Megalisting Asks $175M for Site Once Eyed for Bulgari Hotel

A megalisting priced at $175 million has hit the market in what’s been a drawn-out saga for a piece of Benedict Canyon once slated for a Bulgari-branded hotel.

The 15-parcel listing includes the 9712 West Oak Pass Road address among several others in the hillside of Los Angeles. The listing states the property is located in Beverly Hills Post Office, a Los Angeles neighborhood north of the city of Beverly Hills. It also includes two single-family residences at 9800 Wanda Park Drive and 2534 Hutton Drive.

Records through PropertyShark and listing sites note the property is in pre-foreclosure after a notice of default was sent in November, alleging a $49.7 million unpaid balance at that time.

The notice of default indicates Motcomb Estates Ltd. provided a $30 million loan to 9712 Oak Pass Road LLC, which Florida state records show is tied to developer Gary Safady.

Motcomb handles property investments for real estate investment and development firm Reuben Brothers, which is helmed by billionaires David and Simon Reuben.

The Agency’s Adam Rosenfeld and Feroz Taj have the listing and declined, through a brokerage spokesperson, to comment on the property outside of confirming only one seller is involved. Also marketing the property is Compass’ Carl Gambino.

David Reuben Jr., Reuben Brothers principal and co-founder of Blackship Advisors, declined to comment. The Reubens’ attorney, Eric Orenstein of Rosenberg & Estis, did not respond for comment.

Luxe Ambitions

The mega-property was a point of contention a few years ago when Safady planned for a Bulgari-branded hotel.

An initial study for the project, when it was known as The Retreat at Benedict Canyon, called for a 59-room hotel along with eight single-family residences. The latter were to each total anywhere from 12,000 to 48,000 square feet, according to city planning documents.

The project drew the ire of some locals who were against the expected impacts of the large-scale construction project.

“I believe we’ve taken the time to address all those issues,” Safady, who could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday, told VoyageLA in April 2023.

A few months after that interview ran, then-City Planning Director Vincent Bertoni wrote to Safady that the project’s impact to the area was far greater than originally expected, effectively ending the entitlement process for the resort.

Mike Gatto, an attorney for Safady, told the Los Angeles Times following the city’s decision to axe the project it sent “a message to all looking to invest in Los Angeles that the city can’t be trusted to follow its own rules.”

Gatto, reached Tuesday afternoon, said he wasn’t aware of any backup development plans following the city’s 2023 decision, which is when his retainer agreement with Safady ended.

“Usually when there is a presence of a NIMBY group in an area, they make it so that whatever somebody proposes is going to be tough. Those factors would have made it very hard to build anything there,” Gatto told The Real Deal.

Pricey Properties

Oak Pass Road now ranks as the third-priciest property on the market within Los Angeles County, according to Zillow records.

The county’s most expensive property currently for sale is Westside Estate Agency’s listing at 1261 Angelo Drive in Beverly Hills, which has a $195 million price tag. WEA founders Kurt Rappaport and Stephen Shapiro are marketing the property.

Angelo Drive, also known as the Pritzker Estate, gets its name from Hyatt Hotel heir Anthony Pritzker who built the 50,000-square-foot mega mansion with his now ex-wife Jeanne Pritzker. It has 16 bedrooms and 27 bathrooms.

The next priciest property on the market is 607 Siena Way, which is priced at $177 million by The Beverly Hills Estates’ Branden Williams and Rayni Williams. The eight-bed, 25-bath Villa Siena estate spans 35,000 square feet and hit the market in February.