It looks like Bono already has plans for his earnings from U2′s ongoing $1 million (€925,000) per show residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas as he has reportedly invested in the development of a new mansion in the Hollywood Hills. The developer of the substantial super-prime property, Plus Development Group, also has a strong Irish link as Dublin-born, Los Angeles-based real-estate agent Tyrone McKillen is the company’s principal and co-founder.
It’s not Bono’s first business dealing with the McKillen family as he was formerly a shareholder in Dublin’s Clarence Hotel alongside Tyrone’s father, Paddy McKillen snr, before it was sold to the Dean Hotel Group, headed up by Paddy McKillen jnr, another son of McKillen snr. The hotel had been owned by Bono, his bandmate the Edge and the Belfast-born McKillen snr since 1992 and it famously featured on BBC’s Top of the Pops in 2000 when U2 delivered a live performance of Beautiful Day from its rooftop. Outside of their investment in the famous Dublin hotel, Bono and McKillen snr have been close personal friends from U2′s early days. The depth of that friendship was illustrated in 2012, when in the course of giving evidence in McKillen’s London high-court battle against the billionaire Barclay brothers for control of Claridge’s, the Berkeley and Connaught hotels, financier Derek Quinlan revealed how the Belfast-born businessman had brought Bono along to a meeting on a yacht in the south of France in which a deal was struck to sell the Savoy Hotel to Prince Al-Waleed of the Saudi royal family for €281 million.
A neighbour of Bono’s latest home away from his Dalkey home told the Hollywood Reporter the U2 frontman had been spotted on the street checking in on the progress of the California new-build. Reportedly designed by sought-after LA architect Noah Walker, the main house is understood to be triangular and accompanied by a guest house and a swimming pool.
Still under construction, the Hollywood Reporter describes the property as a “huge” house with a substantial foundation and an elevated driveway. The development is said to have been in progress over the past few months and has sparked curiosity among LA commuters who have witnessed its progress while driving along Fairfax Avenue. Efforts by The Hollywood Reporter to contact a representative for Bono for comment were unsuccessful while Plus Development Group declined to comment. A spokeswoman for U2, meanwhile, told The Irish Times she was not in a position to comment on matters other than the band itself and their music.
