Mark Walhberg Explains Why He Sold $17M Las Vegas Townhouse After Just 1 Year: 'The Plan Was Always to Build a Family Home'

The 'Other Guys' star and his family moved to Las Vegas from California last year

Mark Wahlberg recently made a surprising real estate move, selling the Las Vegas townhouse he purchased only one year ago.

On Monday, the actor, 52, explained why he decided to let go of the property so quickly.

"When we decided to move [to Las Vegas], we wanted to move before school started, so we moved into a temporary place and we now moved into another place," he told Today.

"The plan was always to build not only a studio but a family home," he continued. "We just moved from one house to another."

Wahlberg sold the two-story, 7,327-sq.-ft. townhouse, located in a private community called The Summit Club, for $16.6 million, according to documents obtained by the Las Vegas Review Journal and reviewed by PEOPLE. He purchased the residence in August 2022 for $14.5 million, per the newspaper.

A month before buying the townhouse, he snapped up 2.5 acres of land nearby. It's unclear if he still owns the land and whether the parcel is the planned site for the family home he hopes to build.

The Father Stu star first revealed in October 2022 that he and his family — wife Rhea Durham and kids Ella, 20, Michael, 17, Brendan, 15 and Grace, 13 — had made a big move to Nevada from California. At the time, he said on The Talk that he hoped to build a state-of-the-art studio in Las Vegas and make the city "Hollywood 2.0."

Related: Mark Wahlberg Says He Moved from L.A. to Nevada to Give His Kids a 'Better Life': It Made 'Sense for Us'

He also wanted to give his children "a better life."

"So to be able to give my kids a better life and follow and pursue their dreams — whether it be my daughter as an equestrian, my son as a basketball player, my younger son as a golfer — this made a lot more sense for us," he explained.

"There's lots of opportunity here. I'm really excited about the future," he added.

In April, he told PEOPLE his family "loved Vegas" and was happily settling into their new digs.

Despite leaving California behind, however, Wahlberg admitted he still occasionally misses the Golden State.

"I miss California, I miss the weather, but the kids are thriving [in Las Vegas]," he told Today, citing the strong sense of community they've found there.

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"You have Las Vegas, and people think automatically, 'Oh, the Strip.' But (in) Nevada, there are wonderful communities," he continued. "I live in a wonderful community that's really faith-based, great schools. There's much more to Las Vegas than the Strip."

Related: Mark Wahlberg Says He Became a Producer to 'Create My Own Destiny' in Hollywood

Wahlberg sold his previous home in Los Angeles in February 2023. The 12-bedroom mega-mansion, which sits on 6.2 acres, was originally listed for $87.5 million but had its price reduced before a buyer was found.

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