Celebrity developer Mohamed Hadid, father of models Gigi and Bella, in ugly battle over Bel-Air mega-mansion
Downhill neighbours say they are living in ‘constant fear’ and are demanding that Los Angeles officials tear down the huge unfinished project, that led to a criminal charges against Mohamed Hadid for building without permits
Celebrity real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, father of models Gigi and Bella Hadid, is being sued by Bel-Air residents living downhill from the unfinished mansion that led him to be slapped with criminal charges.
Their goal: to force Hadid to tear down the building.
Hadid, known for his opulent homes and his stints on reality television, was accused by city prosecutors of illegally building a home bigger and taller than city rules allowed – estimated at roughly 30,000 square feet – and flouting repeated orders to halt construction.
Mohamed Hadid has made a mockery of the city’s laws and the safety of his neighbours
Hadid has turned in revised plans for the Bel-Air house, which are still under review with the building department, and says he is working to get approval for a smaller home that falls in line with current codes.
Now neighbours living downhill are suing him, contending that the city of Los Angeles has failed to enforce its own order, which demands that builders of the Bel-Air home either get city approval or tear down “all unauthorised, unapproved construction.”
In the meantime, the neighbours say that they live in “constant fear” of the hillside collapsing, that their home values have suffered, and that “their privacy and serenity are invaded by the illegal and unsightly structure looming above them.”
In their lawsuit, Bel-Air residents John and Judith Bedrosian and Beatriz and Joseph Horacek urge the court to order Hadid to remove “all improvements” on the Strada Vecchia property and fully restore the hillside between his and their properties, bringing the slope back to the same condition it was in when Hadid bought the site.
“Mohamed Hadid has made a mockery of the city’s laws and the safety of his neighbours, and astonishingly the city of Los Angeles has turned a blind eye,” their lawyer Victor De la Cruz said in a statement.
“At this stage, the only way to bring this illegal mansion into compliance is to tear it down and start over,” De la Cruz added.
Hadid said Thursday that he had yet to review the lawsuit, but denounced the push to tear down the house as a “witch hunt” by a neighbour seeking financial gain. He and his lawyers have said the Bel-Air house was inspected frequently during construction.
“The house was totally signed off by every single inspector,” Hadid said. “It’s nonsense to say it was not approved. … This lawsuit is total nonsense.”
Hadid said he had done nothing wrong, but pleaded no contest to the criminal charges tied to the house to “move on” and avoid embarrassing the city inspectors. Russell Linch, the project manager for the Strada Vecchia site, said a city inspector was “100 per cent aware of every change and deviation” and told him to get the permits revised after the fact.
“It was totally standard,” Linch said. “I didn’t think we were doing anything wrong.”
Building department spokesman Jeff Napier said the process described by Linch “has never been a policy of the Department of Building and Safety.”
“All construction work on a permitted project is required to be on the approved plans prior to it being constructed,” Napier said.
The lawsuit, which also names Los Angeles as a respondent, calls for the city to be ordered to take action to “abate the nuisance.” Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office, said the office was reviewing the complaint and had no further comment.
