Brazen New York property tycoon Harry Macklowe is in trouble with planners again - this time over his $38 million Hamptons home with neighbours including Stephen Spielberg.
The famous property developer has listed his mansion for $38 million (£29,976,300) but the only problem is nobody is allowed to live there. The sprawling property is legally uninhabitable because it lacks a certificate of occupancy, meaning any new owners won’t be allowed to move in.
East Hampton Village officials say they took action after Macklowe illegally cleared land on the property and built additions without permits. He endangered the wetlands and garnered fines for more than 21 violations that have gone unpaid for five years, officials said.
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The under-the-radar renovations on his luxury home echo his decision in 1985 to hire a mob-run company to blow up four buildings in Manhattan in the middle of the night without any permits from the city. The West 44th Street buildings were destroyed hours before the city began enforcing a new ban on razing single room occupancy buildings.
The demolition works put people’s lives in danger, officials said at the time. Although he was slapped with a $2 million fine, Macklowe escaped criminal charges because the city was unable to prove he had “criminal intent” Manhattan’s District Attorney said at the time.
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“It’s insane. He ripped out decks and did whatever he wanted. He illegally cleared land and built without permits — just like he did on West 44th Street,” an inside source said of Macklowe’s Hamptons project.
“The house is also highly leveraged to the hilt,” the source added. “There is no justification for asking $38 million. The house comes with legal complications and it’s not even on the pond.” The insider estimated: “It’s worth no more than $12 to $15 million.”
The four-bedroom home comes with a pool and is built 2.7 acres at 64 West End Avenue in East Hampton. Macklowe paid $10.35 million (£8.3M) for the home in 2017 and went on to clear land and build too close to the wetlands.
Macklowe and his lawyers asked The East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals to retroactively approve the work in 2019. His lawyer at the time Richard Whalen, told the zoning board: “The great majority of the improvements that we’re coming to you for approval for have already been done. They were built without the benefit of a building permit, or variances or a wetland permit from this board.”
The East Hampton Star reported that the work was done within 150 feet of wetlands in violation of the code. “More than 21 charges have been filed several times since 2019, and there is a stop work order issued from Feb. 11, 2019, but they were done at that point. They had gotten what they wanted,” said East Hampton Village building inspector Thomas Preiato.
Mr Preiato also confirmed to the New York Post that Macklowe “can sell the house, but no one can occupy it.” He added: “He had a certificate of occupancy for the home back in 2017. But it is no longer valid because of all the fines he hasn’t paid.”
MirrorOnline has reached out to Harry Macklowe via his organisation Macklowe Properties to ask for a comment.