For sale: $135 million Aspen ranch

John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, September 13, 2007

ASPEN - Real estate broker Joshua Saslove sold his first building in Aspen 30 years ago for about $60,000.

He hadn't given the Gavillon Condominiums a thought since then - until last week, when at a breakfast staff meeting at the Little Nell hotel, one of his brokers at Joshua & Co. mentioned that he will be listing it for between $900,000 and $1 million.

The listing gives a good idea of how much real estate has appreciated in Aspen, although it is on the small side for Saslove's company, which sells a large percentage of the homes in the mountain kingdom priced at more than $15 million.

But even the multimillion-dollar properties that Saslove's company specializes in pale compared with the home that has really put Aspen on the real estate map - and has cast a spotlight on the 66-year-old Saslove: the $135 million Hala Ranch northwest of downtown Aspen.

The ranch, on a 95-acre estate in Pitkin County, is owned by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former ambassador to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia.

The 56,000-square-foot main house on the ranch is 1,000 square feet bigger than the White House.

It was the most expensive home on the market in the world when Saslove received the listing in July 2006 but since has been topped by a $155 million estate in Bozeman, Mont., and a $139 million mansion in Windlesham, England.

Hala Ranch was completed in 1991. Bandar is selling it because there are so many demands on his time that he can't really justify owning it, Saslove said on a tour of the property Sept. 6.

"I've been here more than 100 times," Saslove said from behind the wheel of his Land Rover, "and every time I discover something new about it."

Other than the prince, his family and the dozen or so caretakers and staff at Hala (Arabic for welcome), it's likely that Saslove has been to the ranch more than anyone else.

More than 1,000 people have asked to see it, but Saslove has shown it to only 14 prospective buyers.

To say they are well-heeled is an understatement.

"They are all highly recognized in their fields, and most of them are well-known names nationally, and some of them at the international level," Saslove said.

Prospective buyers who have received the green light for tours, which typically last from 90 minutes to three hours, have included "major real estate people, people involved in money management, a couple people from outside of the U.S. and a couple who own homes in Aspen and are looking to move up, way up," Saslove said.

How many people in the world have the money to buy Hala is a question Saslove can't answer.

"What we do know: There are 946 billionaires, according to a recent Forbes magazine listing," Saslove said. "And there are certainly a number of billionaires out there we have never heard of, as well as family trusts and things."

Bandar extinguished all development rights on the property so a buyer can't build more homes there, eliminating a whole class of investors who would be interested in the ranch, Saslove noted.

"There's been an interesting diversity" among the prospective buyers who have set foot on the land, which has its own barbershop, a private children's wing and a stable with classical music piped in, Saslove said.

"I would say that the common interest they have, and I don't know if this is a word, but if not, I'd like to coin it. . . . I would say they have all been Aspenized."

Saslove, born in Detroit to immigrants - his father, Moe, fled Georgia, Russia, when he was 13, and his mother, Tania, fled the Nazis with her family - was Aspenized following a near- death experience.

"I fell out of a plane and ended up in Aspen," said the 5-foot- 8, 200-pound, white-haired Saslove, who works out seven days a week, owns and rides a number of Harleys and had his first child at age 60.

He remembers the exact time and date when the Beechcraft Baron charter plane crashed while returning him to Pontiac, Mich., from a skiing vacation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

It was 6:24 p.m., Jan. 25, 1976.

"We were coming down from 8,000 feet, and we were pretty certain we were not going to make it," he said. "The first tree came through my side of the plane."

He keeps a black-and-white photo of the mangled plane on the desk of his small Joshua & Co. office in downtown Aspen.

All four passengers survived.

"I got the worst of it," Saslove said.

While recuperating in a hospital in Pontiac, Saslove, who was 35 at the time, decided to change his life.

He had worked for his father, "an original recycler," who bought old tires from the Air Force and retrofitted them for farm equipment and "went in and out of some investments." His real estate experience consisted of developing a small office park and some mobile homes around Detroit.

"I told my parents to sell all of my stuff and ship my personal belongings to Aspen, Colorado," Saslove said.

He had been to Aspen only once, but it was love at first visit.

"I wouldn't say I was an avid skier, but there is a lot of comfort in being caressed by these mountains," Saslove said. "There is a lot of beauty here. I thought my life should go down a new road."

He arrived in Colorado in late 1976, renting an apartment in a garage behind a house for $300 a month - a lot of money for someone with no job and no idea of how he would make a living.

"But pretty soon I saw the handwriting on the wall," Saslove said.

He started selling real estate.

Since his first deal, he has sold an estimated $2.5 billion in real estate. His firm is listing about $750 million in homes.

Michael Adams, president of BJ Adams in Aspen and Snowmass, said Saslove would certainly be one of the top agents in dollar volume, though not in number of transactions.

"They specialize in the really expensive homes, which takes more time to sell and has a little more risk," Adams said.

Bruce Etkin, chairman of Denver-based Etkin Johnson who splits his time between Aspen and Denver, has been a friend of Saslove's for about 10 years.

"Josh is a great salesman," Etkin said. "He's a very hard worker. There's a lot of competition in Aspen among the top brokers. Josh has the kind of personality that he is a good fit with the major buyers and sellers you find in Aspen."

Etkin has never been inside the Hala Ranch but knows people who work for Bandar.

"He treats them really well and fairly, and he is well-liked," Etkin said. "Prince Bandar seems like a really cool guy. He has been very good for Aspen. He has been very generous toward the community. In some ways, it is a shame he is selling."

Real estate executive Adams said that despite the $135 million price tag, he thinks whoever buys the Hala Ranch will spend many millions more renovating and changing it.

"It is a very unique, very unusual property, and not just for the obvious reason of its finances," Adams said. "A company might buy it and use it as a retreat, or maybe a CEO type would buy it. He would want to put his own stamp on it. Maybe Oprah would buy it."

Saslove said that when the property is sold, it will be obvious that person was the right buyer.

"When we hear the name, we will all say, 'I should have thought of him. It really makes sense.' "

This Aspen home is built for royalty - and now anyone with a hefty pocketbook.

The 95-acre estate in Pitkin County, owned by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S., is for sale for $135 million.

Interested?

You'll pay only $788,046.69 a month, with 10 percent down and a 30-year-fixed, 6.75 percent mortgage rate. Add in a little extra for taxes and insurance.

How big is the main house at Hala Ranch?

Hala house is 56,000 square feet. In comparison:

The White House comes in at 55,000 square feet.

Denver Nugget Carmelo Anthony's home is 25,000 square feet.

The average Aspen home is 5,000 square feet.

The average size of a new house built in the U.S. is 2,400 square feet.

Windsor Castle comprises a whopping 484,000 square feet.

Some of Joshua Saslove's past listings

• The 949-acre Crystal Island Ranch at the base of Mount Sopris, along the Crystal River. Sold for $47 million.

• Several Aspen properties for the late Kenneth Lay and his wife, Linda. Sold for $23.879 million in 2002 and 2003.

• The Mandalay Ranch, a sprawling property outside Aspen owned by Hollywood producer Peter Guber. Sold for $46 million.

• The historic Hotel Jerome. Sold for $55 million.

• Dan Fogelberg Mountain Bird Ranch, the singer's 610-acre spread in Pagosa Springs, listed for $15 million.

Pricier, yet

Hearst Estate, a Beverly Hills home once owned by William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, is one of the few homes in the world on the market for more than Hala Ranch, listing at $165 million.

Hearst Estate features:

• 6.25 acres with 72,000 square feet of living space

• A Mediterranean-style main house featuring a living room with 22-foot ceilings and a two-story, wood-paneled library

• Three additional houses

• Three pools, one with a series of cascading ponds descending into the pool

• A 1992 renovation of 20,000 square feet that includes an art deco-style disco, a playroom and a gym

Worth every penny?

You decide. Hala Ranch features:

• 56,000 square feet, including 15 bedrooms and 16 to 26 bathrooms

• 95 acres with an extensive, sophisticated security system surrounding the entire estate

• An indoor swimming pool

• A full commercial kitchen that serves the residence

• Horse stables

• A master wing that features a complete beauty and barber room for massages, pedicures and styling

• Three junior suites on the main level that open to a courtyard with a reflecting pool, flowers and a waterfall

• A private children's wing with four bedroom suites and a sitting room

• A dedicated wastewater- treatment plant and mechanical shop with a car wash and gasoline pumps

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207