Bird Marella attorneys Gary Lincenberg, Ariel Neuman, Shoshana Bannett, and Jimmy Threatt obtained a victory in the California Court of Appeal, which clears the way for demolition of real estate developer Mohamed Hadid’s Bel Air mansion. On March 4, 2021, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order appointing a receiver and ordering the demolition of the structure at 901 Strada Vecchia. The trial court’s order was based on its finding that the mansion was a public nuisance and a danger to the community.
The Bird Marella team secured the demolition order on behalf of certain of Hadid’s downslope neighbors after the City of Los Angeles failed to enforce its own orders that Hadid demolish the illegal portions of the structure, and after Hadid was released from criminal probation despite the structure still standing. During the litigation, Bird Marella helped to uncover building code violations that Hadid and his team had concealed from the city, which demonstrated that the structure was built without an adequate foundation despite being on a steep hill that Hadid destabilized with illegal grading operations.
