Why Can't Michael Jordan Sell His Mansion in the Chicago Suburbs?

The mansion in the Chicago suburbs that Michael Jordan called home during his six championship runs with the Bulls has been on the market for nearly a decade, and renewed interest in His Airness thanks to ESPN’s documentary series The Last Dance has not been enough to help the sprawling property find a buyer.

Located on a seven-acre property, Jordan’s 56,000-square-foot home in Highland Park was built from scratch and features nine bedrooms, 15 full baths, four half-baths and a 14-car garage. Originally put up for sale in March 2012 for $29 million, the home is now priced at just over half of that — $14,855,000. The five-time MVP bought the lot the massive home sits on in 1991, and construction on the custom abode was completed in 1995 while Jordan was on hiatus from the NBA pursuing a professional baseball career.

“I think [The Last Dance] just put everything back in the forefront of everybody’s mind, but a lot of people just wanted to tour it — it is not that they wanted to buy it,” Compass’s Katherine Malkin, the property’s longtime listing agent, told Sportico. “We continue to get a number of calls, but they are often not qualified for buying and wish they could see the house and meet Michael Jordan.”

Over the years marketers have used gimmicks like offering a pair of each version of Nike’s Air Jordan sneakers with the house, but have never had any luck selling the Jordan compound.

Probably the biggest reason the property, which includes an indoor tennis court, custom basketball court, movie theater, cigar room, poker room and wine cellar, has never sold is the high level of customization that is present in the house, which includes the No. 23 welded onto the front gate. Bronze, brown and black palettes are a common theme in the home, according to Forbes.

“It’s clearly his home,” Bruce Bowers of Bowers Realty Group told The Real Deal. “It’s a tough sell. There’s a lot of work that would have to be done to make it your own.”

Even though it is vacant, the home is still costing Jordan plenty, as he has paid more than $1.3 million in property taxes to the state of Illinois since permanently relocating from the Windy City in 2012 to a golf course-adjacent estate in Jupiter, Florida. In addition to the Florida home, Jordan owns a pair of homes in Charlotte and sold another house he owned in Park City, Utah, in December.

Unfortunately for Jordan, the Highland Park property is another story.