The billionaire hedge fund manager building Chicago’s most expensive home has been accused of waging a legal war against neighbors in an attempt to deny them access to the public beach behind it.
Phoenix Suns owner Justin Ishbia demolished three separate homes on the shores of Lake Michigan to realize his dream of a 68,000-square-foot mansion in the upmarket neighborhood of Winnetka.
Local doctor Ted Wynnychenko has been cited for trespassing after pushing through a fence erected by Ishbia’s construction crew on the beach.
And police have warned the public to “keep their feet wet” if walking on the beach to avoid a similar charge.
“I think they are doing this because they want to make it clear that this will be a private beach,” Wynnychenko said. Chicago Tribune‘They’re trying to make people afraid of getting into trouble.’
Billionaire Justin Ishbia with his wife Kristen tearfully addressed Winnetka Village Council trustees in December 2022 as they voted on whether to allow the project to move forward.
Neighbors claim the couple is now using scare tactics in an attempt to make the beach behind the $44 million development private.
Ishbia, 47, who co-owns the NBA team with his brother Mat, has been waging a four-year battle to build the $44 million home on 3.7 acres south of the city’s botanical garden.
The Winnetka Village Council took steps to protect coastal bluffs after the billionaire leveled his land to make room for his sprawling development.
He obtained part of the land through a land swap deal with one of the local authorities.
And his wife Kristen Ishbia tearfully addressed trustees in December 2022 as they voted on a complicated land-swap deal that allowed the three neighboring sites to be developed as one.
“When we first purchased property here in Winnetka in the summer of 2020, we thought we could send our son to kindergarten here,” she told them.
‘Unfortunately, as time goes by, we are unable to build our house.
“Our children are missing out on the opportunity to attend school here, play in our yard and make friends in the neighborhood. They are missing out on the chance to live our dream of a quiet, authentic life in the suburbs.”
The Tribune reported that residents who had become lost on the beach said they had been intercepted by the Winnetka Police Department.
Police told Wynnychenko that security cameras recorded him walking along the disputed beach for about an hour on June 9.
Justin Ishbia (left) and his brother Mat (right) are co-owners of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.
The town council took steps to protect the coastal cliffs after the billionaire leveled them on his land to make room for his sprawling development.
Since 2020, the $2.7 billion private equity mogul has acquired four parcels of coastal land, three of which he combined to build his dream home with 68,000 square feet of living space and indoor and outdoor pools.
Ishbia has increased the size of the beach with hundreds of tons of sand fill, but Wynnychenko says police could not specify at what point it was on private land.
“I’m walking from one state land to another,” he said. “I’m just clearing out a nuisance that’s illegal.”
And he demanded to know why artificial expansions of public land should be privately owned.
Locals on the app Nextdoor have mocked the billionaire for the building plan, with one referring to it as “a cathedral erected to worship greed, narcissism and a general disregard for nature.”
“This house will become the ‘Michael Jordan house’ of Winnetka in 30 years and can never be resold,” wrote another.
Ishbia defended his project last year, insisting that his construction team, comprised of “some of the best architects and the best builders,” has worked diligently to “follow all the laws.”
“Some people don’t have all the information,” he added, but “everything we’re doing is fully permitted.”
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources told Wynnychenko in an email that the public’s right of access to the beach remains, but that Ishbia has permission to fence it while construction of his mansion takes place.
“The Department’s permitting process exists to ensure that a grantee’s permitted activity on public waters, such as Lake Michigan, does not unduly interfere with the public’s reasonable access to and use of the water,” General Counsel Renee Snow wrote.
A view of idyllic Lake Michigan, where Ishbia is building his $44 million mega-mansion
‘The flip side of this rule is that the public cannot unduly interfere with a beneficiary’s reasonable access to and use of water.’
An Ishbia spokesman said Wynnychenko was denounced for breaking a fence at an active construction site.
Police arrived at his home with a summons 11 days later, and Wynychenko faces a $750 fine when he appears in Skopje court on July 22.
“They are trying to take state land for private purposes,” he said. “They are trying to keep people away.”