Where Michael Jordan’s misery ends, another new home-owner’s could begin. After 12 years, the Chicago Bulls legend gets to offload a sizable connection to Chi-Town. His Highland Park mansion has gone under contract in mid-September. It’s not a done deal yet, but after a decade of slashing prices and at least one failed auction, this is a piece of good news for the billionaire. Will it be good for the new owner is still open-ended.

A lot of reasons previously made Casa de Jordan unsellable since 2012, when it was listed on the market. Part of it is the unofficial monument status given to this mega-mansion in a largely suburban stretch. Even with Jordan’s detachment from the home, the new owner would have to contend with fans’ attachment to His Airness.

The unforgettable Michael Jordan monument
Former CBS News reporter-turned-realtor, Megan Mawicke, broke down the Chicago real estate market where three of the most expensive sales in Illinois’ history are about to go down. One of them is the Highland Park mansion with #23 gates and around 30 minutes from United Center. The home’s owner is now a resident of Jupiter, Florida, in an equally lavish mansion while paying upto $148,000 in taxes to the state.

Now the ownership could go from Michael Jordan to someone else. But Mawicke listed a problem that won’t end with a change in owner. “Whoever bought this house, if they are going to live in it, needs to be very comfortable with people outside that gate,” she said.

To summarize, Michael Jordan’s Chicago home is a pop culture monument in the city. The perfectionist Black Cat built it from 1993 to 1995 to his exact specifications. All his personalizations scream Jordan (and was a big reason this property was unsellable). Even though he hasn’t lived there in over a decade and this home has been on sale for 4,500 days, any diehard of ’90s NBA coming to the Windy City can’t skip it. Over the years, overseas fans have formed ‘Jordan Tours,’ including visits to his statue outside the United Center and this mansion.

Highland Park is not Beverly Hills. There aren’t any famous celebrity neighbors around this home, not even any Bulls players. There is no tour of the stars homes here. Non-celebrity Hollywood residents are used to seeing these tour buses drive by star homes. However, the 6x NBA champion has left an unerasable mark on the city even after leaving.

Locals in the area describe sightings of fans taking pictures in front of the famous gates to the media. It was interesting when Jordan still lived there with his then-wife and elder kids, was playing for the Bulls, and winning. After he left, locals on social media complained the fans were a nuisance. Those complaints are getting fewer, perhaps they’re used to it. But living with that would be a whole other story.

There’s of course the new and evolved downside of it.

The dark side of the ‘Jordan Tours’
Between 2012 and now, social media has evolved and is embedded in day-to-day life as ubiquitous as the Jumpman logo still is. It was about time that the #23 fortress became a social media trend. Michael Jordan himself starred in a marketing promotion video to sell this home. But recently a TikTok video circulated online claiming the abandoned mansion is flooded and damaged. Marcus Jordan himself disproved it as fake.

However, it went viral anyway and fans try to jump in with their own ‘tours’ of the home. It’s usually just the gates but in 2023, the predictable happened.

In April 2023, law enforcement responded to a break-in at the mansion. An 18-year-old was arrested and a minor was detained. There have been no updates since then but it reflects the escalation of the situation.

Now the home is under contract with intent for buying. Whether it’s at the same price, $14.885 million, who the potential buyer is, and what will happen to the #23 gates remains to be seen. Even if those gates go though, the fans won’t. Perhaps the new resident could take fans’ suggestion and turn this into an official Michael Jordan museum.