James Packer’s $110M Purchase of Nimes Road Is Official

It’s a done deal. Former Crown Resorts chair James Packer’s $110 million purchase of a Bel-Air estate on Nimes Road has officially closed, The Real Deal has learned, making it Los Angeles County’s priciest deal so far this year by a big margin.

The deal was official as of Tuesday afternoon, according to a document on the sale reviewed by TRD.

Packer’s decision to buy the home was reported earlier this year after the billionaire businessman from Australia told a local media outlet about moving into the 10-bedroom, 15-bathroom estate, dubbed Le Belvedere, by mid-year.

When he does, Packer will move into a property that was built nearly anew in what was a five-and-a-half-year construction project.

Carolwood Estates co-founder and CEO Drew Fenton and Westside Estate Agency co-founder Kurt Rappaport represented Packer in the deal.

Meanwhile Carolwood Estates’ Stephen Resnick, Jonathan Nash, David Parnes and James Harris represented the seller.

Property and state records indicate the seller is an LLC tied to European Investment Management Services Inc., which is headquartered in Los Angeles.

The company says on its website it works with families and businesses to provide entity formation, banking and other asset management services for commercial real estate and investment funds.

Both brokerages declined comment.

With the deal’s official closure comes the question of whether there’s more appetite for deals of the over $100 million variety for Los Angeles County this year.

There are currently nine properties in the county on the market listed for over $100 million. At the top of that list is 607 Siena Way for $177 million. The eight-bed, 25-bath mansion was built by spec developer Ardie Tavangarian and is currently being marketed by the Beverly Hills Estates’ Branden Williams and Rayni Williams and Carolwood Estates’ Shana and Emila Tavangarian. The next closest listing is Casa Encantada at 10644 Bellagio Road, which is asking $175 million and is listed by Rappaport, Fenton and Compass’ Josh Flagg.

Despite concerns about which way the market is turning when factoring in macroeconomic factors, at least one industry watcher was upbeat on what Packer’s closing of Nimes Road signifies, offering that “the Los Angeles high-end market is strong.”

Nimes Road bests 391 North Carolwood Drive, which previously held the title of priciest deal this year when it sold for $86 million off market. The next priciest trades this year both closed in April and included 1028 Ridgedale Drive in Beverly Hills for $60 million, which had Packer as the seller, and 942 North Alpine Drive in Beverly Hills for $51.8 million.

Notably, agents from Carolwood Estates were involved in all four of those transactions.

Still, none of the deals have yet to reach the level of last year’s $210 million sale of Oakley founder Jim Jannard’s Malibu estate at 33064 Pacific Coast Highway to an unknown buyer. That trade set a new record for priciest ever home sale in the state.