Billionaire William Lauder demolishes a $110 million mansion. The locals are not happy.

Even in Palm Beach, the billionaire haven in Southeast Florida, 1071 North Ocean Blvd. It stands out as a monument to transgression. Covering an area of ​​more than 35,000 square feet, the mansion is designed to Property 16 bathrooms, gym, barber shop, theater and library. Last year, the property It said It was sold to an entity linked to William Lauder, the billionaire heir to the Estée Lauder makeup fortune, for $110 million. But the lavish estate does not seem to live up to his family’s standards. On Wednesday, the town approved a plan to demolish the house — which was built only six years ago — to dirt.

The decision angered some local residents. “I have a really weird feeling in my stomach about it. I think it’s a complete waste,” one prominent resident told The Daily Beast, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to irritate a super-rich neighbor. “I mean normal people don’t. It’s kind of rude. “

Another resident, third-generation Palm Beecher KT Catlin, described herself as a “pro-development and redevelopment.” But even in her mind, she said, the trend of “continually ripping apart a bigger building, I doubt it.”

Known to some locals as “The Castle,” the property was completed in 2016, and has angered members of the community from the start. a particular concern, Palm Beach Daily News As noted earlier, the sheer size and manner in which it took up a large proportion of the 2 acre plot.

The original owners, lawyers turned charter school counselors Daniel and Vahan Gorjian, narrowly secured approval to build their “dream home” in 2011, executing He said. They never actually lived, and instead put the property on the market for more than $80 million in 2015before construction is completed. The Gureghians sold it to another party in 2019 for $40.9 million.

Now that Lauder has taken ownership, there is anxious speculation within the community about whether he could build a larger behemoth on the site, as it has been said to be also owns An empty plot of land nearby.

Victoria “Cookie” Donaldson, who lives in downtown Palm Beach and describes herself as a neutral about demolition, said opinions about the project are divided: “Some think what will happen will be better, others are angry with it.”

Screenshot from Google Maps May 2015

Google Maps

When the plans were first announced, she said, critics reacted with “shock” at the profusion of a nine-figure shredder. Stepping up to greatness, he takes it to a whole new level.

A Palm Beach official told The Daily Beast that the new owners have not yet made an offer of what they want to build after demolition. Meanwhile, one of Lauder’s attorneys for Lauder declined to comment.

Even before the recent controversy, tensions in Palm Beach had raged for months: between wealthy snowbirds and year-round locals, and between property owners (whose identities often cloaked behind corporate entities) and the most humble homeowners.

Newly built homes are built higher than many existing properties due to federal regulations. As a result, during severe storms, water from modern mansions pours directly onto the lands of neighbors, according to many residents.

According to Catlin, construction trucks have also frequently damaged cars and property, crews have been known to work earlier or later than regulations allow, and sneak in on weekends.

Moreover, there are concerns that the Loader project could exacerbate traffic problems, which could already stretch for miles. “There are only two ways,” Donaldson said. During Donald Trump’s presidency — when visits to his Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago disrupted traffic — three homes were under construction nearby. “I couldn’t get out of my way for four years,” she said.

Adding to the frustration: the soon-to-be-demolished house has been at least partially under construction for years. “They kept restoring and refurbishing it,” Catlin said. Now, with the rebuilding, some people are upset that they have “X more years to look at and deal with this”.

Donaldson remembered growing up in Palm Beach decades ago, when the biggest homes were “big, but God, I mean, nothing like what we’re looking at now. And nothing was demolished to make room for just another huge, massive house.”

Perhaps the clearest example of this change is underway six miles south, where billionaire Ken Griffin is building his own version of Versailles: a multi-lot estate stretching across 1,400 feet of coastline. This project has also exacerbated the condition of community members, some of whom are billionaires themselves.

Several residents said that despite the recent escalation, the Lauder family has a positive reputation in the community. New York City-based William Lauder, according to his LinkedIn page, is chairman of the family cosmetics company. Forbes He reported that he also owned real estate in Aspen and Westchester, New York; The outlet pegs his net worth at $3.1 billion.

Earlier this year, Lauder made news when he was It said He settled with a former “mistress” sue him In 2018, he allegedly reneged on an agreement to pay for her $7 million Los Angeles mansion. According to 2010 Forbes a storyThe couple had a child together in 2007, while Lauder was married and working as CEO of Estée Lauder. They struck a private deal in which the woman agreed to “move to California, refrain from any contact with the Lauder family and hide the father’s identity – even from the child.” (After being sued in 2018, Lauder It said He filed his own lawsuit declaring that the woman had violated the deal “several times”).

It seems that tabloid intrigue is not a factor in the Palm Beach controversy. One resident said the frustration over demolition had less to do with this property alone than with the class of wealth sweeping the island and irreparably changing its character. “It’s a symptom of a much bigger problem,” said the person, invoking the adjectives–“flashy” and “gosh”–that one might apply to a sequined maxi dress. “I think we’re losing our town.”

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