Foreign Property News | Posted by Aye Myat Thu
Harry Macklowe, one of New York City’s most brazen developers, has listed his Hamptons home facing exclusive Georgica Pond — with neighbors like Steven Spielberg — for $38 million.
There’s just one catch. It’s uninhabitable.
(Developer Harry Macklowe has listed his uninhabitable home for $38 million.Doug Kuntz)
That’s because the mansion lacks a certificate of occupancy, and the new owners won’t be legally allowed to move in.
Macklowe illegally cleared land on the property and built additions without permits, endangering the wetlands and garnering fines for more than 21 violations that haven’t been paid for five years, East Hampton Village officials say.
The off-the-books renovations on his Hamptons home echo his 1985 move to hire a mob-run company to blow up four buildings on West 44th Street in the middle of the night without city permits, hours before the city started to enforce a ban on razing single room occupancy buildings.
The demolition put people’s lives in danger, officials said at the time.
Macklowe paid a $2 million fine, but escaped indictment because “criminal intent” could not be proven, the Manhattan District Attorney said at the time.
“It’s insane.He illegally cleared land and built without permits — just like he did on West 44th Street,” an inside source said.
(The construction of the Hamptons house reminds many of Macklowe’s unlawful demolition of buildings on W 44th street in New York.Doug Kuntz)
The insider estimated: “It’s worth no more than $12 to $15 million.”
The East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals declined to retroactively approve Macklowe’s illegal acts, and so Macklowe sued them. The case is ongoing.
(The house can be sold, but because there is no certificate for occupancy, no one can move in.Doug Kuntz)
(The land was cleared and the house was built without any permits.Steven Hirsch)
(The house violates zoning codes as it was built too close to the wetlands.Doug Kuntz)
Ref: Hamptons mansion selling for $38 million has one big catch: You can’t live in it (nypost)
Photo Credit: Steven Hirsch, Doug Kuntz
