Buyer walks away from Hadid’s spaceship spec mansion

Developer Bruce Lifton has walked away from his deal to buy Mohamed Hadid’s soon-to-be demolished spec mansion in Bel Air.

Lifton went into contract on the property in May, with a plan to pay $8.5 million after the partially-built home was put into receivership. Court documents now show the deal is off, The Real Deal has learned.

A court-appointed receiver is working with Premiere Estates to market the property for auction.

Lifton’s planned purchase was complicated by a costly clause that required he grade and restore the hillside where the controversial half-built mansion was constructed. He also had to get special approval from Los Angeles before he could start work on the site at 901 Strada Vecchia Road. In June, the city Department of Building and Safety told Lifton he would have to remove all existing retaining walls and regrade the entire site.

Lifton tried to “develop potential solutions,” but eventually told the court he would not be moving forward with the deal, records show. He could not be reached for comment.

Hadid’s spec mansion was put up for sale amid a lengthy court battle with neighbors, who claimed the structure was an “imminent” danger to the public and could slide down the hill.

In 2019, an L.A. court agreed, and ordered Hadid to demolish what he had built.

The civil suit neighbors filed against Hadid is still expected to go to trial later this month; neighbors claim fraud, public nuisance and city code violations. He has denied the allegations, claiming he received permits to build a home of more than 20,000 square feet, court documents show.