Property Management Nation » celebrity houses

Paris Hilton’s New Dog House

joolz — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:11:32 +0000

Even celebrities are taking advantage of the real estate deals these days, though some less frugally than others.

Paris Hilton has recently built a 300 square foot $325,000 house… for her dogs.

I’ll just give you a moment to let that sink in.

The two story building has heating, A/C, a black crystal chandelier, a balcony, and a nicely manicured lawn. Hilton designed it with the help of her interior decorator Faye Resnick.

Remind me again that we’re still knee deep in a recession and people are losing their jobs to cut-backs and homes to foreclosure.

Okay, right, thanks– we’re still there, it’s not just me.

While it shouldn’t surprise me that someone of Paris Hilton’s caliber is dropping over $300K on a doghouse and making headlines for it…it somehow still does.

Celebrity pet houses are nothing new, with websites like Beyond the Crate offering scale sized models of rich pet owners’ homes or classic buildings for somewhere in the $5,000-$30,000 range, but Hilton’s doggy palace certainly seems to top them all.

So, while other celebrities are dusting off dresses in their closets and selling their third or fourth homes in exotic locales, we have further proof that we can always count on Paris to buck trends and go for the tackiest option available. Hey, at least we can look forward to her newest BFF having to live out there in the inevitable next season of her show, right?

A Well Read Property Manager’s Dream

joolz — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:50:24 +0000

Every once in awhile, we here at PMN like to extend beyond our borders and touch on what’s going on in another part of the world. In this case, we’re stretching even further by rejoicing in the redevelopment of a rather long lost town in New Zealand: Hobbiton.

While the town itself is fictional, the revival of its location (from the record-breaking trilogy The Lord of the Rings) is currently rumored to be back on track for the prequel: The Hobbit. Despite stories that there are bed and breakfasts nestled in the old hobbit holes and other slightly nerdy property manager’s dreams of rental units left over from the original three movies, current reports and a little research of the area reveals that the location was, for the most part, returned to its original state once filming of the movies was complete.

Click here for photos of the progress made on rebuilding Hobbiton.

Still, there are many places in New Zealand immortalized in the films which can still be visited today. Perhaps there will be a revival of interest with announcement of the new film finally being underway.

Which leads to a fun management question for a Monday: if you could manage any property in the world, fictional or real, where would it be?

What will become of Neverland Ranch?

joolz — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:46:08 +0000

Whatever your opinion of Michael Jackson, it is impossible to deny that the country has lost a celebrity personality. With much discussion still roiling in regard to his passing, many are still trying to come to grips with the fact that he is actually gone. But with armies of helpers, executive assistants, investment specialists, publicists and the like, some affected by Jackson’s death are merely left to the mundane realities of day to day business.

One question an investment management team somewhere is struggling with, is what happens to Neverland Valley Ranch?

Thankfully we don’t live in France where the laws regarding death and property are about as straightforward as a daytime soap plot arc, but a question that will soon need to be answered is, “what will be done with the mansion/zoo/ranch now?

According to multiple sources, an investment firm called Colony Capital, LLC owns most of Neverland Ranch, with Jackson’s estate owning a small portion. The property was almost auctioned off in mid 2008 as a result of non-payment of debts run up from fighting molestation charges against Jackson, but the loan was purchased by Colony Capital last May. Further research reveals that the sale or transfer was a joint venture between Jackson and Sycamore Valley Ranch LLC, an affiliate of Colony Capital, LLC.

So what does this mean for both Colony Capital as investor/managers and whomever is now potentially in charge of Jackson’s portion of the estate?

Colony Capital, LLC which owns, among other investments, Raffles International and the french professional soccer team Paris Saint-Germain, is a worldwide investment LLC. According to a Billboard article released yesterday, Colony is in talks with Tohme Tohme, Jackson’s former manager, to potentially have Jackson buried at Neverland Ranch and become an attraction akin to Graceland. However, the small town of Los Olivos isn’t gung ho about the prospect of their sleepy town being inundated with tourists year ’round.

This type of property management, where $120 million properties are sold and traded like plastic monopoly houses becomes its own phenomenon. Whatever happens, no one will ever be able to think of Neverland Ranch as anything other than the Michael Jackson’s one-time home. Will that make the property more or less valuable? Only time will tell.