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Billionaire Nicolas Berggruen is eyeing the Santa Monica Mountains for his namesake think tank, the Berggruen Institute, and has shelled out $45M for 450 acres.
Berggruen bought the land from community developer Castle & Cooke. The goal is to develop the area west of the 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass between Mountaingate and the Getty Center, half of the remaining private land between Topanga State Park (shown above) and the San Diego Freeway, according to the LA Times.
He reportedly interviewed 30 architects and chose Herzog & de Meuron.
The institute would house as many as 50 scholars on a campus that would include conference rooms, dining venues, bungalows and gardens as well as a private home for the chairman. [LAT]
