Monaco real estate billionaire Patrice Pastor has purchased another historic property in Carmel, leaving locals “terrified” about the future of the Californian city.
Pastor is known for his feud with Prince Albert II of Monaco and for the public fights the two had in recent years.
Through his company, Esperanza Carmel, Pastor has been buying homes and businesses, including a $22 million Frank Lloyd Wright home, in the small town since 2015.
He now owns more than a dozen properties according to SFGATE, and an anonymous third-generation Carmel resident told the outlet that “people are terrified” that they are “handing our city over to a person who is doing what he wants to do.”
The city, which has just 4,000 residents, was named the “destination of the moment” by Vogue and is a favorite of celebrities such as Brad Pitt, who bought a $40 million home there in 2022.
Monaco real estate billionaire Patrice Pastor has bought more than a dozen properties in the city
Pastor Reportedly Bought Frank Lloyd Wright Home in Carmel for $22 Million
Pastor’s last purchase was the historic $7.5 million La Rambla building, comprised of two apartments and two commercial spaces.
The white villa style property has a large sunny patio with a water feature.
In 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that Pastor purchased renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s only existing waterfront home for $22 million.
The Carmel property was designed to look like a boat traversing the water.
Lloyd Wright originally designed the house, also known as “The Cabin on the Rocks,” for artist Della Walker around 1950.
Pastor is also currently carrying out three construction projects in the area, according to his real estate company’s website.
Its largest project is the new-construction Ulrika Plaza development, which will be a 42,000-square-foot (3,900-square-meter) residential, commercial and mixed-use space.
The site also lists the JB Pastor Project, which will be 30,000 square feet (2,800 square meters) of mixed-use, commercial and residential.
He is also renovating the Rocky Point Project. The site says: “Originally built in 1951, located on Highway 1 between Carmel and Big Sur, Rocky Point enjoys one of the best views in the world.”
Rocky Point is one of the development projects Pastor is working on
The Ulrika Plaza project is a 38,000-square-foot (2,600-square-meter) mixed-use, commercial and residential new construction development.
And it has notable buildings such as the L’Auberge Carmel hotel, the Brown-Spaulding building and the Eastwood building.
The concerned businessman told SFGATE that “people are terrified.”
They added: ‘What’s going to happen if he spends so much money on the building, the property tax goes up and the rents go up and the only people who can afford it are the chain stores?’
‘What is going to happen to our family stores? What is going to happen to our local feeling?
They said the small town is now divided into four camps: those who are too afraid to speak because they are financially linked to Pastor, those who do not speak because they want to be financially linked to Pastor, those who speak and finally new residents who are “blissfully unaware.” “.
But not everyone fears Pastor’s involvement in the town.
Real estate agent Tim Allen told SFGATE, “I think the focus has been on ‘Oh my God, he’s buying everything!'” But the reality is he owns very little compared to some families who have been here a while.
‘We need an influx. If you are restoring something in a large or small area, it shows that if people work together, rather than thinking someone is right or wrong, then you can move everything in the right direction.’
He added: “I know Patrice, he’s like family and he loves Carmel, he loves it.” And what she’s doing is good for our community.’
The JB Pastor project is a 30,000-square-foot (2,800-square-meter) mixed-use, commercial and residential new construction development, currently in the planning stage.
The most recent property purchased by Pastor is La Rambla, a mixed residential and commercial property.
The building has two apartments upstairs and two commercial premises downstairs.
Likewise, local conservation associations have expressed their support for Pastor’s plans.
Karyl Hall, who helped form the Carmel Preservation Association, told local newspaper Carmel Pine Cone: “We are the luckiest people in the world to have him (Pastor) here.
“He cares about Carmel and he cares about Carmel maintaining her character… He has the money to come and do what no one else can do.”
Pastor is known for his feud with the Crown Prince of Monaco, which has continued since 2021.
In 2021, an email from Prince Albert II’s press advisor to one of the Prince’s close friends was shared on an anonymous website, LesDossiersDuRocher.com, which published incriminating evidence about Monaco’s royal family.
The email said: ‘That Shepherd octopus is everywhere! He has gotten the hook from him in Monaco. He has gone crazy, he has no limits!’
Le Monde reported at the time: “This alleged “octopus” appears to be billionaire Patrice Pastor, a 49-year-old man who for decades built and rented buildings and apartments for small fortunes.
‘Proud and without frills, he is an unmistakable character in Monaco. “I’m not a good guy,” he said. “I’m free, independent and I have money, so… Everything in the ‘Dossiers du Rocher’ is true and everyone knows it! The truth is that I irritate them.”
Meanwhile, AirMail reported last year: “Patrice Pastor has been described as the only man in Monaco more influential than its ruler.”
He added: “He is a shrewd and outspoken developer, with flashy glasses and leonine hair, who has long controlled Monaco’s real estate market and therefore, in essence, most of Monaco itself.”
His rivals describe him in the article as competitive and say he wants to “win contracts not for the money… but to crush everyone.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Esperanza Carmel for comment.