Zillow In recent months, financially embattled real estate developer Nile Niami has been much in the headlines, primarily thanks to “ The One ” — the biggest and baddest mansion Los Angeles has ever seen. That $295 million project, now 10 years into construction and still unfinished, remains scheduled to hit auction blocks within the next few weeks.
Even apart from all that, Niami still had a busy 2021. He dispatched of two side-by-side Bel Air mansions , which sold to two different buyers at $36 million apiece. He also unloaded his former main residence , set in the lower Hollywood Hills just above L.A.’s bustling Sunset Strip. Completed in 2018 and spanning 14,000 square feet of ultra-contemporary living space, the place went for a relatively bargain-bin $26 million, though that number still ranks among the priciest neighborhood sales ever recorded.
The listing oozes with superlatives about the house, calling it the “sexiest Sunset Strip modern and privately-gated compound ever conceived.” The property certainly makes for an arresting visual experience, as giant black gates guard a long driveway that dead-ends at a motorcourt. From there, a decidedly grand staircase with Vegas-style backlighting ascends to the boxy house, which was designed by longtime Niami associate Paul McClean.
It wasn’t initially clear who bought the Sunset Strip showpiece, but it turns out that the new owner is not a Hollywood celebrity or tech billionaire. He’s Mohammad Qazi, a Pakistani-born businessman based in Michigan, where the 59-year-old owns a clearly very lucrative chain of nursing homes. In fact, Qazi’s Ciena Healthcare is the biggest nursing home operator in the state, and the firm also operates a handful of homes in Connecticut.
It would appear the buyer scored a massive deal on his new place, which had originally asked $55 million way back in 2018. In the weeks following the initial listing, Fashion Nova CEO Richard Saghian reportedly made a $40 million offer on the property, which Niami declined.
The six-bedroom, eight-bath mansion is blessed with views of the L.A. city skyline. Set on nearly half an acre of lush land, the property also features extravagant amenities: a cryotherapy chamber, a billiard room, hot yoga studio,movie theater and two pools stacked atop one another (the one above is equipped with a glass bottom, naturally, so folks up there can peer down at swimmers below, and vice versa.)
And while Qazi’s new L.A. vacation digs will impress guests, the house is actually a substantial downsize from his main residence in Michigan — a 20,000-square-foot mansion in swanky West Bloomfield. Custom built in 2005, that mammoth, French-inspired structure sits on seven acres of wooded land.
Camellia Yeroomian of The Agency held the listing; Chase Rogers , now with Douglas Elliman, repped the buyer.
