Tides Equities Co-Founder Aims to Flip Brentwood Mansion

Embattled multifamily investor Sean Kia seeks $25.5 million for a Brentwood estate he bought early last year for $14.5 million.

Kia, co-founder of Brentwood-based Tides Equities, a troubled multifamily syndicator with teetering fortunes, has listed the home at 414 South Cliffwood Avenue, according to an X post by Hiten Samtani, founder of ten31 Media and former head of content for The Real Deal.

“Value-added chutzpah,” declared Samtani, based in Los Angeles.

Kia bought the 10,000-square-foot estate near the Brentwood Country Mart in February 2023 for $14.5 million, according to Redfin.

The seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom property is now on the market 20 months later for $25.5 million, a 76 percent mark-up. Brokers Blair Chang and Mauricio Umansky of The Agency hold the listing.

The 0.6-acre estate, built in 1987, includes a 6,900-square-foot home and 2,800-square-foot guest house, both “meticulously remodeled” this year, according to its listing notes.

The white, two-story home has a chef’s kitchen, formal dining room, piano room and a children’s library, according to the listing.

A master suite upstairs has a dual vanity bathroom and dual closets, private study and a meditation room. Four guest bedrooms are in a separate wing.

The two-bedroom guest house has a movie theater, billiard room and gym.

Outside, there’s a pool, cabana and sauna surrounded by landscaped gardens, plus a sports court.

Tides Equities, founded by Kia and Ryan Andrade in 2016, has run into financial headwinds, with sweeping capital calls, dozens of loan modifications, more than $1 billion in floating-rate debt on the verge of default, and foreclosures.

Kia and Andrade, speaking at The Real Deal’s LA Forum last month, criticized an investment strategy they chalked up to the failings and follies of their youth. Their turnaround strategy is total transparency.

— Dana Bartholomew