“Starship Enterprise” Site in Bel Air Lists for $18M

A new chapter has opened at the site of a former project by spec house developer Mohamed Hadid.

The now-vacant lot at 901 Strada Vecchia Road, the address of 1.2 acres of land in Bel Air, is on the market for $18 million, according to listing sites.

When Hadid planned to build a megamansion on the hillside parcel a few years ago, some detractors gave it the disparaging nickname “Starship Enterprise.” The curved edges of the half-built house looked like a spaceship to some.

A 2018 lawsuit filed in L.A. Superior Court by the site’s neighbors, Judith and John Bedrosian, and Joseph and Beatriz Horacek, claimed that the construction site for the planned 30,000-square-foot home was much bigger than city rules allowed. News reports said the plaintiffs feared the construction site for the megamansion had made the hillside unsteady, and it would come crashing down on their homes. The lawsuit demanded that Hadid restore the hillside between his land and the plaintiff’s properties.

There was a criminal misdemeanor complaint following the lawsuit. The court found that plans for 901 Strada Vecchia were never submitted or approved by the City of Los Angeles. The city’s Building & Safety Department also issued a stop-work order to Hadid. The court said he ignored it.

He was later ordered to probation and to perform 200 hours of community service. Hadid told The Real Deal that he pleaded no contest to the order to spare people he was working with the burden of a long trial. TRD called 901 Strada Vecchia Hadid’s “doomed masterpiece.”

The court also found the building’s columns and piles could not support the megamansion “The court finds that 901 Strada Vecchia is a public nuisance and a danger to the public,” the June 2020 order appointing a receiver said.

The receiver was appointed to raze the project. The half-completed steel-and-glass structure was demolished in 2020, leaving only its foundation. In December 2021, the land was sold for $5 million. It is currently owned by a group called Re Della Strada. It is listed by agents Jonathan Nash and Stephen Resnick of Carolwood Estates.

The agents’ description in the listing says that the land has stabilized. It also states that the property offers seclusion a short distance away from downtown Beverly Hills.

While Bel Air addresses have long been popular for developers and celebrities, the timing for 901 Strada Vecchia is not ideal. A wildlife protection measure limiting the size of homes built on hillsides is making its way through L.A. City Hall, and it has put a chill in development for hillside areas near the 405 and 101 freeways, said Adrian Rudomin of The Kraken, which develops homes in the area.

“There may be a bit of a wait until developers figure out what can be built to make the numbers work,” Rudomin said. “Things probably will return to more activity once a new normal is established as the properties permitted before the new codes and laws apply have mostly been absorbed by the market.”