Nearly six months after Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, sold his mansion in Malibu, California, the property is back on the market. And it’s still gutted.
The once magnificent example of famous architect Tadao Ando’s minimalist style has been steeped in controversy for several years. Bo Belmont, the founder and CEO of Belwood Investments, a company that buys fix-and-flip properties using crowdfunding, purchased it in September.
It’s a saga that garnered media attention, and critique, that began in 2021, when rapper and producer Ye purchased the concrete house for $57.25 million. Ye gutted the home's interior, a controversial move because the house is one of just a few residences by Andao, known for his minimalist, concrete-focused projects.
In January 2024, Ye listed the property for $53 million. By April, that price had been slashed to $39 million, and in September, it finally sold for just $21 million.
Now, the property is back on the market with a heftier price tag: $39 million. It’s not yet finished, though it’s electrical has been restored, but the sellers are including permits for construction and approved design plans that Marmol Radziner, who was the architect and general contractor on the original build, drew up.
“It’s a mess,” Mauricio Umansky said in an interview. Umansky, CEO and founder of brokerage The Agency, holds the listing with Jason Oppenheim of the Oppenheim Group. Oppenheim represented Ye when the property sold in September.
“But we’re now in the middle of starting to rebuild it, putting it back together,” Umansky said. “You know, if somebody wants to buy it and customize it, it’s certainly a great time for it to be on the market.”
They're working to earn a return for investors
The plan was always to sell the property — and quickly.
Belwood Investment’s business is built around crowdfunding investor donations to flip houses, according to Chief Operating Officer Alisha Mercier. That means the company’s goal is not just to restore properties but also to get its investors a significant return on investment.
“We’re really into fractional real estate investing and we love the idea of being able to allow a multitude of people to invest in really exciting properties,” she said in an interview, noting that the original timeline for restoration was a year and a half to two years. “If we can turn their money around for them in nine to 10 months, that’s pretty amazing for them.”
In the months since purchasing the house, Belmont has shared social media updates documenting progress on the restoration.
In February, for example, a video and photos showed workers clearing debris from the house and working on its concrete structures. Belmont said in that post that he expected the restoration would take about 10 more months.
When Belwood Investments purchased the home, they estimated the restoration would cost about $8 million, David Contreras, a spokesman for the firm, said in a September interview. At that time, Contreras said they would offer the property before refurbishment was completed to see if any buyers were interested.
“If we can release it before, then it's even better,” Contreras said. “You don't do any work and the headache of going to the restoration process, because there's a lot of unique materials that are used in this property that aren't easily available. So it could become complicated, but it's something we're actually quite excited to do, if necessary.”
Mercier said the team is still committed to seeing the project through, but they “thought it was an interesting time to potentially exit if there’s a buyer out there who’s interested.”
Buyers can add their personal style
Though Belwood intended to restore the property to its original design, Mercier said the decision to list came after the team secured approval for the project’s plans and designs.
“We were like, ‘Well, shoot, maybe we should try to list it and see if we can exit at this time and make our investors whole and help them make an ROI,” she said.
The team also considered that high-net-worth-buyers might want the autonomy to imbue their own style into the renovation. Mercier said Belwood had taken care of the difficult beginnings of the restoration process — such as securing a permit and getting plans from Radzinor’s team — giving buyers the freedom to make the home what they want.
“It really allows whoever purchases the home to really be able to put their final touches on it at this stage of the process,” she said. “This is just a really cool opportunity, I would think for someone to snag it at a low price and then be able to put their spin on it.”
And for a buyer, that restoration process is not complex, according to Contreras.
“It's just mainly sort of like the surface finishes that were removed, including the flooring, all the electrical appliances, and all of the kitchen and bathroom appliances have all been removed,” he said in September. “So, the restoration isn't as difficult as it seems.”