Lovers of schadenfreude are rejoicing, as it’s the end of an era in Bel Air — and blessedly so, if you ask the neighbors. After years of legal wrangling, Mohamed Hadid’s much-maligned Bel Air mansion project has sold at auction for exactly $5 million to local developer Sahara Construction Co. As per the agreement, Sahara must pay for the half-finished structure to be demolished within the next nine months, with the final remnants of Hadid’s ownership saga inauspiciously hauled off to the landfill.
Hadid, a controversial developer and reality TV personality who once often popped up on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and is the father of international it-girls Gigi and Bella Hadid, had long fought to save his ill-fated project. But in the end, he went out with not even a whimper; The Real Deal reported that Hadid declined to comment on a judge approving the sale of his once-prized real estate gem.
After acquiring the 1.22 acre property on Strada Vecchia Road in 2011, Hadid soon angered neighbors by building a 30,000-square-foot mega-mansion, though approved permits called allowed only for a much smaller house. In 2017, he pled no contest to criminal charges related to the development and received a community service sentence. But that wasn’t all — the following year, he also faced a successful civil lawsuit from several of his neighbors. Eventually, the city ordered the illegal structure — which reportedly still remains in danger of sliding down the cliff upon which it is perched — be demolished.
At one point, Hadid salaciously claimed he was “too broke” to demolish the house himself, which led to much media scoffing. Still, the 73-year-old has downsized his lifestyle in recent years. He’s now sold this place, is still attempting to sell a massive tract of 90210 land and is licking his proverbial wounds at home in a new $4.5 million “cottage” in the mountains above Beverly Hills.
Todd Wohl of Premiere Estates Auction Company jointly held the Bel Air listing with Jonathan Nash of Hilton & Hyland.