Never one to give up on The One, Nile Niami has one more plan to try to hang on to his 105,000-square-foot unfinished mansion in Bel-Air.
Niami posted a video earlier this week on YouTube, announcing plans to create “The One Coin,” a cryptocurrency backed by the mansion. The value of the home would be transferred to the coin after the cryptocurrency is created and traded.
The plan could help Niami retain ownership of The One, but he’s running out of time. According to the Los Angeles Times, an auction is set to take place for the spec home between Feb. 7 and Feb. 10.
Crestlloyd, a company of Niami’s that owns the home, officially agreed on Dec. 16 to auction off the home to the highest bidder, the Times reported. Proceeds from the sale would help pay off debt racked up by Niami on the property, estimated to be about $180 million. Debtors include Hankey Capital and Joseph Englanoff.
Earlier this month, Lawrence Perkins, a receiver appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, revealed plans to hire brokers to drum up bidders for the auction. He anticipated the property could sell for $250 million. Aaron Kirman of Compass and Williams & Williams Estates Group are working on the marketing end.
Concierge Auctions has been hired to run the auction in a little more than a month’s time. It will receive a 12 percent fee from the highest bidder in the auction.
This is not Niami’s first attempt at rescuing The One, which was twice set to go to a court-ran receivership auction, only to have those plans canceled.
Niami previously tried to get people on board with using the property as an event space for concerts and boxing matches. There are threads of that idea in the crypto plan, as Niami would rent out The One for events and holders of the digital currency would receive a cut of the profit.
In the video, however, Niami seems to be resigned to the fact that The One may soon be moving on without him.
“This house will be sold to the highest bidder, no doubt about that,” Niami started. “Unless someone comes in and walks into the stratosphere with me.”
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[LAT] — Holden Walter-Warner