Natural gas mogul lists 813-acre Colorado ranch for $220M

Natural gas mogul Charif Souki has put his sprawling Colorado ranch on the market for $220 million.

Souki spent the last seven years building out the 813-acre property into what he called a “mini country club” for his family, replete with tons of amenities and recreational toys, according to the Wall Street Journal. If sold at his asking price, it would be among the most expensive residential sales ever recorded in the U.S.

Souki has built seven homes on Aspen Valley Ranch totaling 34,000 square feet and 31 bedrooms. There’s a central clubhouse with a dining room that can accommodate 14 people and a commercial kitchen.

He converted a barn into a game house complete with arcade games, air hockey, foosball, and storage for ATVs, snowmobiles and dirt bikes.

Souki said the property is large enough that he’s hardly noticed the friends that have been sheltering in place on the property since the coronavirus pandemic hit.

“We’re confined in paradise,” he said.

As with many large properties, the ranch has high maintenance costs. It requires a staff of 25 and maintenance is tracked digitally.

Souki bought the property for $27 million from a bank that foreclosed on it when the previous owner declared bankruptcy. He said he always planned to sell it once he completed renovation and additions.

Souki, who was born in Egypt and raised in Lebanon, moved to the U.S. in the 1970s. He founded Cheniere Energy out of Houston and his company developed the first terminals to liquefy natural gas and export it from the U.S., according to the Journal. [WSJ] — Dennis Lynch