A Timeline of Kanye West's Rotting $57m Malibu House

Table Of Content

• Jason Oppenheim Lists Kanye West’s Beachfront Malibu Property for $53 Million — See Inside
• TAKE A LOOK INSIDE GUTTED MALIBU PAD
• Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Selling His Silicon Valley Estate for $24.5 Million
• A Timeline of Kanye West's Rotting $57m Malibu House
• Kanye West is selling his Malibu home for a loss 2 years after paying $57 million for it
• Ye Slashes The Price

Built in 2013, the home is finished in Ando’s signature concrete and required 1,200 tons of the building material, 200 tons of steel, and 12 pylons anchored more than 60 feet deep to complete. The three-story concrete frame is complemented by 1,500 square feet of deck space and stairs that lead straight to the beach. Wide, straight-angled doorways and windows face the ocean where the home’s four bedrooms used to be. Oppenheim described the house as a blank canvas and said that the house’s architectural integrity and value are still there. Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) seems anxious to be rid of his Malibu, California, mansion, a house that’s inarguably the most minimal of all minimalist properties.

Jason Oppenheim Lists Kanye West’s Beachfront Malibu Property for $53 Million — See Inside

Despite the big price reduction, buyers should be warned that the house will require many months and likely millions of dollars in renovation costs. And the current $39 million ask, while substantially improved, is a lofty figure. Other homes along this same stretch of sand typically top out around $20 million—and that’s for a brand-new or freshly rehabbed residence. Less than a month after the release of his long-awaited album, “Donda,” Kanye West paid $57 million for a Tadao Ando-designed Malibu beach house, which first listed in May 2020.

TAKE A LOOK INSIDE GUTTED MALIBU PAD

Ever since he first visited Naoshima, the Japanese “art island” designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando, Kanye West has been obsessed with the place. He’s been quoted describing the art as “life-changing” and once said he’d like to live inside a James Turrell sculpture, the sort of thing found on the island. And while that sort of lifestyle isn’t quite feasible, Kanye has done the second-best thing—he’s paid a whopping $57.3 million, in an off-market deal, for a Malibu residence that’s part house, part sculpture. The place is also one of only a handful of Ando-designed homes in the United States.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Selling His Silicon Valley Estate for $24.5 Million

It will be interesting to see what sale price the oceanfront property eventually commands—particularly because it sits cheek-to-jowl next to other homes, nearly all of which are worth a mere fraction of West’s $53 million sticker. But this home does benefit from its unique pedigree; it’s one of the few stateside residences ever designed by Ando, who has become one of the billionaire elite’s most sought-after architects. Both California properties are gone and going, respectively — that Hidden Hills house was recently sold at a six-figure loss, while the Malibu manor is now up for grabs at $53 million. Even in the unlikely event of a full-price offer, West stands to lose many millions of dollars on the property, once realtor fees and closing costs have been factored into the equation. And it’s not even clear if he ever spent a night at the house, which was completely gutted during his ownership.

"One of the reasons that I own the Oppenheim Group and work with my best friends and sell luxury real estate is because I absolutely love that," Oppenheim added. "It makes me really, really happy and I place happiness over the bottom line. And I will, forever." The Oppenheim Group founder says it’s a privilege to sell a home from the renowned architect, who’s designed fewer than 20 homes in the U.S. While the rapper paid $57 million for the property, which features views of the Pacific Ocean from every room, it’s now on the market for slightly less, asking $53 million.

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As reported by the Wall Street Journal, West was already facing a loss when he officially listed the property (with celebrity agent Jason Oppenheim of Netflix’s Selling Sunset, no less) on January 8. In an off-market deal in 2021, the ex-husband of reality star Kim Kardashian paid Richard Sachs (Ashley Olsen’s ex) $57 million for the roughly 4,000-square-foot mansion. Ye wanted to completely gut the Malibu mansion—removing fixtures, windows, doors, plumbing, and electrical systems—but that renovation vision “never materialized,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He halted the project in November, according to The Daily Mail, after closing his building company, Yeezy Construction Inc., due to financial struggles. Billionaire media mogul and proprietor Rupert Murdoch earlier this month had to slash the price of his Manhattan penthouse nearly 40% to $38.5 million.

Kanye West is selling his Malibu home for a loss 2 years after paying $57 million for it

But he seems to be shifting away from real estate ownership—when he’s not out traveling the globe with “wife” Bianca Censori, he frequently bunks up for months at a time in some of L.A.’s most expensive hotels, including the oceanfront Nobu Ryokan. The lowest floor holds three ensuite guest bedrooms, while the middling level houses the public areas—the living room, kitchen and powder room. The top floor is exclusively reserved for the owner, with its penthouse-level bedroom suite and rooftop oceanside terrace overlooking the crashing waves far below. Photos of the interiors don’t appear to exist online, but the decor been described as minimalist “yet warm,” by Marmol Radziner, the L.A.-based architecture firm that built the house in collaboration with Ando.

Ye Slashes The Price

Almost immediately after he bought it, West set about tearing the place apart, ripping out all the windows, doors and interior finishes. The formerly four-bedroom, five-bath house is now a vacant and uninhabitable concrete shell, with its rooms open and exposed to the unforgivingly corrosive sea air. West’s only saving grace at this point might be a developer, who has a budget and a vision, because it’s unlikely that any average buyer would want to tackle this costly and lengthy renovation project. We also feel sorry for the neighbors who have endured this eyesore for years, and who will have to deal with massive construction at some point.

Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim, whose brokerage holds the listing, tells PEOPLE the rapper removed the home’s interiors, so the asking price reflects the cost of installing new finishes. The contractor also claims he was fired after he declined, at West’s request, to replace the home’s electrical system with one he deemed unsafe. The original construction of the home required 1,200 tons of concrete, 200 tons of steel, and 12 pylons driven 60 feet deep into the ground, according to the Oppenheim Group. However, Oppenheim told the Chronicle that a crew had been working on the property to prepare it to sell.

Kanye West Cuts Price of Gutted Beach Home in Malibu to $39M - The Real Deal

Kanye West Cuts Price of Gutted Beach Home in Malibu to $39M.

Posted: Tue, 16 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

What makes this particular sale so infuriating to architecture lovers is that this home was originally designed by the famous architect Tadao Ando. But if luxury home prices are on the rise, then why would Ye and listing agent Jason Oppenheim be willing to offer it at such a steep discount? Well, because the property is still largely unfinished after Ye committed to gutting the property just a few years ago. Indeed, “all interior finishes have been removed from the property, and work is needed to either restore or reimagine the interiors,” according to the Oppenheim Group listing.

“It will take several million dollars for the house to be finished,” Selling Sunset star and listing agent Jason Oppenheim of the Oppenheim Group told The Wall Street Journal. The gutted estate, which the 46-year-old rapper bought for a whopping $57 million in 2021, doesn’t have much curbside appeal for any buyer right now because it’s a concrete shell of a structure. He originally put the property on the market for $53 million in January, willing to take that $4 million hit, but no one was biting at that price. Now, according to TMZ which has the before-and-after photos, West has drastically dropped the price by $14 million — his home could be yours for only $39 million, but it doesn’t have any walls or decor… or anything. But it remains unclear if West ever spent a night at the oceanfront home, which sits cheek-to-jowl between two other houses on surfer-friendly Malibu Road.

The Malibu Beach area of Los Angeles is one of the most expensive real estate areas in the state of California. However, Kanye West is finding it difficult to offload his oceanside mansion for a very understandable reason — it’s currently uninhabitable. Surprisingly, no one seems to want to buy a $53 million home that is missing windows, doors and electricity. The property hasn’t been sold despite sitting on the market for five months. He told TMZ that he wasn’t worried that the home was completely gutted because it would give the new owners a blank canvas.

By December 2023, things were so bad that Ye enlisted Jason Oppenheim, Selling Sunset's most aerodynamic salesman, to shift his Malibu mansion for a paltry $53 million, $4 million less than Ye paid for it. Now, both Ye and his 4,000 square foot Malibu home have rotted from the inside out. Kanye is being sued by the former project manager who was overseeing the remodel ... Ye originally listed the un-renovated home for $53 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. In 2023, a construction consultant on the home sued Ye over alleged dangerous working conditions and unpaid wages for the remodel. Here’s what went down with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West’s Malibu mansion.