After multiple price drops, Kanye 'Ye' West's partially renovated "bomb shelter" project now has a new owner.
The "Carnival" rapper, legally known as Ye, went viral for ripping apart his expensive Malibu mansion only to get sick of the renovations. The process not only sparked a lawsuit but also deteriorated the property.
Although he incurred a $32 million loss in the sale, Kanye "Ye" West can finally relax without the ruined Tadao Ando-designed beachside home or its gray walls haunting him anymore.
According to new reports, Ye sold the abandoned Malibu pad to Belwood Investments, a "real estate crowdfunding firm" based in California. The new owner snagged the gutted property for $21 million.
The sale was an incredible deal for the crowdfunding firm, given the original asking price. Ye listed the Malibu home for $53 million after tearing it down in an attempt to build an old-school bomb shelter.
However, he found no buyers and initially removed $14 million from the asking price, but it took a $32 million loss to find a new owner for the deteriorated property. Belwood's CEO, Bo Belmont, revealed he would splurge more money on the home.
Belmont told TMZ the company would pour an additional $5 million in renovations, attempting to undo the damages Ye caused and return the mansion to Ando's original design. Their words mirrored the bait used to lure buyers for the home.
In December 2023, The Blast reported that Ye had gotten "Selling Sunset" star Jason Oppenheim to serve as his realtor. The latter gave a convincing sales speech, claiming the rapper's abandoned project was a blessing in disguise for buyers.
"The interior finishes have been removed, and this creates an unbelievably rare opportunity to buy a Picasso on the water with the ability to restore it to your own specific standards, with modern technology and excellence," Oppenheim declared.
Ye purchased the eye-catching 4,000 square feet home with its stunning ocean view for $57 million in 2021. Despite it being Ando's design, the rapper's bomb shelter dreams left it without windows, electricity, and plumbing.
The Malibu home's former caretaker, Tony Saxon, took legal action against Ye following the controversial bomb shelter renovations. He claimed he was wrongfully fired for daring to speak out against the dangerous designs.
Saxon noted that Ye's vision for the home saw them demolishing the custom marble bathrooms, windows, plumbing, and electricity while the stairs would be replaced with slides.
"We were going to be gutting all of that out and sort of building him a Bat Cave," the former employee claimed, stressing that Ye wanted a place to "hide from the Clintons and the Kardashians."
The allegations continued: "When Plaintiff refused to engage in unlawful conduct or to engage in activity that would further cause him physical injury, Mr. Ye responded: 'If you don't do what I say, you're not going to work for me, I'm not gonna be your friend anymore, and you'll just see me on TV.'"
Saxon's lawyer, Ron Zambrano, bashed Ye in a heated statement, stressing that he "has shown a reckless disregard toward his employees and has flouted the law in unbelievably dangerous ways throughout this entire project at the Malibu house."
"He continues his pattern of not paying his bills while treating workers terribly. No employee should have to suffer through the sort of working conditions Mr. Saxon was forced to endure," Zambrano argued, adding:
"Yet Ye showed no concern and merely wanted the work done, despite the hazardous and unsafe, not to mention illegal, actions he was trying to force the plaintiff to undertake."
The Blast revealed that a source had shared the reason behind Ye's decision to stop renovating his Malibu pad. They claimed the "concrete walls are too cold for his tastes" and "too gray," saying:
"Ye prefers earth tones, muddy colors from silt to loam but never too cold, and nothing visually draining like clay. Unfortunately, the concrete settled into more of a cadet gray."
"He was hoping for a warmer tone, more of dovetail gray or coachman's cape. Ye would only visit the house at sunrise and sunset when he said the color didn't irritate him so much. Eventually, he stopped going altogether," the source added.
Hopefully, the new owner of Kanye "Ye" West's Malibu mansion won't be turned off by its gray walls.