Faced with a litany of legal and financial problems, real estate developer Mohamed Hadid's latest $250 million hilltop mansion in Beverly Hills is blasted by local residents.
Hadid, father of models Bella and Gigi Hadid, recently relisted a controversial, partially-built Beverly Hills Post Office spec mansion for a whopping $250 million. Reports say that this new construction has been causing problems to the local residents.
The 38-acre site at 9650 Cedarbrook Drive is the largest home ever permitted in Los Angeles County and would become the most expensive residential home ever sold in California if it meets the high asking price, as noted by Forbes Global Properties.
But the developer is also offering to sell the property for $92 million once the home's foundation is complete, if a buyer wanted to take over the project, reported The Real Deal.
Why is the Property So Controversial?
According to the Daily Mail, photos show that construction of the nearly 80,000 square-foot mansion has already closed certain hiking trails in the area. The land, divided into six parcels, has been at the center of a protracted fight between Hadid and conservation advocates because of its location next to Franklin Canyon Park: Hastain Trail, a popular hiking route that runs through the park, also intersects with Hadid's property, according to The Real Deal.
Heavy machinery can be seen on the property, as well as the home's completed foundation.
But locals have been left fuming that the trail has been shut.
A sign posted at one of the trailheads reads, 'NOTICE: Trail closed by developer Mohamed Hadid. Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy & MRCA sued to keep this trail open but lost at the Court of Appeal.'
The sign also lists the website for Hillsides Against Hadid, a group founded by Coldwater Canyon resident and open-space advocate Steven L. Weinberg to protect hiking trails and wildlife habitats from destruction caused by Hadid's construction, reported the Daily Mail.
Who Is Mohamed Hadid?
Hadid is a Palestinian born in Nazareth in November 1948 to a Muslim family. He is known for building luxury hotels and mansions, mainly in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles and the city of Beverly Hills, California. He is also known for his reality TV appearances on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and "Shahs of Sunset."
Hadid's first marriage was with Mary Butler, with whom he had two daughters, Alana Hadid and Marielle Hadid. He and Butler ended their marriage in 1992.
In December 2015, the Los Angeles city council voted to pursue criminal charges over a claim that the property tycoon violated local zoning laws.
Hadid's Bel Air Mega-Mansion Battle Goes to Jury
He is on trial over 901 Strada Vecchia Road, his ill-fated "Starship Enterprise" Bel Air spec mansion, over which a neighbor filed a 2018 suit arguing the development was structurally unsound and that its construction had turned their lives into a nightmare.
Hadid's battle with Bel Air residents claiming they live in fear of his colossal, curved-concrete spec mansion collapsing on them finally went to a jury Tuesday.
In his final argument to jurors Tuesday, a lawyer for the neighbors, Ariel Neuman, said Hadid's "greed" led him to build a "completely illegal and dangerous structure" that he hoped to sell for an eye-popping $100 million, according to The New York Daily News.
