Millionaires Clash Over Shadyside Mansion

Petrello bought the adjacent house at 18 Sunset and tore down the historic home there.  That's why Prucka thought Petrello might do the same with his.  But that didn't matter when he got a full price cash offer from the Naths.  Petrello recently bought another house at 1816 Rice for $4.5 M.  He purchased it through his friend Avi Ron's corporation, CAC Campus Holdings.  He had previously made an offer of $4.9M through realtor Laura Sweeney at John Daugherty Realtors.  After the offer was accepted he screwed her over too and anonymously used the co. to buy it for less.  Such a class act!

I used to own a house on Dora which is the street that backs up to Petrello's property. In fact, most of the traffic to and from Petrello's house uses Dora for access. Dora street is very prone to flooding. During Allison and Ike, and other big storms, the street could easily be under five feet of water in no time at all. Then it would take forever to drain - resulting in cars getting flooded, garages getting flooded, etc. 

It seemed as through Petrello's house was always under renovation as traffic to the house was constant. During one of these renovations, they installed a pump that cleared his property of water during storms. I found this out the hard way - during a bad storm, I was looking out in front of my house to see where the level of water was reaching, then looked down the street towards his property and saw a gusher of water. I walked over to investigate, and yeup, every few minutes, there would be this gusher coming from a pipe installed underneath a new sidewalk coming straight from his property. I've never met the man, but knowing that the street he uses on a regular basis, Dora, floods easily and then installing a pump that forces even more water onto the street not only makes him a bad neighbor, but also a DICK of monumental proportions. 

Anon & Insider.  What lot are you finding that Petrello purchased from Ms. Hobby?  When I search for the owner name "Petrello" on HCAD.org all that shows up other than 10 Remington is 18 Sunset. That part of Sunset is  too busy and too public for the daughter's place anyway if somebody had the money Petrello supposedly has, and  HCAD shows that Petrello purchased that property from a C M Hudspeth (not Hobby).   (I drive through that section of Sunset a lot, and it is often basically a traffic jam at peak times.  Still nice because of being right by Rice, but not in the zone of being super nice.)  Has Petrello used some sort of a front company for another purchase?  

He already bought connecting property from ms hobby as mentioned below. his insurance doesnt cover the amount of damage endured to his house because he was cheap and he didnt think his house would burn down... i assume theyre waiting for insurance money which if it depends on them and their slacking group of servants to finish....will take forever... ive never done an insurance claim as high as theirs must be.

Duh. CapObvious.  Petrello’s probably actually leveraged to the hilt and nearly broke.  Happens to lots of super high income guys that try to keep up appearances.  Otherwise he would have just written checks and moved on.  If you really had that kind of wealth, would you live in a hotel or a on a huge estate in a hyper exclusive gated community?  Yep.  Out of dough.

If Petrello really wanted the Nath’s property for his daughter and was going to renovate the house anyway as he said, why doesn’t he just purchase some other contiguous property and move on  with his life?  Just asking.

Ms Hobbys land was purchased by Mr Petrello, the house was torn down so that he can use it for gardens and a large poolhouse for parties. He already has plenty of land to build another house on and he could build it exactly as he wanted. This is a case of a very grumpy angry wealthy man not getting his way and USING his poor daughter as the "reason." Hes just a sore looser and refuses to not get his way. 

"Everyone, listen! Shadyside could be cool and groovy if we treated each other fair! It's Petrello ! He's made us all into a pyramid, and he put himself on top!"

Hmmmm ...... I've wondered why someone called Petrello a "modern day Satan" in the Vanity Fair story.  This story may provide insight.    I voted for Bill White for mayor as well as governor, but after finding out he took money from Petrello, he wouldn't get my vote again.

Sounds like another reality show... Not interested but thanks for letting me know.

Shadyside was originally a neighborhood of friends, where everyone knew everyone prior to moving there.  The original owners were among the wealthiest and most powerful people in Houston.  The restrictions required that anyone wishing to move to the exclusive neighborhood in the future would have to have unanimous approval of the other residents.  The purpose of this was to keep riff-raff out -- including people of the caliber mentioned here.  Restrictions also prohibited external architectural changes, unless unanimously approved by residents.  Mrs. W.P. Hobby wanted to make some changes to her home which were vetoed by at least one other resident.  She responded by having her house torn down and leaving the land vacant, while moving elsewhere.  She has since passed on, and I have not heard what became of the land. 

This is a case of Bullying, just like the stuff that goes on in grade schools. This guys theory is "my way of my way" and uses his $$$ to enforce his will. I have alot of compassion for his situation with his daughter but his inability to accept life's dissappointments discredits his achievements and contributions.

It's a bitch out there for a rich guy. I say, the one with the car elevator wins. It's only fair.

I just hope Romney wins and gets these guys a tax cut pronto. Imagine the job creation in the legal industry!

@HoustonPress Wow, better than a made for TV movie..long reads is an understatement. I had to make notes to stay connected #longreads

I hope I don't get sued for this, but what an idiot!!!!