More than a year and a half has passed since Shaquille O’Neal last marked down the asking price on his Windermere mansion. And now, the NBA legend is lowering the price again, this time seeking $19.5 million for his lakeside estate, or $8.5 million less than the original $28 million asking price set in 2018.
The 12-bedroom, 11-bathroom home at 9927 Giffin Ct. spans about 31,000 square feet and sits on a whole three acres within the exclusive Isleworth Golf & Country Club.
In total, the property has spent more than two years on the market with different brokerages.
Previously, The Agency Collective took over the listing for Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. The Atlas Team under Compass Florida has the most current listing.
“Of course the pressure is on when you’re selling one of the most famous homes in Florida,” Compass agent Tiffany Pantozzi said. “But I’m confident we’re taking all the necessary steps to sell [the mansion]... It’s priced much more appropriately, considering market value and the uniqueness of this home.”
She told GrowthSpotter she is working on an international campaign to try and expose the manse to potential “high-end clientele in search of a trophy property.”
The Atlas Team just launched a marketing package that includes a professionally shot listing video that highlights the mansion’s features, including its 6,000-square-foot indoor basketball court and a 17-plus car showroom-style garage.
The promotional film shows viewers walkthroughs of Shaq’s former living room, master-room and kitchen, and also flaunts some flashy footage of synchronized swimmers performing in the property’s 95-foot-long, 15-foot-deep swimming pool and a sportsperson wakesurfing on Lake Butler.
“I wanted to show the lifestyle someone could have at the property and not just four walls of a home,” Pantozzi said. “Who else can you say has synchronized swimmers in their listing videos?”
O’Neal bought the home for $3.95 million in November 1993 after winning the NBA’s Rookie of the Year Award. He played in Orlando through the 1995-1996 season before leaving for the Los Angeles Lakers where he went on to win three of his four championship rings.
All the while, O’Neal continued to own the Isleworth mansion and reportedly stayed there frequently throughout his playing career, or when his team visited Orlando.
Though the home has been upgraded several times over the years, it still features very personal features like O’Neal’s affinity for Superman and a giant truck in a living room.
So along with the promotional video, the Atlas Team is offering potential buyers connections to designers and on-hand renderings that re-imagine what the space could look like if they choose to renovate the interiors of the mansion.
“It’s important to have the buyer visualize the potential of the place. They can be as creative and imaginative as possible and we can connect them with an architect or designer,” Pantozzi said. “If someone isn’t into basketball, they can always turn the court into an indoor soccer or tennis facility."
If sold for $19.5 million, O’Neal’s Orlando estate would capture the highest price paid for a home in the Orlando market, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.
Insight on the unique history of the home, what motivated the seller, and what local broker coordinated the sale.
The highest sold-priced residential property, to date, was Chuck Whittall’s $18 million purchase of roughly 18 acres of land (that included a home) in Orlando’s Dr. Phillips neighborhood. On the property, the Unicorp National Developments Inc. president is building an 11-lot luxury home community called Carmel.
When strictly talking about homes sales, the most money spent on a house in the Orlando area took place in 2017, when a trust, managed by attorney J. Brock McClane with Fisher Rushmer, paid a total of $11 million for a home at 656 N. Interlachen Ave. in Winter Park.
Other current listings that may compete for that title, include a Windermere mansion at 9508 Windy Ridge Rd., that’s was recently re-listed for $30 million. The 51,000-square-foot home has been on and off the market since 2015, and once asked for as high as $40 million.
Another Windermere home, owned by a trust, is on sale for $23 million. The 25,465-square-foot home at 9912 Lake Louise Dr. features 11 bedrooms and was built in 1999 on three acres. It’s been on the market for a little over two years.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at arabines@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-5427, or tweet me at @amanda_rabines. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
