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Square —acre — to spare: Seinfeld’s former Hollywood Hills home relists

Revel Real Estate’s Ben Bacal is latest broker on the 3-property lot, which include shovel-ready plans for a 16K-sf mansion

Leslie Benzies, his existing mid-century home with Jerry Seinfeld (left) and renderings of two possible new homes on the properties (right) (Credit: Austin Hargrave/Wikipedia and Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
Former owner Jerry Seinfeld and current owner Leslie Benzies, with his existing mid-century home, at far left. At right are renderings of possible new homes on the properties. (Credit: Austin Hargrave/Wikipedia and Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

Another babka? No, another broker.

A piece of prime real estate in the Hollywood Hills that once belonged to Jerry Seinfeld is back on the market for $26.5 million, now on its third brokerage.

The current owner, “Grand Theft Auto” video game designer Leslie Peter Benzies, relisted the now three-lot property. It  includes a 6,000-square-foot home at 9444 Sierra Mar Drive that once belonged to Seinfeld, and two smaller homes. The total land is nearly an acre.

Benzies has shovel-ready plans to combine two of the lots for what could be a 16,000-square-foot mansion, according to listing agent Ben Bacal, founder of Revel Real Estate. Bacal said the individual lots can also be acquired separately, including 9444 Sierra Mar, asking $15.5 million.

Benzies purchased that four-bedroom, five-bathroom property from Seinfeld in 2010, and put around $5 million into a renovation. Leslie later acquired the other two properties then in mid-2017, packaged all three as a pocket listing for $40 million, with Nourmand & Associates. The price did not include the shovel-ready mansion plans.

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The main home hit the market again in 2018, with Rodeo Realty, asking $22.6 million before a series of price cuts. A deal fell through for the property earlier this year, putting it back on the market, said Bacal, who left Rodeo Realty in October to launch his own brokerage brand.

The new mansion plans from Vantage Design Group would combine the Seinfeld home with the neighboring parcel at 9442 Sierra Mar Drive. Benzies picked up that lot from his neighbors, who were building a new home there. That construction was never completed, but the property is listed at $5.7 million.

Next door to the unfinished home is 9432 Sierra Mar Drive, asking $5.25 million. Vantage also designed a new home for that property. It’s smaller, but also sleek and features large windows emphasizing the views, a large back deck and a swimming pool.

Renderings of the proposed 16,000-square-foot mansion show a curving, three-story white home with a large swimming pool that overlooks the city.

Bacal said it’s one of the few promontory properties ready for development in Los Angeles.

The listing comes as California remains under a statewide stay-at-home order, with the coronavirus having wreaked havoc on the industry. Leading brokers say home sales in L.A. are drying up and could plummet in April.

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Ben BacalHollywood HillsLA Luxury Listings