If you like your mansions controversial, half-built and doomed, then here’s a deal for you. Real estate developer Mohamed Hadid’s Bel-Air mega-mansion, which he claimed would last forever before a court ordered it to be torn down , is on the market for $8.5 million. Once the property sells, the house will be destroyed with proceeds of the sale funding the demolition, according to Forbes Global Properties , which first reported the listing.
Dubbed “the Starship Enterprise” by disgruntled neighbors, the unfinished 30,000-square-foot mansion on Strada Vecchia Road — both bigger and taller than city rules allowed — was crammed onto a 1.2-acre lot, leaving residents worried it would slide down its hillside perch and crush the homes below. They sued Hadid in 2018 , citing construction violations in hopes of getting the sweeping steel-and-glass structure torn down.
Hadid vowed to never demolish the house a few years ago, telling Town & Country magazine , “This house will last forever. Bel-Air will fall before this will.”
In December 2019, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Craig D. Karlan declared it a danger to the public, citing inadequate foundation and ordering the demolition of the home.
The ruling followed years of court battles that saw Hadid plead no contest to criminal charges and sentenced to community service and fines. Hadid has denied wrongdoing, telling The Times that he pleaded no contest to the criminal charges to “move on.”
The property is now being marketed as a development opportunity, giving the buyer a chance to build something new on the prized land once the house is fully demolished. In court, Hadid’s attorneys claimed the cost of a tear-down would be $5 million.
Hadid — father of models Bella and Gigi Hadid — is known for his luxury real estate developments in Bel-Air and Beverly Hills and also his reality TV appearances on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and “Shahs of Sunset.” His original plans for the mammoth mansion included an enormous wine cellar and 70-seat IMAX theater, as well as a series of bedrooms and decks that were never approved by the city.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .
