What Did Kanye West Just Buy in Malibu? Did He Get a Deal?
Although Kanye West has split with his wife, the reality star Kim Kardashian, he didn’t stray far with his latest real estate purchase.
The rapper and fashion designer reportedly just splashed out $57.3 million for an oceanfront concrete compound in Malibu, according to Dirt.
While the price tag for the minimalist mansion was hefty, West’s deal represents a drop in price for the property. Designed by the renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, it first came on the market for the high-flying amount of $75 million last summer.
When it was listed, it was one of the most expensive homes to have come publicly on the market in the upscale beach town, according to the Real Deal.
It helps that this design fits right in with the monastic West aesthetic, with its clean lines hewn from concrete, steel, and glass. It’s also relatively close to the West-Kardashian Hidden Hills compound, located some 30 minutes inland.
The Malibu abode also corresponds with West’s penchant for architecturally pedigreed pads. He reportedly tapped another “cult” architect, Valerio Olgiati, known for his use of concrete, for a proposed artists’ colony at his Wyoming ranch, as well as an apartment in L.A., according to a story in the New York Times.
Ando, who is based in Osaka, is a 1995 recipient of the Pritzker Prize—an award that’s been called “architecture’s highest honor.” The 80-year-old designer “is highly regarded for his unparalleled work with concrete, sensitive treatment of natural light, and strong engagement with nature,” according to an assessment by Arch Daily.
Ando explained the goal of his work this way: “I am always trying to establish spaces where people can gather and interact with one another.”
So, what appealed to West about the beach house? Will he want to people to gather along the Pacific Ocean?
Malibu marvel
Here’s what we know about the property. The bare lot was purchased in 2003 for $1.9 million, and the build was commissioned by its owner, Richard Sachs in 2013. It’s only one of a handful of private homes in the U.S. that the architect designed, the Wall Street Journal noted when it came on the market last year.
Sachs likened the Ando residence to a “Picasso Cubist painting, very important and very rare.”
Consisting of 1,200 tons of concrete, the building also required 200 tons of steel, and 12 pylons that were embedded 60 feet into the sand, according to the WSJ. The U.S.-based architecture firm Marmol Radziner worked with Ando on the structure.
As for the floor plan, the 4,000-square-foot residence offers four bedrooms and five bathrooms spread over three stories.
Glass doors pivot open to balconies, and a private staircase leads down to the beach.
Kanye West’s Malibu home(Realtor.com)
Find or folly?
Do the pedigree and the locale add up to a $57 million sale? At the very least, it shows the ultraluxury market in Malibu marches on.
“I believe this sale shows that the appetite for the ultra-high end market is still very strong in Malibu,” says Jack Turturici Jr. from Douglas Elliman.
He added, “I am certain that Kanye and his reps saw everything that was on the market and then turned to off-market deals in hopes of finding the right home. While there are many older beach homes for sale, when a newer construction with significant architects attached to it hits the market—in this case Ando and Radziner—buyers will pay a premium for the property.”
But the placement of the property and the high price gives another agent pause.
Madison Hildebrand of The Malibu Life Team at Compass notes that the news of the sale “has been quite the topic the last 24 hours in our community.”
As he told us, “We are all floored by the purchase price and the fact that he bought this location, which really has no privacy from the street or from the beach. And for 60 feet of frontage, this is a very hefty sale price, not exactly a ‘deal’ by any stretch.”
Yeezy may be many things, but price-sensitive probably isn’t one of them.
However, to snag essentially a rare architectural marvel by a beloved architect—and on the beach, no less—must have been winning factors for West. And if it’s not quite private enough, perhaps he’ll just add some more concrete to shore up this one-of-a-kind residence.
