Fascinating reason Kanye West's concrete Malibu mansion is suddenly hot property
The once-beautiful Malibu beachfront home formerly owned by Kanye West, who destroyed it with the intention of making it into a bunker, has become desirable real estate again as it hit the market for the first time in over a year.
The mansion, along with the rest of Malibu Road where it's located, was spared from the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year.
The new owner, who bought the property in September 2024 to renovate it then flip it, said the home's hulking concrete structure likely would have made it immune to the fires even if they had blazed that way.
That stroke of luck has made West's old home one of the only pieces of real estate left to snag on the envied Malibu coast, even if it's a bit worse for wear.
'To be quite frank, there's no inventory to buy on the Pacific Coast Highway, so it really bolstered our value,' crowdfunding entrepreneur Steven 'Bo' Belmont told The Wall Street Journal.
That's despite the astonishing amount of damage West, also known as Ye, inflicted on the four-bedroom, 4000-square-foot home.
The rapper bought the property for $57.3 million in 2021 before removing the windows, doors, electricity and plumbing. He also broke down the walls, leaving the interior of the home completely exposed to the elements.
As he was doing this, Ye was stirring up a media frenzy with erratic behavior and anti-Semitic comments that caused brands such as Gap and Adidas to cut ties with him. By December 2023, he listed the Malibu home for $53 million.
Kanye West's former Malibu home is pictured on July 5, 2024, after the rapper gutted the property then abandoned it
This was how the home looked when West, also known as Ye, bought it in September 2021
Belmont was able to snap it up for a fraction of that - $21 million - with the help of 500 investors who gave him as little as $1,000 to as much as $1 million who want to see him restore the property to its former glory.
Belmont's company, Belwood Investments, allows retail investors to buy fractional shares of his real estate projects as if they were stocks.
Belmont has completed $2 million of the renovations on the project, which is being managed by architecture firm Marmol Radziner.
Ye's destruction of the home coincided with his bizarre public outbursts at the time
Although the property hasn't been fully restored and requires an estimated $6.5 million more in work done to get it back to what it once was, Belmont said he's okay with selling now.
'We did the math. We could sell right now, exit and let somebody add whatever finishes they want. … Really it's the same return on investment for us if we exit right now or if we exit after completion,' Belmont told the Los Angeles Times.
If no offers come in now and he is able to sell the completely rebuilt home, Belmont said he'll want $55 million to $65 million for it.
He further explained to the Journal that the carrying costs of the mansion is $1 million per month, which has made him eager to either sell it or finish the renovations.
'The minute I start going over a year of hold time, it lowers my average return on investment,' he added. 'And my number one goal with my business is to take care of my investors.'
Ron Radziner, who runs Marmol Radziner, worked on the initial construction of the house in 2013 and is keen on returning the home to how it looked.
The home is pictured from the street on July 5, 2024. The concrete structure sits on Malibu Road, which was spared from the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year
About 20 percent of reconstruction has been completed, according to Radziner, who has a team of 40 people working at the property daily
For him and his team, that means re-pouring the concrete walls taken out by Ye, replacing the removed cabinetry and putting doors back on their hinges.
'It's obviously disappointing that as much of the home was removed and demolished as it was,' Radziner told the LA Times. 'But I think we all feel on our team really fortunate that we've been asked to come back and put it back together.'
About 20 percent of reconstruction has been completed, according to Radziner, who has a team of 40 people working at the property daily.
Despite the home being unfinished, unofficial verbal offers have already begun to trickle in, all of them below Belmont's $39 million asking price.
A Montana developer offered $30 million for it, while a local builder suggested $28 million.
Belmont hopes that in the end, he'll be able to shred the memory that Ye even owned the home and re-associate it with the man who designed it, legendary Japanese architect Tadao Ando.
'What I don’t want is that type of reckless publicity to be correlated with this piece of art,' Belmont said. 'It doesn’t need that type of stigma. It needs to be really showcased for what it truly is—an Ando.'
