The billionaire hedge fund manager building Chicago’s most expensive home has been accused of waging lawfare against his neighbors to deny them access to the nearby public beach.
Phoenix Suns owner Justin Ishbia has razed three homes on Lake Michigan shores to realize his 68,000-square-foot dream mansion in the Winnetka neighborhood.
A local doctor, Ted Wynnychenko, has been cited for trespass after pushing through a fence erected by Ishbia’s construction team on the beach. Police have also warned the public to “keep their feet wet” if walking on the beach to avoid similar charges.
Wynnychenko told the Chicago Tribune that he “think[s] they’re doing it because they want to establish that this is going to be a private beach,” and adds that “They’re trying to make people scared that they’ll be in trouble.”
Ishbia, 47, who co-owns the NBA team with his brother Mat, has been fighting to build the $44 billion home on just 3.7 acres just south of the city’s botanic garden for the past four years.
Winnetka Village Council worked to protect shorefront bluffs after the billionaire leveled those on his land to make room for the sprawling mansion development, which he obtained part of through a land-swap deal with one of the local authorities.
Kristen Ishbia, Justin Ishbia’s wife, tearfully addressed trustees in December 2022 when they voted on a complicated land swap deal that would allow the three neighboring sites to be developed as one.
She said: “When we first bought property here in Winnetka in the summer of 2020, we thought we could send our son to kindergarten. Unfortunately, as time passes, we cannot build our home.”
Kristen Ishbia added: “Our children are missing out on being able to attend school here, play in our yard, and make friends in the neighborhood. They are missing out on being able to live our dream of a quiet authentic suburban life.”
The Chicago Tribune has reported that neighbors who strayed too far onto the beach have found themselves challenged by the local Winnetka police department.
Police told Wynnychenko that security cameras had recorded him walking on the contested beach for around an hour on June 9.
Ishbia has increased the beach’s size with hundreds of tons of sand will, but Wynnychenko has said that police could not specify when he was on private land.
“I’m walking from state land to state land,” Wynnychenko has said. “I’m just abating a nuisance that is illegal.”
Wynnychenko has demanded that artificial extensions to public land be considered privately owned.
Locals on Netdoor have mocked the billionaire for his construction plans. One called it “a cathedral erected to worship greed, narcissism, and wholesale disregard for nature.”
Another wrote, “This house will become the ‘Michael Jordan house’ of Winnetka in 30 years and will never be able to be resold.”
Ishbia has defended the project, insisting that his construction team, which he says is “composed of some of the best architects and the best builders,” has worked diligently to “follow all laws.”
“Some people don’t have all the information,” he stated, “but everything we are doing has been fully permitted.”
In an email exchange, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources told Wynnychenko that the public right of access to the beach remains, but Ishbia has permission to fence it off. At the same time, construction of the mansion takes place.
“The Department’s permitting process is present to ensure that the permitted activity of a Permittee in public waters, such as Lake Michigan, does not unduly interfere with the reasonable access and use of the water by the Public,” general counsel Renee Snow wrote.
“The other side of this standard is that the Public cannot unduly interfere with the reasonable access and use of the water by a Permittee.”
An Ishbia spokesperson said they reported Wynnychenko because he breached a fence on the construction site. Eleven days later, police arrived at his home with a citation, and Wynnychenko now faces a $750 fine when he appears at the Skopie Courthouse on July 22.
Wynnychenko has stated, “They’re trying to grab state land for private things. They’re trying to keep people away.”
