Written by Isabel Stanley, Dailymail.Com
February 19, 2024 06:19, updated February 19, 2024 06:32
- Patrice Pastor founded the Carmel branch of her real estate company in 2015.
- Since then, he has purchased, renovated and rebuilt several homes and businesses in town.
- The pastor is a billionaire and a known rival of Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Monaco real estate billionaire Patrice Pastor has purchased another historic property in Carmel, leaving local residents “terrified” about the California town's future.
The pastor is known for his feud with Prince Albert II of Monaco, and for the two's public falling out in recent years.
Since 2015, the pastor has been buying up homes and businesses through his company, Esperanza Carmel, including a $22 million Frank Lloyd Wright home in the small town.
He currently owns more than a dozen properties, according to SFGATE, and an anonymous third-generation Carmel resident said, “People are scared,” adding, “It's just one person doing what they want to do. “We will be handing over our city to them,” he said.
The town of just 4,000 people was named a “destination of the moment” by Vogue magazine and is a favorite of celebrities, including Brad Pitt, who bought a $40 million home in the town in 2022. I am.
The pastor's most recent purchase was a $7.5 million historic Las Ramblas building consisting of two apartments and two commercial spaces.
The white villa-style accommodation has a large, sunny courtyard with a water feature.
In 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that the pastor purchased famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright's only remaining oceanfront mansion for $22 million.
The Carmel site was designed to look like a boat cutting through the water.
Lloyd Wright originally designed this house, also known as “The Cabin on the Rock,” for artist Della Walker around 1950.
The pastor also currently has three construction projects in the area, according to the real estate company's website.
His largest project is the Ulrika Plaza new construction development, which will be 42,000 square feet (3,900 square meters) of mixed-use retail and residential space.
The site also lists the JB Pastor project, which will be a 30,000 square foot (2,800 square meter) mixed-use retail and residential project.
He is also renovating the Rocky Point project. The site says, “Originally built in 1951 and located on Highway 1 between Carmel and Big Sur, Rocky Point enjoys one of the world's best views.” I am.
It also owns notable buildings such as the L'Auberge Carmel Hotel, the Brown Spaulding Building, and the Eastwood Building.
“People are scared,” a concerned business owner told SFGATE.
They added, “What happens when he spends so much money on buildings, property taxes go up, rent goes up, and the only people who can afford it are chain stores?”
“What will happen to our mom-and-pop stores?” What will happen to our local atmosphere?
They say this small town is now divided between people who are too afraid to speak up because they are financially tied to the pastor, people who don't speak up because they want to be financially tied to the pastor, and people who are not speaking out because they want to be financially tied to the pastor. It is said to be divided into four camps. And finally, the new residents, who are “happily unaware.”
But not everyone is afraid of the pastor's involvement in the town.
Real estate agent Tim Allen told SFGATE: But the reality is that he owns very little compared to some of the families who have been here for a while.
“We need an influx. If he's fixing something in a big or small area, it's not about who's right or who's wrong, it's about how if people work together, they can move everything in the right direction. It shows that we can move forward.”
She added: “I know Patrice, he's like family, he loves Carmel, he loves it.” And what he's doing is good for our community. ”
Similarly, the local preservation society has expressed support for the pastor's plan.
“We are the luckiest people in the world to have him,” Khalil Hall, who helped found the Carmel Preservation Society, told the Carmel Pine Cone newspaper.
“He cares about Carmel and makes sure that Carmel maintains its character. He has the money to go into Carmel and do things that no one else can do. ”
The pastor is notorious for his feud with the Prince of Monaco, which has been intensifying since 2021.
In 2021, an email from Grand Duke Albert II's media adviser to one of the Grand Duke's close friends was shared on the anonymous website LesDossiersDuRocher.com, exposing incriminating evidence about the Monaco royal family.
The email read, “That Octopus Pastor is everywhere!” He is obsessed with Monaco. He's gone crazy, he has no limits! ”
Le Monde newspaper said at the time: “The alleged octopus appears to be Patrice Pastor, a 49-year-old billionaire who has spent decades building and renting out buildings and apartments with a small fortune. ” reported.
“Proud and unpretentious, he is an unmistakable figure in Monaco. “I'm not a nice person,'' he said. “I am free, independent, and have money. So… everything that is written in the 'Rocher Documents' is true and everyone knows it! The truth is that I That’s what’s frustrating them.”
Meanwhile, Air Mail reported last year that “Patrice Pastor is said to be the only person in Monaco with more influence than the ruler.”
He added: “He is a shrewd, outspoken developer with statement glasses and leonine hair who has long controlled much of Monaco's real estate market and, by extension, Monaco itself.”
Rivals describe him in the article as competitive, saying he wants to “win the contract, not the money… but beat everyone.”
DailyMail.com has reached out to Esperanza Carmel for comment.
