The main gate to Michael Jackson's Neverland
Ranch in Santa Maria, Calif. Photo; thepinnaclelist
Neverland, the sprawling California ranch that
was once the location of "King of Pop" Michael
Jackson's mind-boggling amusement park, is up
for sale for $100 million, realtors said Friday.
But an expert said the price tag is "optimistic,"
given the unproven charges of child molestation
which tainted Jackson's final years before his
death in 2009.
The late star built up his Neverland Ranch on
2,700 acres outside Santa Barbara to include zoo
animals, numerous amusement rides and lavish
gardens. It has 22 buildings, according to the
Wall Street Journal.
The animals have been removed, save for a single
llama, and the property has changed hands and is
now called the Sycamore Valley Ranch.
An online property listing included pictures of the
Normandy-mansion property, complete with pools
and fountains, bridges and a decorative shrubbery
with the name "Neverland" spelled out above a
beflowered clock face.
An investment firm renovated the property and
several real estate agents are looking for a buyer
at the listing price of a cool $100 million.
But experts said the sellers may struggle to reach
their asking price, because of the property's
former owner's tainted reputation.
"There is obviously a lot of affection for him and
his talent," Randall Bell, a specialist in valuing
stigmatized properties, told the Los Angeles
Times.
"But it's hard to get by the fact that Neverland is
closely associated with child molestation. I think
$100 million is very optimistic," he told the
newspaper.
The property was bought around six years ago for
$22.5 million by Thomas Barrack Jr.'s Colony
Capital, according to the LA Times.
The property includes a massive six-bedroom
main house, a movie theatre and stage.
– Doomed tour –
Jackson, considered by some to be the greatest
pop artist of all time, wrote some of his top hits
on the ranch.
But the ranch was also the infamous location
where Jackson invited children to visit and sleep
over and where he was accused of molesting
young boys.
He was never found guilty in court, but the
charges engulfed Jackson in the mid-2000s
before the singer songwriter died in 2009.
The Wall Street Journal reported that tours of the
property will not be given.
At the time of his death Jackson was planning a
global comeback tour to help him stave off
bankruptcy, five years after being acquitted of
child molestation charges that left his career in
tatters.
He had debts of up to $500 million before his
death, but in the five years since, his executors
have earned more than $700 million, according to
a book published last year, "Michael Jackson
Inc."
Money-making ventures have included the "This
is It" movie of rehearsals for the doomed tour, a
touring Cirque du Soleil stage show and two
posthumous albums so far, with more to come.
