Ye first purchased a beautiful oceanfront Malibu mansion back in 2021 for about 57 million dollars. Then, in 2022, he decided to bring in a team to completely remodel the property — which transformed the once dream area into a renovation nightmare. As the rapper had numerous controversial moments, the home was left to literally rot.
After months of trying to find buyers and navigate safety hazard-filled tours, it was finally sold for only 21 million dollars by “real estate crowdsourcing firm” Belmont Investments. Led by Steve “Bo” Belmont, they are sharing their big plans for not only Ye’s house but other estates they hope to own as well.
How are they restoring Ye’s mansion?
Belmont’s vision for the property is to restore the original work of its architect, Tadao Ando. Before Ye’s remodeling, Ando’s involvement in the design was a huge selling point. He’s known for “minimalist structures and his assured use of reinforced concrete,” which could be seen in the original structure’s 200 tons of steel reinforcement and 1,200 tons of concrete.
The four-bedroom and five-bath house was completely stripped of all of its luxury finishes, which made it unique in the first place. When Ye was done with it, he had “left it as little more than a bare concrete structure, with the floor-to-ceiling windows ripped out, rooms completely gutted, and even plumbing and electricity removed.”
Belmont shared the rapper’s alleged renovation ideas in an Instagram Reels post on November 21. The plans included turning a mechanical room into a bunker, exchanging stairs for a slide, and creating a trampoline room.
However, the real estate innovator plans to focus on the views and foundation that made the area so special in the first place.
The mechanical room will not be turned into a bunker, the original finished stairs Ando designed will be restored (seen on the left), and the trampoline room will be turned back into the primary bedroom.
How (and why) did they secure the bag?
From flipping houses after the 2008 market crash to serving three years in jail for hitting a man with a pitchfork (not kidding), Belmont seems to be in his comeback era. Ye’s mansion is the biggest purchase for Belmont Investments so far. From their POV, the project should take a maximum of a little over a year with costs between six to eight million dollars.
Even though the property still looks like it survived the apocalypse, he believes the house is “built stronger than anything I’ve ever seen. We basically just have to put it back together again … The plan is to pour millions into renovations to restore the property and then flip it for a profit” with hopes for a 100 percent return.
His relationship with his investors is interesting, to say the least. Belmont secured the bag to buy Ye’s mansion using an app to pool investors. The homes are revitalized and resold, and the profit is divided between investors and Belmont.
Regarding the Malibu property, 500 investors hopped on board to loan anything from one thousand to one million dollars. The individual investors now have the role of private lenders on a property.
In exchange, “those individuals are trustees until the real estate is sold.” They also get a say when it comes to decisions about the premises. As of right now, they can leave comments about the project through the app, but an incoming update will allow them to voice their opinions when it comes to aesthetic choices like the paint used.
They’re eyeing Diddy’s place as their next investment
Belmont is now looking to expand his portfolio of controversial properties by putting up a $30 million dollar offer on Diddy’s mansion. The mansion (currently listed for $61 million dollars) was raided in March, and stories of what went down inside have kept buyers at bay.
Complete with ten bedrooms and thirteen baths, Belmont shared that “It’s got a stigma attached to it … I have to go in and erase it. I have to completely change the Diddy vibe. We’ve come in with sage.”
The property is huge and well-maintained, but the real estate innovator found it underwhelming. They are open to negotiating with Diddy’s listing agent, Kurt Rappaport, even though they disagree on the current price for the premises.
“He put that number too high. It’s not going to achieve that pricing … I don’t know the reasoning behind $61.5 million, but my $30 million price point is fair … Diddy is in a predicament where he may not need the money now, but he will: $30 million is better than no million,” he said.
