Bruce Makowsky | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1956 (age 67–68) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Real-estate developer |
| Spouse | Kathy Van Zeeland |
Bruce Makowsky (born 1956) [1] is an American real estate developer and entrepreneur. In 2017, he set the record for the most expensive home listed in the United States by listing a home he developed in Bel Air on the market for $250 million, [2] [3] which ultimately sold for $94 million in October 2019. [4] [5]
Makowsky built a fashion business in New York selling designer handbags through over 1,300 department stores and QVC. [6] [7] He and his wife, Kathy Van Zeeland, sold handbags and shoes for 30 years through their flagship labels Kathy Van Zeeland Handbags, B. Makowsky and Tignanello. The couple sold the company in 2008 to Li & Fung Ltd based in Hong Kong. [8]
Makowsky is the founder of BAM Luxury Development, a property development company that focuses on a 10-mile radius centered around the Westside of Los Angeles. [9] [10] After buying an oceanfront home in Malibu, California in 2010, Makowsky purchased a 12,500-square-foot European villa-style home as an investment property in Beverly Park, Los Angeles. [6] [11]
In early 2013, he purchased a house above the Sunset Strip for $5.3 million, which he renovated and sold for $19 million in April 2014. [6] [12] That August, Makowsky purchased a home in the Trousdale Estates of Beverly Hills for $12.65 million, and after renovations listed it for $65 million. [12]
Makowsky listed an 8-bedroom, 15-bathroom mansion in Beverly Hills for $85 million in September 2014. [6] Also in 2014, he sold a 22,300 square-foot Beverly Hills mansion to the creator of Minecraft, Markus Persson, for $70 million. [7] [13] [14] The sale broke a price record in its Beverly Hills neighborhood. [15] The mansion has an infinity pool, a candy wall, and a "car turntable". [16]
In January 2017, Makowsky listed a Bel Air mansion $250 million known as Billionaire, the most expensive home listed on the American market at the time. [10] [13] It was relisted in April 2018 for $188 million. [17] Previously, the highest recorded sale price in the area was $100 million for two homes sold in 2016 including the Playboy Mansion, and a home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles which was listed for $150 million. [13]
The most expensive listing, previous to Makowsky's mansion, was a $195 million mansion in Manalapan, Florida. [2] Developed by Makowsky's BAM Luxury Development team, [18] Makowsky said his inspiration came from megayachts. He wanted his creation to be "the ultimate megayacht, but on land." [2] The 38,000 square-foot house has four floors, 12 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms, and three kitchens. It also features a 40-seat James Bond themed movie theater an infinity pool with swim-up bar and two stocked wine cellars.
Inside the house, Makowsky has added 130 artworks including a helicopter on the roof which appeared in the 1980s television series Airwolf, and a Hobie Cat sailboat on a deck. [9] [10] [13] The home includes a 12 car "auto gallery," including a limited edition Bugatti Veyron, a Pagani Huayra, a 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K, and a Rolls-Royce Dawn. The home took over four years to build and furnish. [10] The mansion was built on a 1.2-acre lot which Makowsky bought from New York Giants football player Michael Strahan in 2013. [13] [14]
Makowsky has an estimated net worth of US$100 million. [19]
Bel Air is a residential neighborhood on the Los Angeles Westside, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in the U.S. state of California. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish University.
Beverly Park, divided into North Beverly Park and South Beverly Park, is a gated community in Los Angeles, California primarily known for its large houses and famous residents. It is between Mulholland Drive and Sunset Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Drive and Beverly Glen Boulevard, east of the Beverly Glen neighborhood.
The Platinum Triangle is an informal name for three adjacent neighborhoods in the Los Angeles Westside area. It includes Beverly Hills, which is its own city within Los Angeles County, along with two Los Angeles city neighborhoods, Bel Air and Holmby Hills. The "Platinum Triangle" designation refers to the affluence of the neighborhood and its large, multi-million-dollar homes. Beverly Hills in particular contains the largest homes in the Los Angeles area. The area is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive housing markets in the country.
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Holmby Hills is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States.
Jeffrey Jonathon Hyland was an American real estate businessman, president of Hilton and Hyland, a real estate firm in Beverly Hills, California, and author. He had personally handled several billion dollars in real estate sales.
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Trousdale Estates is a neighborhood of Beverly Hills, California, located in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains. It was developed in the 1950s and 1960s and is named after Paul Trousdale, a real estate developer.
James Dolena (1888–1978) was a Russian Empire-born American architect who designed many houses in Los Angeles, California.
Nest Seekers International is a full-service luxury residential and commercial brokerage firm. The company is headquartered in New York and London, with offices in Beverly Hills, The Hamptons, Connecticut, Gold Coast Long Island, Colorado, New Jersey, Miami, Palm Beach, Lisbon, Seoul and Spain. It has affiliates in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. In 2021, Nest Seekers International was the 7th-top grossing real estate firm in Manhattan.
Mohamed Anwar Hadid is an American real estate developer. He is known for building luxury hotels and mansions, mainly in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles and the city of Beverly Hills, California. He is the father of models Gigi and Bella Hadid.
Nile Niami is an American former film producer turned real estate developer, who has developed and sold multimillion-dollar mansions in the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Bel Air and Holmby Hills.
Aaron Kirman is a Los Angeles-based real estate agent and investor who appears regularly on CNBC's Secret Lives of the Super Rich and stars on CNBC's real estate reality series Listing Impossible.
The Pritzker Estate is a private residence located at 1261 Angelo Drive in the city of Los Angeles, in which the structure ranks as the second largest private residence. This is also the third largest home in the entire Los Angeles metropolitan area. The enormous mansion was built between 2005 and 2011 for billionaire Anthony Pritzker, one of several heirs to the Hyatt Hotel fortune. Located in the exclusive Beverly Crest neighborhood, the gargantuan home has been dubbed the "Grand Hyatt Bel Air" by disapproving neighbors, in reference to its extraordinary size.
Billionaire is a private residence in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States.
301 North Carolwood Drive is a private residence located at 301 North Carolwood Drive in the city of Los Angeles, ranking as the twelfth largest private residence in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The mansion was completed in 2016 on one of the most expensive streets in the world.
Sally Forster Jones is a Los Angeles-based real estate broker. She is frequently featured as a subject matter expert on national publications such as the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Reuters and has appeared on The Hollywood Reporter's Top Real Estate Agents rankings on multiple years.
The Chartwell Mansion is a Chateauesque mansion in Bel-Air, California. Built in 1933, it is best known for its role as the Clampett family home in the 1960s television sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. It was the most expensive home for sale in the United States in 2018.
The One is a private residence in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, United States. It is a compound of a main residence and three smaller houses in the modernist style and was developed by Nile Niami. The property is 105,000 square feet (9,800 m2) on 3.8 acres (1.5 ha).