Billionaire forced to demolish Nantucket beach home

Starwood Capital Group CEO Barry Sternlicht reportedly had to raze his beach house on the Nantucket coast.

The demolition of the house, which the billionaire has owned for over a dozen years, occurred earlier in the week, according to the Nantucket Current.

The plot of land where the house stood on the Massachusetts island has borders to both the beach and Hummock Pond.

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Sternlicht was driven to raze the home, which was on steel girders, by severe erosion of the beach, per the outlet. Several dozen feet of beach near it eroded in 2020 as a result of hurricanes in 2020, per the outlet, and the situation only worsened after that. 

Some homes elsewhere on Nantucket have been similarly impacted by beach erosion, with the issue looming over others too, according to reports.

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Sternlicht’s beach house sprawled 1,800 square feet and featured three bedrooms, per the Nantucket Current.

Its tear-down required permission from the Nantucket Historic District Commission. He reportedly received that in March.

An early evening beach scene in the height of summer on Cisco Beach, Nantucket, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, USA. Photo Tim Clayton (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images) (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

Sternlicht had originally wanted to take the home off the lot and make the neighboring one that also belongs to him its new location, but it ended up not being possible, according to Vanity Fair. That property reportedly cost $1.3 million.

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The billionaire declined FOX Business’ request for comment on the home’s reported demolition. He has built a personal fortune of $3.8 billion over the course of his career, Forbes has estimated.

His Starwood Capital Group left Connecticut and made Florida the home of its headquarters in 2018.

Homes in the city of Nantucket, which is not far away from where Sterlicht’s beach house was, had median asking prices of $4.5 million in March, according to Realtor.com. For sale prices, the median was $4 million.