One of the largest houses in history is currently being built in Los Angeles. The man who is building it says he will sell it for $US500 million, which would make it the most expensive single-family home ever sold. In the meantime, he made an app for straight men to find other straight men.
Details got an exclusive look at the mansion and the man.
The house is still just a construction site, of course. It’s hard to visualise the casino, the jellyfish aquarium, or the 30-car garage. But you do get a sense of the scale, mostly from noticing that an entire hilltop has been lopped off to make room for the 9300 square-metre complex. There will also be four pools. Maybe five, if you count the infinity moat that rings the home. Infinity moats are the new grottos.
But enough about the house. Let’s learn more about the man behind house. Nile Niami was once a producer — maybe not a good one since he once “paid Steven Seagal $US10 million for a film called The Patriot that never secured theatrical release in the United States.” So then he turned to real estate. He began flipping smaller properties, then soon realised speculative development was where it’s at:
Niami was one of the first big spec developers to take on the Bird Streets — the hilly enclave above the Sunset Strip that’s been home to celebs like Leonardo DiCaprio and Halle Berry. In 2012, reports say, the Winklevoss twins paid him $18 million for one of the “contemporary view” houses, with sliding glass walls, sleek waterfalls, and infinity pools, that have become Niami’s trademark. At one point, Niami was building four houses simultaneously in the tiny neighbourhood. “We were buying land for $9 million, doing a remodel, and selling for, like, $39 million,” he recalls.
Boy do those Winklevoss twins know a sweet deal when they see one!
And then, because developing mansions was not enough, Niami began developing apps, starting with Wolfpack, which the article describes as a service for “single straight guys looking for other dudes to hang out with.” From the screenshots it seems you must talk at length about your “exotic beauty” in your profile so other men in your pack know you are indeed straight.
Wayward bros can swipe to be connected with meaningful male companionship
So there you have it. The developer of the world’s douchiest app and the world’s douchiest mansion are the same.
[Details]