Saudi Prince’s Mansion Development Leads To Lawsuit

Saudi prince Abdul Aziz, the third son of Saudi King Abdullah and the Gulf Arab kingdom’s deputy foreign minister has filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles to hasten the construction of his sprawling mansion in Beverly Hills.

According to the lawsuit neighbors who oppose the construction have pressured the city into requiring an environmental impact study, a requirement the Prince’s company Tower Lane Properties has called unnecessary.

The lawsuit reads:

“Petitioner carefully designed the project to minimize impacts on the environment and the surrounding area” and “requires no discretionary approvals.”

Prince Aziz had purchased the land in 2009 and immediately applied for the necessary permits to build three homes on the five-acre property. Since that time city officials have failed to issue the building permits, leaving the prince with a vacant property.

An opposition group formed the Save Benedict Canyon Campaign, claiming that the 85,000 square foot compound would be an eye sore on the rest of the community. Following that uproard the prince in 2010 scaled the project back to 60,000 square feet but was met with the same tension.

According to the Save Benedict Canyon campaign the large project would be “like building a Walmart in our neighborhood,” while the large number of construction vehicles needed for such a massive project would overcrowd local streets.

In defense of the project lawyer Benjamin Reznik points to 52,000 square foot homes in the area that have been build without any additional review.

The princes legal team in the meantime expected a hearing in the next several months.

We’re most interested to know what neighbors Bruce Springsteen and David and Victoria Beckham think of the massive project.