A 7-acre Malibu compound that Kevin Garnett spent years trying to unload amid fraud allegations and a collapsed sale has resurfaced on the market with a staggering $48 million price tag. The property at 27715 Pacific Coast Highway, now officially named Vela, includes an 11,000-square-foot main residence, six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and an ocean-facing primary suite, according to the listing details.
Garnett originally purchased the property in 2003 for $6.4 million, according to The Real Deal, the same year he began his tenure with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He later began building a custom mansion on the site, but the project became one of the more tangled sagas in recent Malibu real estate history. The three-lot compound now includes a separate vacant lot offering the opportunity to build another substantial residence, along with fifty avocado trees on the grounds.
A Sale That Fell Apart Into Fraud Claims
Garnett first tried to sell the property in 2018, listing it for $19.9 million before eventually agreeing in 2021 to sell it for $16 million to buyer and developer Ando Hacopian, who is affiliated with Hacopian Design & Development Group. That $3.9 million price cut from the original ask reflected years of difficulty finding a buyer for the unfinished project, per the same account. The deal included $4 million in unsecured debt provided by Garnett entities as part of the purchase structure.
The sale never closed cleanly. Garnett later sued Hacopian, alleging fraud, after Hacopian failed to complete the property purchase. Court filings obtained by The Real Deal in 2024 alleged that Hacopian's bank balance held just $50 despite bank statements submitted claiming a $5.5 million balance — a detail that underscored the scale of the alleged deception.
Escrow Companies Dragged Into the Dispute
Garnett didn't stop at suing Hacopian. In 2024, he also sued the title and escrow companies involved in the transaction, alleging fraud on their part as well. That lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, named Closing Agents Escrow, its CEO Judith Sender, and First American Title Company, accusing the firms of turning a blind eye to Hacopian's alleged fraud and falsely insisting that half of his $2 million closing cash be held in escrow, the outlet reported.
With the Hacopian sale in ruins, the property's fate shifted to VIG Private Lending, whose CEO Vladimir Valsky owned the senior debt on the property. Valsky took ownership of the property in 2022 after the deal collapsed. Rather than offloading the half-finished shell, Valsky reduced the property to its studs and brought in Swiss architect Roger Kurath to oversee a full modern overhaul.
From Foreclosure Shell to Turnkey Showplace
Kurath, who worked on the property redevelopment, previously designed Kiss frontman Gene Simmons' modern hillside residence in Beverly Hills — a project Hoodline covered back in February when Simmons cut his own asking price to $12.5 million. Valsky said the Malibu property was acquired partially completed and presented an opportunity to finish it to the expected standard, according to The Real Deal's report.
The finished home now includes Belgian siding, imported materials from Europe, a private movie theater, a dedicated wine room, a whole-home audio system and a backup generator, per Realty.com's August listing data, which also puts the asking price at $4,363.64 per square foot. The grounds include a pickleball court, a gym and a separate structure that could serve as a yoga studio.
Who's Selling It — and Why Malibu Matters
The listing is being co-marketed by Chris Cortazzo of Compass alongside Aaron Kirman and Tomer Fridman of Christie's International Real Estate Southern California. Because the estate sits within the incorporated City of Malibu rather than the City of Los Angeles proper, the transaction is exempt from Los Angeles's Measure ULA transfer tax — a 5.5% levy on sales above $10 million that would otherwise add up to $2.64 million in costs on a $48 million deal, according to SmartAsset's analysis of the tax.
VIG Private Lending's approach to the Malibu property isn't an isolated case. The lender has pursued other aggressive foreclosure actions in Los Angeles, including a 2024 lawsuit to evict developer Ilan Kenig from a foreclosed Pacific Palisades home, The Real Deal has reported. Whether the rebuilt Vela estate can shed the property's turbulent legal history now rests on finding a buyer willing to pay top dollar for a compound that spent nearly two decades caught between Garnett's ambitions, a fraud-riddled sale, and a lender's bet that a full rebuild could finally close the book on the saga.
