(LOS ANGELES) – City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced today that her office secured a plea agreement in the City’s decades-long legal quagmire over the building and safety violations of five partially built hilltop homes on Woodstock Road in Laurel Canyon. As a result of this litigation, the owner is required to demolish all five homes by August 7, 2026.
On June 29, 2023, the City Attorney’s Office filed 25 counts against Shahram and Ester Ghalili over their five unfinished, three-story, single family homes near Mulholland Drive. Purchased in late 2020, the Ghalilis were the most recent in a long line of private developers and owners over the past two decades who tried to resurrect what had initially been a large development project until the City of Los Angeles shut it down in 2002 and ordered it demolished in 2003. The homes were never demolished and remained under the ownership of multiple developers who attempted unsuccessfully to further develop the project.
After the Ghalilis took ownership, neighbors reported a resurgence of alleged construction at the homes. City officials ordered the new owners to comply with the order to demolish the five structures and clean up the properties.
“For far too many years, the Laurel Canyon community has dealt with these dangerous, dilapidated homes that were ordered to be taken down more than two decades ago,” said Hydee Feldstein Soto, Los Angeles City Attorney. “We took action to end this problem once and for all.”
On August 7, 2025, Ghalli pled no contest to five counts of LAMC 91.103.1, failure to comply with lawful orders issued by the Department of Building and Safety, and was placed on formal diversion for a period of one year. Under the terms of his diversion, Ghalili is required to demolish all five vacant structures by August 7, 2026, obey all building regulations, cooperate with city inspectors, and pay $5,000 in fines. His failure to do so will result in a conviction on his record, being placed on 12 months of summary probation, serving 100 hours of community service, $25,000 in fines and penalties, and being booked and released from county jail.
Read the Plea Agreement and Sentencing Order: https://shorturl.at/jIPar
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Hydee Feldstein Soto is the 43rd Los Angeles City Attorney, elected in November 2022 and sworn into office in December 2022. Her team of nearly 1,000 legal professionals, including 500+ attorneys, carries out legal work for the City of Los Angeles at her direction and under her supervision. She is the first female City Attorney in L.A. history.