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Mohamed Hadid’s Bel-Air mega-mansion, which overlooks Beverly Hills and went on the market for an asking price of $100 million, has finally been razed to the ground following four years of legal dispute with neighbors.
Exclusive photos and video obtained by DailyMail.com show the mansion, dubbed as ‘Starship Enterprise’ by angry neighbors, demolished after three months of work.
Hadid, who is the father of supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, bought the property off of Strada Vecchia Road in 2011 and planned to build a 30,000-square-foot home on a 1.22-acre lot.
But the home’s dimensions were a lot larger and taller than city rules permit — and double the 15,000 square feet he was given permission for by the Buildings Department, including rooms like a 70-seat IMAX theater and a huge wine cellar that weren’t on the original plans.
Hadid also hid exclusive features that the home would have from city officials, including a 70-seat IMAX theater and a huge wine cellar.
Neighbors filed a lawsuit against Hadid after their biggest concern was that the mega-mansion was going to fall off the steep hillside and crush their homes.
In December, Sahara Construction bought the property for $8.5 million after the real estate tycoon initially listed it on the market for asking price of $100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal and Page Six.
The construction company agreed to cover the $5 million price to tear Hadid’s property to the ground and hope to recover the value of the purchase through a future resale and a special tax break.
Mohamed Hadid’s Bel-Air mega-mansion (pictured in June), which he had once hoped to sell for $100 million, has finally being razed to the ground
New drone video footage and photos show a mixture of rubble and of dirt laid out smoothly on the mansion’s foundations, dubbed the ‘Starship Enterprise’, in June
Construction workers are putting up bushes in an attempt to bring back some greenery to the area after a number of years of construction
Hadid, the father of supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, purchased the lot in 2011 and quickly began construction, cramming a 30,000-square-foot house onto the 1.22-acre lot
Hadid argued in court that he could not afford the $5 million it would take to tear it down after his own architect said he was worried the building ‘will slide down the hill and kill someone’
In 2017, he pleaded no contest to criminal charges, and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay $3,000 in fines and other hefty fees
The home was sold for $8.5 million in May 2021. Sahara Construction hopes to make its money back by a hefty sale and a city tax break
The construction site was at one stage supposed to have incredible features, including an IMAX theater and Turkish-style baths
The once-upon-a-time mega-mansion will no longer have those features as none of it is left as of June, several months after demolition work started
The mega-mansion’s listing called it ‘a rare opportunity to build a world class estate featuring views of the city and surrounding canyon.’ The home’s location is near the exclusive Bel-Air Country Club as well as ‘world-renowned restaurants and boutiques of downtown Beverly Hills.’
Hadid, 72, also heard complaints from a group of hikers who eventually sued him after claiming there was a legal means of access for them to hike through the property. In 2016, the California Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Hadid, giving him full authorization to step up his construction plans.
A year earlier, in 2015, the former speed skiing Olympian was prosecuted by the Los Angeles city council after not following stop work orders on the mansion following his failure to revert back to the 15,000 square-feet permit to build on.
In 2017, Hadid pleaded no contest to criminal charges, and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay $3,000 in fines and other hefty fees.
In 2019, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Craig D. Karlan ruled that the mansion was a ‘danger to the public’ and must be demolished.
A rendering of the home posted to Instagram shows what might have been had the building work been allowed to continue
The dimensions of the home, pictured while being demolished in March, were a lot larger and taller than city rules permit — and double the 15,000 square feet he was given permission for by the Buildings Department
Bulldozers and construction crew worked on destroying Hadid’s controversial home for three months, including in March (pictured). Hadid was ordered to stop illegal construction which went beyond approved plans, and a judge ruled in 2019 that it was a ‘danger to the public’ and must be taken down
Sahara Construction bought the property for $5 million in December and agreed to pay for knocking it down after Hadid claimed he couldn’t afford to do so. The house at its most complete stage (pictured in 2020) before a demolition job to bring it down was under way
Hadid, who is believed to have a net worth of around $5million, according to Page Six, contested in court that he could not afford the $5 million demanded to tear down the illegally-construct home after his own architect said he was worried the building ‘will slide down the hill and kill someone.’
Hadid was also taken to court in a lawsuit filed by his neighbors Joe Horacek, 80, his wife Bibi, and John and Judith Bedrosian. Both couples ended up shelling out an estimated $9million in legal fees, fighting their interests in court over the timespan of four years.
Their court case with the Jordanian-American tycoon took a pivotal turn last September when a Sant Monica jury voted in favor of the Horaceks and Bedrosians receiving a total of $2.9 million – but that hefty sum barely covered a third of their lawyer fees and was just a fraction of the $26 million they were seeking in damages.
Hadid has filed an appeal against the $2.9 million judgment awarded to the neighbors by the civil trial jury. He is currently awaiting a response.
In complying with the demolition orders, Hadid sold the home for a fraction of what he had hoped to make.
Speaking to DailyMail.com in March, Hadid said he was not sad to see his ambitious plans for his mega-mansion fall through.
‘I’ve moved on with my life — that’s all behind me now,’ he said. ‘I wish the people who bought it well and I wish them well with whatever they build there in its place. I have other projects I am involved with now.’
Gigi Hadid, Mohamed Hadid and Bella Hadid attend the Victoria’s Secret After Party at the Grand Palais on November 30, 2016 in Paris, France
Mohamed Hadid is seen in NoHo on September 19, 2021 in New York City just after his LA neighbors won $2.9 million for their complaints filed against the American-Jordanian real estate tycoon in court
Hadid was also sued by his neighbors Joe Horacek (pictured), 80, his wife Bibi, and John and Judith Bedrosian, with the two couples ultimately spending four years and an estimated $9 million in legal fees fighting in court
How Hadid’s house should have looked. His plans included an elaborate Turkish bath, complete with ornate wood carvings, colorful tiles, and marble and mirrored walls
Hadid planned elaborate sculptures for the grounds of his now-destroyed magnificent mansion. The real estate tycoon had plans to include a 70-seat IMAX theater and a huge wine cellar that were not part of the original construction plans
Taking down the colossal residence took some time, mainly due to its awkward positioning atop a steep hill that overlooks Bel Air. Any rubble or debris from the house could have crashed downward and damaged other properties.
‘We are unbuilding this house the same way it was built,’ Paul Ventura, boss of Sahara Construction, told DailyMail.com in March. ‘We have to be very careful — we can’t just smash everything down. We have to be a lot more surgical than that.
‘So instead of a wrecking ball, we’re using hydraulic excavators with long arms with special attachments on them to take down the structure more methodically and safely,’ he added.
Ventura said the company used ‘multiple layers of safety’ in the demolition project, including strengthening existing fencing and installing netting around the site that’s strong enough to stop up to 20,000 pounds of debris from hurtling down the hill.
In addition to the steepness of the hill the four-story house sits on, Sahara had to deal with another problem: the parts of the giant house that Hadid built without approval from LA city planners.
The demolition engineers could only use the original approved plans to dismantle the building, section by section.
But, Ventura added, ‘Because the original builder (Hadid) did not build it according to the plans, a lot of the demolition work is exploratory. We have to carefully take down the walls to the steel supporting beams to see what’s there.
‘We’re not sure what we’re going to find when we, say, take down a wall or another part of the structure. Because a lot of the building is not on the plans.’
DailyMail.com got a peek inside the property earlier this year in February 2022. Pictured: The staircase that would have been elaborately decorated
Hadid had shared his vision for the home during its construction on social media with photos of innovative designs and structural pieces
Inside the once magnificent structure, in place of the opulence and extravagance that Hadid had intended, there are only ruins (pictured in February)
Sahara Construction invited DailyMail.com to the demolition site earlier this year for a first-hand look at how the operation to take apart the mansion was going.
Ripping down the stucco walls of the top floor revealed an interior that was supposed to be the very height of opulence and extravagance.
The centerpiece in the spectacular house was to be a huge entertainment area — with 15-foot ceilings and a 10-foot sculpted marble fireplace — that was to have been the scene of many glittering parties for the rich and famous.
With both the floor and walls lined with off-white marble, the vast space also boasted giant floor-to-ceiling windows that offered panoramic views over ritzy Bel-Air and even to the Pacific Ocean on clear days.
To one side of the massive room was a 12-foot-long bar, made from a single piece of marble, that swiveled to allow revelers entrance into an IMAX movie theater. That was to have seated filmgoers in 70 red velvet chairs
With a nod to his Middle Eastern background, Hadid included an elaborate Turkish bath, complete with ornate wood carvings, colorful colorful ceramic tiles, and walls covered in marble and mirrors.
‘It was a magnificent house — quite beautiful,’ he said.
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