Tech-Packed, Outrageous Mansion With Custom Garage and Gold Dust Floors Flops at Auction

Palazzo di Vista is an outrageous mega-mansion in Bel Air, built by plastic surgeon turned developer Alex Khadavi, aka the Needle Ninja. Construction on the vast property cost Khadavi some $46 million, but it also ran him heavily into debt, so he filed for bankruptcy shortly after listing the mansion for $87.7 million.

With tens of millions of dollars owed to several creditors, Khadavi was still hoping the recent online auction of the mansion would get him out of debt. After all, he said a while back, what is there not to love about the place? Huge, custom car museum and a gorgeous driveway? Check. Hydraulically-activated DJ platform that pops out of the living room marble floor? Check. NFT-related stuff, including a specially designated spot for viewing the NFT art the house comes with? Check that too.

Reserve for Palazzo di Vista was set at $50 million. The views alone, which also give the mansion its name (“Palace of Views”) are worth over $100 million, Khadavi was sure. To someone with this kind of money, it would weigh heavier in the balance than everything else mentioned above, he said.

Except that it didn’t. None of it did (and the recent tumble of the crypto market certainly didn’t help). CNBC reports that the auction has closed, with the highest bid at just $45.8 million, which is under the reserve price. The auction house proceeded with bids below reserve because of the bankruptcy case, but Khadavi is convinced that the process was rigged.

As the courts consider whether to approve the sale, Khadavi is trying to find a buyer who would pay more for this 21,000 square-foot (1,951 square-meter), outrageously appointed, tech-packed family home that no one seems to want to buy. Or, as Khadavi so well described the situation and the auction results, “Horrible, Horrible, Horrible!”