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Embattled rapper and designer Kanye West has listed an incomplete Tadao Ando-designed Malibu home for $53 million, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The celebrity, now known as “Ye,” purchased the 4,000-square-foot concrete property designed by the renowned Japanese architect in 2021 for $57.25 million. He went on to undertake a renovation in which Ye tore out the windows, doors and wiring, but didn’t see the project through to completion. Now he’s selling the property, although it still needs windows and doors, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and interior finishes.
“It will take several million dollars for the house to be finished,” listing agent Jason Oppenheim of The Oppenheim Group told The WSJ.
Construction on the property began in 2013 by financier Richard Sachs. The planning, permitting and construction lasted about seven years before the home was listed for $75 million in 2020. The three-story, four-bedroom house was made in Ando’s characteristic smooth concrete style out of about 1,200 tons of concrete, 200 tons of steel and 12 pylons buried more than 60 feet into the sand, according to Oppenheim.
“Much of the architectural integrity and the architectural value of the house exists,” Oppenheim told The WSJ, noting that as it stands, the house is a blank canvas for buyers looking to customize a home.
West was sued by a contractor who was working on the property back in September. The individual, who also served as a live-in caretaker of the home, alleged West forced him to work 16 hours per day and sleep on the floor near open insulation, according to court documents. The contractor also alleged he had been fired from the job when he refused to take out the property’s electrical system and replace the wiring with large generators, which he believed would be a fire hazard. West has denied the allegations.
West lost a number of partnerships last year with brands like Adidas and Gap, after making antisemitic comments. His new album, “Vultures,” a collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign, is scheduled to release on New Year’s Eve.
Malibu has become an attractive alternative to LA for luxury buyers in the wake of the mansion tax that went into effect last spring on properties priced over $5 million, Oppenheim said.
“It’s a stretch to make a claim that anywhere is doing as well as 2021 and 2022, but Malibu has held up significantly better than the city of Los Angeles,” he told The WSJ.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z also bought an Ando-designed waterfront mansion earlier this year for nearly $200 million, marking the priciest residential sale in the U.S. in 2023.
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