foot estate sits on an acre lot, and when (if?) completed, it will include five bedrooms, eight bathrooms, open living spaces, and a “wellness center” with a spa, steam room, sauna, and indoor pool.

The hillside lot boasts views of Beverly Hills, downtown Los Angeles, and the Pacific Ocean. It has been stabilized with retaining walls and features landscaping with planting and irrigation, the listing notes.

According to the listing, which is represented by Justin Mandile with Sotheby’s International Realty–Beverly Hills Brokerage, the work that has already been completed will allow for a “seamless transition for the next owner to build immediately.”

For those who would like to envision what’s not yet there, architectural renderings show a modern behemoth that will rise over the hill. Promising an “architectural masterpiece,” the home is designed for those who seek the “pinnacle of luxury,” the listing states.

Another benefit of a brand-new build is the “availability of 3-Phase Power,” a feature that apparently ensures reliability for powering a huge estate with plenty of high-end appliances, automation, and “extensive” entertainment features.

Even unfinished, a property of “this magnitude” and opportunity in Beverly Hills is “exceedingly rare.”

The vision includes a main floor with indoor-outdoor living, dining space, and family areas. The second-floor primary suite will span 1,700 square feet and offer privacy and views.

Mandile sold the lot in 2014 to the owner, who was “excited to take on the adventure of building” an ultrahigh-end home in a prime location. The lot had an older home on it at the time, which has since been razed.

Mandile notes that the location is within Beverly Hills but sits outside a more restrictive building area.

“If you have the means … you can buy some of these older homes and then resupport the hillside and build larger homes and take advantage of what today’s buyer wants,” he says.

“The fact the house is over 13,000 square feet with a basement and a second story, it’s very valuable. Anyone looking for a nice, new larger home with a great view and all those things, there are only so many of those,” he adds.

Mandile notes that the size and scope of the project is rare for another reason.

“You can’t get approval from the city anymore for a project of this size and height. There’s value in that too,” he says. The seller, who has taken on other projects, decided it was the right time to put it on the market.

Mandile notes that although $32 million “sounds like a lot for an unfinished home, the value of it finished could be upward of $60 million, $70 million, $80 million.”

The cost of the build-out will vary depending on the materials and budget, and he estimates the costs somewhere in the neighborhood of “$7 million-plus.”

While selling an unfinished mansion for a sky-high sum might be a rare occurrence in Los Angeles, it’s become somewhat of a high-flying trend in the uppermost sales in Florida.

Recently, a vacant $200 million ocean-to-lake lot came on the market in Palm Beach‘s Billionaires Row.

Around the same time, billionaire Estée Lauder heir William Lauder has reportedly sold a similar empty parcel in Palm Beach for a record-breaking $178 million.

And an unbuilt mansion that won’t be complete until 2026 came on the market in Manalapan, FL, for a staggering $285 million, making it America’s most expensive new-construction home.