Major update on developer’s failed $77m home. Picture: Google Maps; Anadolu via Getty Images
The remaining slabs of Mohamed Hadid’s controversial $US50 million ($A77 million) Los Angeles megamansion have been put up for auction — years after the developer faced legal woes over the property.
According to The Real Deal reported, the no-reserve sale has a starting bid of $US7.9 million ($A12.2 million) and lasts until July 16.
The former residence earned the nickname “Starship Enterprise” from alarmed neighbours, who feared the pad’s colossal size and uncertain foundations would lead to a cliffside disaster for the entire neighbourhood, the New York Post reports.
Compass’s Tracy Tutor and Premiere Estates Auction Company’s Todd Wohl hold the listing.
The unfortunate eyesore currently belongs to Paul Ventura’s Sahara Construction, which purchased the property at auction for $US5 million in 2021.
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Hadid’s would-be home sold at auction in 2021 after he was ordered to tear it down. Picture: Anadolu via Getty Images
A judge previously ordered the under-construction home to be torn down amid safety concerns. Picture: Google Maps
Sahara Construction completely demolished the property. Picture: Google Earth
Attempts to sell the Bel-Air property since then have failed to bear fruit.
Sahara Construction has carefully demolished the partially built structure down to its concrete foundations, the Real Deal reported, citing a court-ordered engineering report that declared the site now safe for a home.
Hadid previously tried to build a home twice that size, and was taken to court over his efforts.
“If this house came down the hill it would take a portion of the neighbourhood with it,” said Los Angeles Judge Craig Karlan in his 2019 ruling for Hadid to demolish the illegally built hillside home.
Hadid, father to Bella and Gigi Hadid, began construction on the planned mansion in 2014.
The real estate tycoon fought the city of Los Angeles for several years to build the estate.
Hadid’s company 901 Strada LLC filed for bankruptcy when he was ordered to tear down the structure.
Hadid, pictured with his famous daughters, Gigi and Bella, in 2016. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria’s Secret
Hadid planned to build a 30,000-square-foot structure on the hilltop site. Picture: Google Maps
Things went from bad to worse for Hadid when he was ordered to pay a lump sum of $US2.6 million ($A4.02 million) toward his neighbours’ legal costs in 2023, Realtor reports.
At the time, Joe Horacek, 81, who was one of the neighbours who led the suit, told the Daily Mail of the ruling: “I feel vindicated. Now I just want Hadid to pay up and go away.”
Meanwhile, Hadid lamented, “This is a joke — it’s crazy.”
He then revealed he had plans to countersue for “two or three hundred million dollars.”
Sahara Construction listed the property for sale in the fall of 2023 for $US18 million ($A27 million), The Real Deal reported, but the listing was removed last year.
“The demolition took a tremendous amount of money,” Premiere Estates Auction Company’s Todd Wohl told the outlet.
“From the court’s standpoint, the legal issues and development issues are cured. There’s a flat pad now. This would survive a major earthquake.”
Parts of this story first appeared in the New York Post and Realtor and were republished with permission.
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