The asking price has increased on this $66 million sandpit in Los Angeles

In high-end real estate, it’s all about the address.

Which is why a huge sandpit in the salubrious Los Angeles neighbourhood of Bel Air, connected to a Colombian billionaire, is commanding $US45 million ($66.8 million).

The vendor, a Florida-based firm controlled by one of the world’s richest men, has been looking for a buyer since May last year, when the dust bowl was launched on the market for $US34 million.

Although no ink has been scribbled on a sale contract, the price last month was bullishly lifted by another $US11 million, according to The Real Deal.

The half-hectare site at 805 Nimes Place, high on a hill, captures views from the downtown LA CBD to the ocean.

Agents have positioned an outdoor lounge chair and coffee table on a slab in the photos, to lend a bit of life and colour, but it is doubtful deep-pocket buyers will need that to spark their imagination.

The site, with retaining walls, will be sold with plans for two homes, for prestige buyers to take their pick.

One is a 2500-square-metre stone and travertine mansion designed by architects Woods + Dangaran, who are behind breathtaking builds from Palm Springs to Encino and Las Vegas, and are prolific across Los Angeles.

Another is a 4080-square-metre trophy estate by BULLI Architecture + Development.

Bel Air is the postcode of choice for some of the world’s biggest names in entertainment.

Celebrity residents in these parts include Beyonce and Jay Z, Madonna, Phil Collins, Elon Musk and Jennifer Aniston.

The reason for the sandpit’s price hike is unknown, but The Real Deal reports that the nearby sale of a similar site – also undeveloped and of a comparable size – for $US39 million could have spurred some extra confidence.

Works were started on whatever mansion was to stand there but abandoned after the bulldozers were brought in to sculpt the basement.

“Site grading and retaining walls have largely been completed, including excavation of a roughly 10,000-square-foot [930-square-metre] basement,” the listing says.

The former owner of the site was developer Robert Shapiro, who was jailed for 25 years after pleading guilty in 2019 over his role in a real estate Ponzi scheme.

As part of the court case, Shapiro’s assets were sold and the property is now in the name of JGDB, a limited liability company that The Real Deal reports is controlled by Jaime Gilinski, the Colombian billionaire, from South Florida offices.

Agents Adam Rosenfeld and Jon Grauman are handling the listing for The Agency, the same firm that is selling Nick Candy and Holly Valance’s art deco LA mansion.