When Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch first went on the market in 2015, owners of the 2,700-acre property in Santa Barbara County, California property were asking $100 million. Now, it’s back on the market, at a dramatically reduced price: $31 million, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The drop is the latest chapter in the Jackson estate’s struggle sell the property; it is technically owned by a venture between the estate and a real estate investment firm called Colony Capital. The property was last listed in 2017 at a cut price of $67 million. Now, after switching listings agents, it’s back for sale, under a new name: the Sycamore Valley Ranch. Architectural Digest reports it includes a 12,000-square foot house, guesthouses, a lagoon-like swimming pool, a basketball court and more. Jackson bought the property in 1987 and lived there for more than 15 years before his death in 2009.
The timing of the sale may be significant: While property Agent Kyle Forsyth told CBS News that it’s right time to sell “with the drought ending and the Santa Ynez Valley in full bloom,” (a series of natural disasters and a long draught have damaged the area), the listing comes days ahead of the release of the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland.
In the film, two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, claim Jackson sexually abused them as children on the Neverland property; the Jackson estate has called it “character assassination,” and sued HBO. Oprah Winfrey is set to interview Robson and Safechuck after the second part of the film airs on March 4th.