Jimmy John Liautaud's Champaign estate on the market

Jeff D'Alessio, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Nov. 3—CHAMPAIGN — For sale: the six-bedroom, eight-bath, 8,338-square-foot home of your dreams, spread out over four lots overlooking the Champaign Country Club and featuring a fully equipped coach house, 10-foot ceilings, a 1,500-bottle wine cellar/tasting room and top-of-the-line everything.

Listing price: $2.995 million — which is a whole lot less than the seller says he sank into the property at 1002 W. Armory St. over the years.

"It's way overbuilt and we've got about eight million bucks into it," Jimmy John Liautaud told The News-Gazette on Tuesday. "Someone's going to get a hell of a house for a really, really good deal, so I hope the family that buys it stays there a long, long time."

Since selling Jimmy John's, the sandwich empire he founded and headquartered in Champaign, Liautaud said he's been splitting most of his time between Florida and Nashville, Tenn., where wife Leslie moved about two years ago.

He said he maintains a personal office, with a staff of 12, in Champaign and plans to be back in the area for about 30 days a year — some for work, some for play.

"We're very active farmers here, and we're very actively acquiring more farms," with land in Champaign, Coles, DeWitt, McLean and Piatt counties, said Liautaud, who farms corn and beans. "I love farming."

Another passion was the reason for his return to central Illinois this month.

"I'm a hunter," he said, "and the deer hunting here is extraordinary."

At 57 with a net worth of $1.7 billion — making him the world's 1,833rd-wealthiest person, per Forbes — Liautaud said he's gone from "being in the sandwich business to (being) all over the country, doing all kinds of different things," with stakes in companies that include Arkansas-based 7 Brew Coffee.

But since selling his namesake sandwich chain to Inspire Brands in 2019, the one-time taster-in-chief is "100 percent out" of Jimmy John's.

"I'm still a champion — any time they need me, I'm there," he said. "But they are so sophisticated now. ... The business is in the right hands."