Kanye West has finally offloaded the Malibu mansion he’d gutted, reportedly in order to create a bomb shelter – and he’s taking a major financial loss in the process.
Ye bought the home for $57.3 million just three years ago in 2021, sunk money into it to gut it, abandoned the project, and then listed it for $53 million late last year. He later slashed the price because no one was biting.
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TMZ reported Monday (August 26) that a California-based “real estate crowdfunding firm” named Belwood Investments purchased the property earlier this month for $21 million, which makes for a nearly $40 million loss. The deal is set to close on September 3.
In a statement, Belwood’s CEO Bo Belmont said: “This is not just a phenomenal real estate investment; it is an opportunity to revitalize and preserve an architectural gem by the renowned Tadao Ando, ensuring it remains a jewel of Malibu.”
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According to the report, Belmont plans to invest $5 million into the property to try to restore it to its original design before Kanye stripped it down.
Built in 2013, the mansion overlooks the Pacific Ocean and leans heavily on its concrete architecture throughout. Ando is reportedly one of Kanye West’s favorite designers and that played a role in Yeezy’s post-Donda purchase – though not much of the design was left after Ye was done with it. In fact, the home currently lacks running water, electricity, and even walls.
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A source alleged to be close to the rapper told The Daily Mail in December that after all the work, Kanye West didn’t want the place anymore because the walls aren’t the right color.
“Ye prefers earth tones, muddy colors from silt to loam but never too cold and nothing visually draining like a clay,” the source told the outlet on Sunday (December 31). “Architects and designers working for Ye have in the past been dispatched to collect soil samples from the UK, France, and elsewhere as color references for his iconic looks.”
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The source continued: “Unfortunately, the concrete settled into more of a cadet gray and he was hoping for a warmer tone, more of dovetail gray or coachman’s cape. Ye would only visit the house at sunrise and sunset when he said the color didn’t irritate him so much. Eventually, he stopped going altogether.”
Ye was also sued by the former project manager of the home last September following a disagreement over his alleged unusual demands.
NBC News reported that 32-year-old Tony Saxon filed the lawsuit after he was fired for refusing to remove all of the windows and electricity from the property. Ye allegedly fired Saxon on November 5, 2021, for not complying with his “dangerous” requests after working for the superstar for around two months.
The lawsuit cited violations of labor codes, including dangerous working conditions, unpaid wages and wrongful retaliatory termination.
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Saxon said Kanye’s plan for the property was to make it like “a bomb shelter from the 1910s” by removing the custom marble bathrooms, custom windows, plumbing and electricity, as well as replacing the stairs with slides.
He claimed that West didn’t want to be a “slave” to modern conveniences or be “accessible” to the government.
