Trump pal Thomas Barrack snaps up Brentwood spec home

Thomas Barrack, a private equity mogul and pal of President Donald Trump, spent $13 million for a contemporary spec home in Brentwood he snapped up a month after it was listed.

Barrack, the founder and CEO of Colony NorthStar, made a low-profile purchase of the 7,800-square-foot home in April, according to Yolanda’s Little Black Book, a once-anonymous real estate blog operated by James McClain, a former Compass finance manager.

The mansion’s open floor plan features glass walls on the rear of the home that overlook a swimming pool, patio and lawn. The view then stretches across Mandeville Canyon to Downtown L.A. and the Pacific Ocean.

The seven-bedroom, 11-bath home on 1.25 acres fetched full-asking price from Barrack — nearly $2,000 per-square-foot — according to the blog.

The home is Barrack’s latest Westside pad but hardly his most expensive. He paid $21 million back in 2014 for a 23,500-square-foot mansion in Santa Monica that featured an indoor basketball court. He sold it in 2017 for $34 million. 

Barrack, who founded his firm (then known as Colony) in 1990, is well-known in investor circles. Over the last few years, however, he has gained public attention for his friendship with the president. The two became acquainted when Barrack helped negotiate the sale of the Plaza Hotel to Trump in 1988 for $390 million.

During then-candidate Trump’s 2016 presidential election, Barrack reportedly served as an unofficial advisor, a role that recently led to questioning by Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian collusion during the election.

Barrack also made a name for himself by famously saving Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch from foreclosure in 2008 by purchasing the note on the property. He followed that move by forming a media and entertainment investing fund. [Yolanda’s Little Black Book] — Laurie L. Dove