Neighbors want the city to tear down Mohamed Hadid’s Bel Air spec home

Mohamed Hadid’s Bel Air woes are not over.

Four Bel Air residents are asking a judge to order Hadid to tear down his massive unfinished spec home, named the Strada Vecchia, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

They’re also suing the city of Los Angeles for not enforcing a 2015 order that directed Hadid to demolish it.

Last year a Superior Court judge sentenced Hadid to three years of probation and 200 hours of community service for illegally building the 30,000-square-foot hillside home without permits.

He originally filed for a much smaller two-story home, but went ahead with the larger home anyway. It’s sat vacant since 2014 when a judge ordered a halt to construction. The 2017 decision left the future of the home up in the air, as it was unclear if Hadid could somehow bring the home in compliance with city code.

Four members of the Bedrosian and Horacek families, who own homes downhill of Hadid’s spec home, brought the suit. They claim the home “will come toppling down onto their land and their persons at any time due to the destabilized hillside.” The Horacek family has moved from their home during the rainy season over fears of a mudslide, according to the suit.

They claim that the hillside edifice has in turn endangered all residents downhill.
The city has a duty to enforce a final determination they made in 2015 to demolish the home, according to the suit. That means compelling Hadid to do so himself, or taking control of the property to demolish it and return it to its pre-construction condition from January 2011, the suit says.

The spec home isn’t the only issue that could find Hadid back in court. In February, a model accused him of rape on social media. He has denied the allegations and no charges have been filed.