HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (WGN) — When former Chicago Bulls star and NBA legend Michael Jordan listed his Highland Park mansion for sale in 2012, he likely had no idea it would take more than 12 years for it to sell. He may have also been shocked to hear it would go for about one-third of its original asking price.
In early December, the Chicago Tribune reported that Jordan's 56,000-square-foot former home, located just north of Chicago, had been sold.
It was originally listed in 2012 at $29 million but was reduced to $14.855 million in 2015. The Tribune reports the unusual price was chosen because the individual digits added up to his iconic Bulls uniform number of 23. The price was reduced multiple times while on the market, Zillow shows, and was bumped up from $16 million to $24.7 million in 2015 before dropping back down.
Jordan tried to sell it at auction in 2013 but was unsuccessful after no buyer was willing to pay the auction minimum of $13 million.
The massive property, known as Legend Point, went under contract in September and closed in early December. While the final price was released — $9.5 million, well below Jordan's original and adjusted asking prices — the identity of the new buyer was not. The Tribune previously reported the buyer was not represented by a real estate agent, and new details may help explain why.
Commercial real estate executive John Cooper, a partner at Lincolnwood-based HAN Capital, now holds the keys to Jordan's mansion, according to his hometown newspaper, the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star.
The paper reports that Cooper, who graduated from Nebraska-Lincoln in 2005 and has lived in the Chicago area for over 10 years, made the purchase on his 42nd birthday. According to the report, Cooper was drawn to the Bulls, especially Jordan, after moving to the Chicago area and recalled seeing news of the icon's home going up for sale in 2012.
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"I remember seeing the home for sale and thinking how cool it would be for the person that buys the home," Cooper told the Journal Star.
According to its Zillow listing, the home features nine bedrooms, 15 full bathrooms, four half bathrooms, a dry bar, and a wet bar. The property includes a tennis court, a pond, a basketball court, a private in-ground pool, and what a 2013 auctioneer called a “gentleman’s retreat"—including the original doors from Chicago’s Playboy mansion.
Cooper also told the paper his first weeks owning Jordan's former home have included games of golf and basketball with friends. He also said he doesn't expect to live there full-time and is planning some renovations but will keep the home's history intact—including Jordan's iconic jersey number, 23, on the front gate.
"I will honor the property's legacy," Cooper told the Journal Star. "This place is great just the way it is."
