Former property owner confirms Saudi prince purchased Benedict Canyon site

Hair-dresser turned movie producer Jon Peters confirmed that he sold 5.2 acres of land in Benedict Canyon to a Saudi prince who now plans to construct an 85,000-square-foot compound on the site.

Prince Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud, a son of Saudi King Abdullah,  purchased three adjacent parcels in 2009, Peters said. Property records list the sale price at $12 million.

The Times reported Tuesday that the proposal had stirred heated opposition among neighbors, who include Bruce Springsteen and Michael Ovitz. Project opponents say they have gathered the support of about 500 residents, who contend the project would harm the canyon's environment. They have urged the city to require a full environmental review of the project, and the matter is slated to be discussed at a Los Angeles Planning Commission meeting April 14.

Prince Abdulaziz has gone to great lengths to shield his identity, creating a special corporation for the project and requiring all project representatives and contractors to sign agreements saying they will not disclose his identity.  One project representative described the owner as a single man with three children whose family would use the property only occasionally. Prince Abdulaziz is divorced and has two sons and a daughter. He owns additional residences in Riyadh and Jedda in Saudi Arabia and Paris.

Jarrett Hedborg, a Los Angeles interior designer, said he worked on those three residences as well as one in Beverly Park. He said he was also consulted by Prince Abdulaziz on the Benedict Canyon project on private Tower Lane.

"I warned the prince that he was surrounded by very powerful neighbors and that he should be extremely careful in what he proposes to build," Hedborg said.

"Working for the prince for 20 years, I knew his taste," Hedborg added. "He had expressed to me that he wanted a house that evoked old classic California Spanish architecture."

The proposal calls for a 42,681-square-foot main house, a double-winged "son's villa" of more than 27,000 square feet, a 4,400-square-foot guest house, a 5,300-square-foot staff quarters and a 2,700-square-foot gatehouse. Renderings provided by architect Richard Landry show a palatial main house and son's villa that would be a hybrid of Mediterranean and Spanish Colonial Revival styles.

ALSO:

Human remains found in Malibu ravine

Neighbors heard screaming at home where mentally disabled man was tortured

--Martha Groves

Photo: Architect's rendering of main house of Tower Lane project. Credit: Landry Design Group

Comments

[la joe]

Can't wait for the Saudi "Royals" to get overthrown. Camelshaggers!!

[LARez]

Everyone should stop complaining...its alright to complete remodeling and upgrading to your compound...but when it is a bigger project than yours you don't want it due to the noise and inconvenience of the build. STOP COMPLAINING! OTHERS HAD TO SUFFER THROUGH YOUR DEVELOPMENT!

[LARez]

Everyone should stop complaining...its alright to complete remodeling and upgrading to your compound...but when it is a bigger project than yours you don't want it due to the noise and inconvenience of the build. STOP COMPLAINING! OTHERS HAD TO SUFFER THROUGH YOUR DEVELOPMENT!

[Geoff]

wait. so he bought the land and can't build his dream house on his own property ? does not sound like he's putting a mini mall with a starbucks, it's his house. rather large but looks classic. it's his right. in the land of freedom. it is freedom right ? maybe I need more facts of why this is wrong.

[dee gee]

all the hummer driving white people are just JEALOUS that this non-white dude's house is gonna be BIGGER and FANCIER than theirs.

[Jenna]

How about you all shut the hell up and stop spewing racist, uneducated little comments :) You all didn't even know Saudi Arabia existed until 9/11, it's a blessing if any of you know anything that goes on outside of your damn country. I don't understand why this news is important anyway?

[spokenwar]

People with money fighting over land, this is the oldest story in the book. One side with American money and fame, the other with Saudi money and American rights this will be interesting.
Lets watch and see what happends.

[hb]

"Prince Abdulaziz has gone to great lengths to shield his identity, creating a special corporation for the project and requiring all project representatives and contractors to sign agreements saying they will not disclose his identity. "

Well that didn't work, did it?

[dallasal]

Shouldn't the neighbors be glad their not getting 30 detached villa homes on 5.2 acres - if anything couldn't they be sued for exclusionary zoning? It works both ways.

[emm305]

Eleanor Ruby Moon, Wikipedia is great for things like that OR you could watch "Lawrence of Arabia" which starts on TCM in my neck of the woods in 1 minute.

[cawelfarestate]

Let him build it. CA needs the jobs. Who cares about the idiot stars.

[Miriam Slater]

I agree with the points Michelle Phillips raised in her post about how some members of the Arabian royal family conduct themselves here in the west. I have worked for Prince Abdulaziz, his wife and other members of his circle for many years. I have worked in his home and have heard through the grapevine from other workers that some people have had problems getting paid…. Mr Hedborg is well known in the design industry and his clients include Bette Midler, Jack Nicholson, Quincy Jones, Angelica Huston, Jim Carey, and Joni Mitchell to name a few. All these “decadent show people” from the west”have always paid their bills to the penny from what I hear, which is the standard way of doing business here in the west. However, from what I can tell, there seems to be a pattern of paying or not paying according to one’s impulses on the part of the Saudi royals. For example Prince Bandar (former ambassador to the US and George W. Bush’s good friend) has a son Khalid who was recently convicted in a Beverly Hills Court of not paying a local jeweler over a half of a million dollars. I suspect this is not an isolated case since not everyone has the financial or legal resources to fight a prolonged court battle against a fabulously wealthy member of Saudi royalty. When doing business in other countries, simple courtesies and good manners go a long way, and a decent amount of the ill will the Saudi prince is currently creating appears to be partially his own doing.

[Miriam Slater]

I agree with the points Michelle Phillips raised in her post (on second page) about how some members of the Arabian royal family conduct themselves here in the west. I have worked for Prince Abdulaziz, his wife and other members of his circle for many years and have heard through the grapevine from other workers that some people have had problems getting paid…. Mr Hedborg is well known in the design industry and his clients include Bette Midler, Jack Nicholson, Quincy Jones, Angelica Huston, Jim Carey, and Joni Mitchell to name a few. All these “decadent show people” from the west (whom I also have worked for) have always paid their bills to the penny, which is the standard way of doing business here in the west. However, from what I can tell, there seems to be a pattern of paying or not paying according to one’s impulses on the part of the Saudi royals. For example Prince Bandar (former ambassador to the US and George W. Bush’s good friend) has a son Khalid who was recently convicted in a Beverly Hills Court of not paying a local jeweler over a half of a million dollars When doing business in other countries, simple courtesies and good manners go a long way, and a decent amount of the ill will the Saudi prince is currently creating appears to be partially his own doing.

[Miriam Slater]

I agree with Michelle Phillip’s previous post about how some members of the Arabian royal family conduct themselves here in the west. I have worked for Prince Abdulaziz, his wife and other members of his circle for many years and have heard through the grapevine from other workers that some people have had problems getting paid…. Mr Hedborg is well known in the design industry and his clients include Bette Midler, Jack Nicholson, Quincy Jones, Angelica Huston, Jim Carey, and Joni Mitchell to name a few. All these “decadent show people” from the west (whom I also have worked for) have always paid their bills to the penny, which is the standard way of doing business here in the west. However, rumor has it that there seems to be a pattern of paying or not paying according to one’s impulses on the part of the Saudi royals. For example Prince Bandar (former ambassador to the US and George W. Bush’s good friend) has a son Khalid who was recently convicted in a Beverly Hills Court of not paying a local jeweler over a half of a million dollars When doing business in other countries, simple courtesies and good manners go a long way, and a decent amount of the ill will the Saudi prince is currently creating appears to be partially his own doing.