In Malibu, the higher crust Pacific Ocean enclave close to Los Angeles, James Kohlberg, son of the late KKR & Co. co-founder Jerome Kohlberg, has accused one other enterprise titan of stealing sand.
He’s alleging in a lawsuit {that a} neighbor on Broad Seashore Street, Milwaukee Brewers principal proprietor Mark Attanasio, is utilizing heavy equipment to assist himself to massive scoops of the general public seaside as a part of a building undertaking.
“This case is about a private property owner using a public beach as their own personal sandbox and the disturbing conversion of a public natural resource (i.e., sand from Broad Beach) for a nearby homeowner’s personal, private use,” attorneys for Kohlberg wrote within the grievance filed final week within the Beverly Hills department of Los Angeles state courtroom.
Attanasio will “aggressively defend” his rights on this authorized course of, his legal professional, Kenneth Ehrlich, mentioned in an emailed assertion. Attanasio’s firm has complied with necessities in a building undertaking allow, the lawyer mentioned.
The Broad Seashore spat began after Attanasio obtained a allow to do restore work on the seawall at one among his parcels. Situations within the allow barred the usage of heavy equipment within the tidal zone and removing of sand from the general public seaside, in accordance with the grievance.
Attanasio’s crew used “enormous excavators” to dredge up the sand, disturbing native marine life and draining a seaside with “historic concerns of sand depletion” of much more sand, Kohlberg’s attorneys wrote.
Costly Houses
Malibu, a 21-mile stretch of beachfront, is a getaway for celebrities, tech, and finance billionaires with the most costly properties ever bought in California.
California has had its share of high-powered individuals concerned in coastal quarrels. To the north, enterprise capital billionaire Vinod Khosla has waged a 15-year struggle to dam public entry by way of his non-public property to a preferred browsing spot close to San Francisco. To the south, “Bond King” Invoice Gross three years in the past misplaced his bid to fend off felony costs after he tormented his Laguna Seashore neighbors by blasting the Gilligan’s Island theme music on out of doors audio system.
Kohlberg claims he contacted California regulators to no avail. The California Coastal Fee launched an investigation however hasn’t taken motion to cease the sand-stealing, in accordance with the grievance.
California Coastal Act
The lawsuit cites violations of the California Coastal Act and nuisance claims. Kohlberg is searching for a courtroom order requiring Attanasio to switch the sand and stopping him from taking extra of it, in addition to financial fines.
The lawyer for Attanasio mentioned his restricted legal responsibility firm, 2XMD, the authorized proprietor of the Broad Seashore Street property, “is in the midst of a fully-permitted emergency repair of the property to protect it from ocean forces.”
“It has secured all permits necessary for the repairs from the City of Malibu and LA County as well as thoroughly vetted all contractors and sub-contractors involved in the project,” Ehrlich mentioned in his assertion. “It has acted in 100% compliance with all of its permits.”
Kohlberg purchased his beachfront dwelling in 2021 for $14.2 million, in accordance with property information. Attanasio paid $23 million in 2007 for one a part of his property and $6.6 million for an adjoining lot in 2017.
Attanasio is co-founder of Los Angeles-based Crescent Capital Group, an alternate asset supervisor with $43 billion below administration as of March 31.
Kohlberg is chairman of Kohlberg & Co., a personal fairness agency based by his father, who was a pioneer of leveraged buyouts at KKR. Final month, Kohlberg pledged $30 million to finance a middle to advocate for reform of the Supreme Court docket, the Washington Submit reported.
The case is Los Trancos Administration Companies LLC v. 2XMD Companions LLC, 24SMCV03828, California Superior Court docket, Los Angeles County (Beverly Hills).
