Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch Back on the Market — for 70 Percent Off Its Original List Price
Michael Jackson‘s famous Neverland Ranch is back on the market for just a fraction of its original asking price.
Amid a legal battle with HBO’s Leaving Neverland, Jackson’s estate relisted the property, where the late pop star lived for 15 years, at a new asking price of $31 million, nearly $70 million less than its original listing from 2015.
Neverland, which is co-owned by the star’s estate and fund management company Colony Capital, comprises of 2,700 acres and a nearly 12,000-square-foot main house and was first purchased by the King of Pop in 1987 for $19.5 million.
After Jackson died in 2009, his estate and the fund manager put up the Los Olivos, California estate for $100 million six years later.
Since then, his family has struggled to sell the property, which now goes by Sycamore Valley Ranch. In 2017, they switched listing agents and reduced the asking price to $67 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.
With no interested buyers at the time, the ranch was eventually taken off the market until its recent return.
Real estate agents, Suzanne Perkins & Kyle Forsyth of Compass, explained to WSJ that the property hasn’t found a buyer yet because of the environmental conditions that are likely to impact the ranch, such as droughts, mudslides, and wildfires.
They also cited its high initial asking price as a reason for no immediate takers.
RELATED: WATCH: HBO Releases Eerie Trailer for Michael Jackson Documentary Leaving Neverland
In the meantime, Sycamore Valley Ranch has undergone some renovations and updates on its security and landscaping, WSJ said.
Though the amusement park is no longer there, it still contains the same structural features that were present when Jackson lived there, including its own fire department building and 1950s fire truck, a swimming pool, basketball and tennis courts, game rooms, a private zoo, and multiple guesthouses.
RELATED: Michael Jackson’s Estate Sues HBO for $100 Million Over Leaving NeverlandDocumentary
News of the property going back on the market comes after Jackson’s estate filed a lawsuit against HBO over the planned broadcast of the bombshell documentary Leaving Neverland.
Two co-executors of Jackson’s estate and Optimum Productions are suing the network and its parent company, Time Warner, for $100 million, claiming that airing the two-part film — which centers on the late pop star’s alleged sexual abuse of minors — will violate a non-disparagement clause, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
In the suit, the estate claimed the film violates a clause in a 1992 contract, written up ahead of a televised concert that year — in which HBO agreed to not speak ill of Jackson.
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, HBO said, “Despite the desperate lengths taken to undermine the film, our plans remain unchanged. HBO will move forward with the airing of Leaving Neverland, the two-part documentary, on March 3 and 4. This will allow everyone the opportunity to assess the film and the claims in it for themselves.”
Jackson was 50 years old when he was found dead on June 25, 2009, in his L.A. mansion and is survived by his three children: Prince Michael, 22, Paris, 20, and 17-year-old “Blanket,” who now goes by Bigi.
