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It took Michael Jordan more than a decade to find a buyer for the Chicago mansion that was initially listed for $29 million before selling for a fraction of that price. Now, we know the identity of the buyer who dropped close to eight figures on the lavish property and their bold vision for a home that they’re planning to convert into a timeshare.
In the 1990s, Michael Jordan used some of the laughable amount of money he earned while playing for the Bulls to construct a massive home in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park that boasted nine bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, and an outdoor putting green, indoor basketball court, and cigar room he could harness while pursuing a few of his favorite pastimes.
Jordan eventually started spending the bulk of his time in Florida (where he now resides in an even more impressive compound in Jupiter), and in 2012, he put the mansion on the market with an asking price of $29 million.
That number was slashed to $14.855 million in 2015 after failing to find any takers for a property that’s littered with the number 23 and other references to his legendary basketball career (a level of customization that may have ultimately narrowed the pool of potential buyers who could certainly afford plenty of other options).
It took 12 years, but last September, we learned a deal had entered the closing stage a few months before it officially changed hands for $9.5 million (less than a third of what Jordan was initially hoping to get and $600,000 less than the $10.1 million the jersey he wore during Game 1 of the “Last Dance” NBA Finals in 1998 fetched at a record-setting auction in 2022).
The new owner is John Cooper, a 42-year-old real estate executive who is hoping to recoup some of the cost by turning the property he’s dubbed “Champion’s Point” into a timeshare where bids to earn the right to stay there for a single week per year start at $1 million (which doesn’t include the 2% annual fee for maintenance and other related expenses linked to taxes, insurance, and security and cleaning staff).
“Co-owners” will be permitted to host up to 20 people on the property, and everyone will need to sign an NDA governing what they can and cannot share about their stay.
It’s certainly a very bold strategy, and it will be interesting to see if it ends up paying off for him.