For nearly a year, prolific spec house developer Mohamed Hadid has known that he should not be building a 30,000-square-foot megamansion in Bel Air. His permits were revoked by the LA Department of Building and Safety last July; he kept building. He was told "no, really: stop" by the city last fall; he continued to work, hiding the progress "behind tarps, potted plants, paneled walls and taped-over doors," according to the LA Times. This past April, the city told him he had two weeks to tear down all the illegal stuff (a 70-seat IMAX theater, guest suites). He asked for more time. Yesterday, the city said no way. Meanwhile, it's June.
Attorneys for the owners of 901 Strada Vecchia asked for 60 days to bring the project into compliance by taking out all the stuff Hadid wasn't supposed to build but did anyway. The attorneys' rationale, says the Beverly Hills Courier, was that new contractors had been hired for the project and they hadn't had time to figure out what was what: "A representative from the site's new contractor, Gordon Gibson Construction, said Tuesday the new contractors wanted to do their 'due diligence rather than just start tearing it down.'"
But everyone's pretty tired of what a senior LADBS inspector called "a problem property from the very beginning." The city pointed out in a presentation at the hearing yesterday that "10 orders to comply had been issued to the site dating back to March 2011, just after celebrity developer Mohamed Hadid took ownership of the property"; that first order way back then was for unpermitted hilltop grading. (The property has changed hands five times since 2011, with Hadid continuing to work as the developer.)
Now that the city's denied Hadid's request for more time to comply with the demand to rip out all the illegal parts of his massive, partially-constructed mansion, he will theoretically have to do it. Will he this time? The city is handing the case over to the city attorney's office "for possible prosecution," says the Times.
· Developer denied extra time to bring Bel-Air mansion into compliance [LAT]
· LADBS Denies 901 Strada Vecchia's Appeal, Case Will Be Sent To L.A. City Attorney [BHC]
· Mohamed Hadid Will Not Stop Building the Most Illegal Megamansion in Bel Air [Curbed LA]
· City Puts a Stop to Enormous, Unfinished Bel Air Megamansion [Curbed LA]
· Permits Revoked For Notorious, Half-Built Bel Air Megamansion [Curbed LA]
Loading comments...