Kanye West has bought his childhood home in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, according to a WGN real estate report.
According to the permit, West plans to spend an additional $60,000 for renovations, on top of the $225,000 sale price. That's a lot of money for most people in today's climate. But it's loose change to the recently crowned billionaire who dropped $14 million on a ranch Wyoming last year.
Ye's mother, the late Donda West, bought the house in the early '80s and sold it in 2004. “It went through a lot of trouble after that,” said real estate reporter Dennis Rodkin.
The property reportedly went through foreclosure and fell into disrepair before it was bought by West's former collaborator, Rhymefest. The Chicago musician and politician had plans to turn the house into an "arts incubator."
“Then they announced, ‘we’re going to have to tear the house down because it would cost less to build a new one than to rehab this because it’s been empty for years,’” explained Rodkin. West and Rhymefest got into a very public beef over funding for the incubator.
West eventually addressed the issue on an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Kim Kardashian had come to her husband’s defense on the issue the previous year, tweeting that she’d never stand for anyone that shames West “while pretending to do good.”
There's no word yet on whether West plans to follow through with the "arts incubator" project.