Kanye West’s gutted Malibu mansion designed by iconic architect Tadao Ando’s new owner revealed
The Malibu mansion that Kanye West famously tore down to create a bomb shelter has sold for around $21 million, and now its new owner has finally been revealed.
According to Belwood Investments, the property has been purchased TMZafter the rapper initially put the house up for sale for $53 million.
According to the outlet, the company’s CEO, Bo Belmont, said in a press release that they plan to invest $5 million into the home to bring it up to the original vision of Tadao Ando, who originally designed the home before Kanye tore it down.
In July it was reported that the house had been purchased, but the owner and price were not yet known.
The Malibu mansion that Kanye West famously tore down to make a bomb shelter has sold for around $21 million, with its new owner finally revealed
According to TMZ, Belwood Investments bought the property after the rapper initially listed the home for $53 million.
“This is not only a phenomenal real estate investment; it is an opportunity to revive and preserve an architectural gem created by the famed Tadao Ando so that it remains a Malibu gem,” Bo said in the press release, via TMZ.
Kanye purchased the iconic architect-designed home in 2021 for $57.3 million. However, shocking photos in June revealed the beachfront home had been completely gutted and left without windows.
He had removed all the plumbing and electrical and removed all the windows and doors.
The rapper listed the home for $53 million, dropping its value by $14 million to $39 million in April.
Kanye enlisted the help of agent Jason Oppenheim.
Kanye had purchased the home, designed by the iconic architect, in 2021 for $57.3 million — but in June, shocking photos showed the beachfront house completely gutted and windowless
He had stripped it of all plumbing and electricity, and all the windows and doors had been removed
According to the outlet, the deal will close on September 3.
The house was built in 2013 and has four bedrooms and five bathrooms.
One of the workers hired to help clear out the house said The New Yorker in June that West wanted to create a “bomb shelter” and his “Batcave.”
Architect Kulapat Yantrasat also told the publication: ‘To be honest, he didn’t like the house, he didn’t like the interior.’
Oppenheim told TMZ he was optimistic about the property’s chances of selling in the expensive neighborhood, likening it to “essentially a blank canvas” for potential buyers.
The Carnival artist, who bought the home for $57 million in late 2021, was previously unable to convert it into a “bomb shelter” after bringing in famed Japanese architect Tadao Ando to help with the renovation process.
The price cut is the latest in a string of problems surrounding the home in the posh Southern California beach town.
West was also sued by the renovation project’s former manager, Tony Saxon, who claims he was fired after “raising concerns about the extreme danger” of the project.
In September 2023, sources said TMZ that West wanted to remove the windows and electricity from the house to turn it into a “1910s bomb shelter.”
In the lawsuit Saxon filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, he alleged that he was hired for the project in September 2021 and that he worked 16 hours a day on the beach house.
He claimed he slept on the floor of the house because he worked as a “project manager, caretaker and 24/7 security” for the property.
Saxon alleged that West only paid him for one week’s work and ignored all of his concerns until he was eventually fired in November 2021 after refusing to remove the home’s windows and install electricity.
In the lawsuit, Saxon said the rapper’s vision for the home was to create something that resembled “a bomb shelter from the 1910s,” according to NBC Newsand demolish the marble bathrooms, and remove the windows, plumbing and electrical.
He would also like to replace the stairs with slides.
Saxon is alleged to have sued West for a number of labor law violations, more than $1 million in unpaid wages and damages.
“We were going to hollow all that out and build him some kind of bat cave,” Saxon explained, adding that the rapper wanted a place where he could “hide from the Clintons and the Kardashians.”
Saxon thought the house was more of an “art project,” but later realized that West actually wanted to live there.
He said West “didn’t want electricity. He just wanted plants. He just wanted candles. He just wanted battery lights. And he just wanted everything open and dark.”