Exclusive | Hong Kong millionaires fire-ravaged $30M Malibu property heads to auction with a $13M reserve

Shanghai-born Hong Kong multimillionaire Hiroshi Horiike is auctioning off the 5.35-acre coastal property where his notorious Malibu mansion stood before it burned down in the 2018 Woolsey Fire.Once asking $29.8 million, the Malibu Park property at 30601 Morning View Drive, overlooking the ocean, Zuma Beach, Broad Beach and Catalina Island, will be auctioned with a reserve bid of $12.99 million.Horiike paid $12.25 million for the Malibu beach mansion in 2007.The sealed-bid auction will be conducted by Paramount Realty USA in collaboration with listing broker Shamon Shamonki of Sotheby’s International Realty.

Bids are due Dec.3.Horiike — born Peng Hong Ling and also known as Genlin — splits his time between “his estate in Hong Kong, his home in Tokyo and his home in Shanghai.

He also owns a beautiful historic property just outside of Paris, where he spends some time as well,” Shamonki told Gimme Shelter.In 2012, Horiike sued the brokerage company, Coldwell Banker, and its top broker, Chris Cortazzo, for misrepresenting the mansion’s size during a previous sale attempt.Although advertised as 15,000 square feet by Coldwell Banker at the time, the mansion was actually less than 10,000 square feet.Horiike sued, asking for $5 million in damages, and the case was ultimately heard by the California Supreme Court.

The brokerage won the jury trial but lost on appeal, when the court ruled that dual agents have a fiduciary duty to the buyer and seller.On retrial, a second jury again sided with Coldwell Banker and Cortazzo in April 2018.Real estate appraisers often get creative interpreting livable square feet.

In this case, a barbecue area and the garage were included, according to an architect’s deposition in the case.A home’s size has an impact on its sales price and its property taxes.Size matters.

Especially to Horiike, who grew up in a 300-square-foot home in China.He later moved to Japan and then founded a conglomerate in Hong Kong, according to a 20...