Property tycoon Mohamed Hadid has filed for bankruptcy – a week after a judge declared that his notorious Los Angeles mega mansion is dangerous and ‘must come down.’
The filing – made just hours before the start of the Thanksgiving holiday – raises the concern that if Hadid doesn’t pay the estimated $5million it will cost to demolish his half-built colossus, then LA’s taxpayers will have to foot the bill. Bankruptcy for Hadid’s company, 901 Strada LLC, was filed by the maverick developer’s lawyer, Bruce Rudman, who earlier this month told LA Superior Court that Hadid was broke.
On November 20 Judge Karlan took the responsibility of demolishing the 30,000-square foot ‘eyesore’ away from Hadid and instead gave the job to receiver Douglas Wilson – the same receiver who oversaw the $35 million repair of Donald Trump’s California golf course when three holes collapsed into the ocean.
He told Judge Craig Karlan that not only could Hadid ‘not afford’ to pay for the tearing down of his giant home, but he also didn’t have the $500,000 fee being charged by the judge appointed receiver to supervise the demolition.
