Mehrdad Moayedi Buys Crespi Estate Walnut Place at Auction for $36.2 Million (Inside Pics!)

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Dallas developer Mehrdad Moayedi today purchased Dallas’ biggest and most expensive home, the former Thomas O. Hicks estate on Walnut Hill Lane, that Dallas billionaire Andy Beal bought in January of last year and decided to sell almost as soon as the ink was dry on the contract.

The estate was at one point the most expensive home in the U.S. It was listed, at one time, for $135 million with Douglas Newby, but was not in MLS. Allie Beth Allman got the listing in March of 2015 and has had it ever since with a listing price of $100 million. The asking price was lowered to $48.9 million earlier this year.

Concierge Auctions was called in last month to liquidate the property without reserve. The home was advertised everywhere, on every continent. Eight people registered to bid on the estate, but Mehrdad got the winning bid, working from his home in Aspen.

There was huge speculation on how much the estate would sell for.

Beal’s purchase of the home was undisclosed last year, but inside sources tell me it was in the range of $58 million, including some of the furnishings, which he liquidated through auction. The home and land are currently valued at about $46 million by the Dallas County Appraisal District.

As expected, the new owner, Mehrdad Moayedi, CEO of Centurion American Development Group, plans to develop the 25.5 acre property surrounding the original Crespi estate. Italian-born Dallas cotton trader Pio Crespi built the Italianate estate and Maurice Fatio was the original architect. The house was totally rebuilt and substantially and cautiously enlarged over a period of years by Tom and Cinda Hicks, starting in 2000. (Go here to read my detailed tour of the home.) Sources tell me that plans were drawn and presented to potential bidders showing how the property could be subdivided.

The Hicks spent years renovating the original estate and enlarging it to almost 29,000 square feet. The main house has seven bedrooms. The original master bedroom on the second floor was used as a guest room.  The master suite alone is over 3000 square feet and includes his and her baths, dressing rooms, and closets. There’s a separate 2-story guesthouse and an entertainment pavilion with full theater, game room, pool and spa. The home is breathtaking, and as one of our readers said at our event there last week, “its the most beautiful home I have ever seen — like a movie!”

The new buyer is a developer who has a soft spot for historical buildings with his just completed re-development of The Statler Hilton, and recent acquisition of the The Cabana Hotel. He plans to preserve the original house. But as we all expected, the surrounding land will likely be developed into a luxury home division similar to the Creeks at Preston Hollow.

Mehrdad says he will leave ten acres for the main house, the Crespi estate, with five houses (likely by Centurian Development), erected along Walnut Hill Lane. The area is zoned for one acre minimum lots. Tom Hicks had actually purchased and demolished homes fronting Walnut Hill Lane to enlarge his estate. 

Mehrdad also says he plans to name the area Crespi Estates, after the original owner. The main estate house will be marketed on about ten acres, price not yet established. But Moayedi also says he may keep it. Preston Hollow dirt is now trading at about $1.8 per acre. Mehrdad could recoup a hefty portion of his purchase price of $36.2 million if he can get twenty homes on the property, but the terrain may not cooperate: there are creeks and ponds, and the deepest part of the estate may need to connect for egress with another Dallas street, say, hmm, Daria Place. 

And of course, there is the most dramatic drive up to the estate, a long, tree-draped driveway that was created when Hicks bought those homes along Walnut Hill Lane. 

Andy Beal had put at least two million into the estate, opening up the kitchen (but not completing it), and completely updating the HVAC system to the tune of $2 million. The basement of the main house has a private theater, a wine cellar, and several rooms controlling the complex systems. (Yes, there is also a safe room and escape route.) This room of HVAC controls (one of MANY) looks more complex than that of a hotel.

The marbles in this home are incredible

 

Massage room and private bath with steam shower on the third floor which also included cases for the Hicks’ trophies from his Dallas Stars days

Which, save for zoning, the main house Crespi Estate aka Walnut Place, could easily be. After all, the main house has seven bedrooms, but there are additional bedrooms that were used by the staff. There were at least four full-time when the Hicks lived there.

The sale marks the end of a level of living that even the most wealthy either can no longer afford, or don’t wish to: acres of land, vast square footage, and a staff to maintain it.

Oh and $1,159,154.73 in Dallas property taxes. 

 

We are at Walnut Place with Concierge Auctions previewing another gorgeous estate! Come with questions! We will answer!

Posted by CandysDirt.com on Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Candy Evans, founder and publisher of CandysDirt.com, is one of the nation’s leading real estate reporters.

1 Comment

  1. Connie White on December 22, 2017 at 7:40 am

    As soon as Dallas City Council gave him North Dallas TIFF money for affordable housing….everyone except Scott Griggs who understands that it is an abuse of the tax incentive funds.

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