A commercial real estate executive with a Lincolnwood-based firm has been revealed as the buyer who paid $9.5 million on Dec. 10 for retired Bulls superstar Michael Jordan’s massive mansion on 8.4 acres in Highland Park.
John Cooper, a general partner with Lincolnwood-based HAN Capital, on Dec. 27 told the Lincoln Journal Star newspaper in his native Nebraska that he was the buyer of Jordan’s mansion. Public records only had revealed that the buyer was a land trust whose beneficiary could not yet be determined.
A Lincolnshire resident, Cooper is a general partner with HAN Capital, which owns self-storage facilities and RV parks.
Cooper’s purchase of Jordan’s mansion brought to a close a roughly 12-year chapter in which the retired Hall of Famer had tried to sell his mansion in Highland Park. Jordan once had sought $29 million for his estate, and he had held fast to his final asking price — $14.855 million — for more than nine years before selling it to Cooper for more than $5 million less than that amount.
Cooper did not immediately respond to a request for a comment from Elite Street. However, in an interview with the Journal Star, Cooper, who said he has lived in the Chicago area for more than 10 years, said he remembered seeing Jordan’s house for sale and “thinking how cool it would be for the person that buys the home.”
Cooper, who told the newspaper that he is married and has three children, also said he doesn’t anticipate making the estate his full-time home, although he acknowledged that he will be there often. He told the Journal Star that he is putting the finishing touches on plans for the estate — plans that he said he intends to share after the start of the year.
In the meantime, Cooper has made use of the former Jordan mansion, hosting several guests at the estate, including for his birthday party, and he also has met with contractors to work on minor repairs and upgrades to audio and video systems, according to the Journal Star.
Built in 1995, the house has 15 full bathrooms, four half bathrooms, a regulation-sized basketball gymnasium, a circular infinity pool, a cigar room, a putting green and a tennis court. The home’s total square footage depends on whom you ask — its listing agent called it 56,000 square feet, while Lake County’s assessor says the mansion is 32,683 square feet.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
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