Archinect - News

Contested Bel Air megamansion may soon be gone as city wants it 'torn down to its foundation'

2019-11-08T16:29:00-05:00

Los Angeles city prosecutors are calling for an unfinished mega-mansion in Bel-Air to be torn down to its foundation, the latest twist in the saga over a colossal building at the center of criminal charges, court battles and an FBI investigation. [...] last week, City Atty. Mike Feuer and his prosecutors stepped up their demands, saying that a structural engineer had found that key structures supporting the building were deficient.

"Hadid pleaded no contest two years ago to criminal charges tied to the mammoth, unfinished building, which prosecutors said was much bigger than city rules allowed and included bedrooms, decks and even an IMAX theater that the city said were never approved," reports the Los Angeles Times.

Calls for the complete demolition of the embattled Bel Air megamansion first erupted in June when former construction manager Russell Linch accused the building's owner, celebrity developer Mohamed Hadid, of bribing a Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety inspector to 'overlook' building code violations.

New safety and corruption concerns over Bel Air megamansion: 'entire house must be demolished,' says former construction manager

2019-06-20T15:23:00-04:00

The mammoth, unfinished mansion on Strada Vecchia Road in Bel-Air has long been at the center of controversy, investigations and legal battles. Its developer, Mohamed Hadid, pleaded no contest to criminal charges after prosecutors accused him of building a house far bigger than allowed. [...] And investigators have looked into possible wrongdoing by a city building inspector scrutinizing the house.

Looks like the legal drama over the gargantuan on-again/off-again under-construction Bel Air megamansion by celebrity developer Mohamed Hadid is entering a new act: Russell Linch, the contested project's former construction manager, has come forward this week and accused a Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety inspector of allegedly accepting perks in exchange for 'overlooking' building code violations.

"Because I believe the piles are inadequate to support the house, I believe the house is unsafe and that the entire house must be demolished," Linch added in his declaration.