By John Schwing

WESTPORT — An application has been filed to build a new waterfront mansion on one of two prime Beachside Avenue properties once owned by Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul convicted of multiple sex-assault crimes.

The plans call for construction of a two-story, single-family home, as well as a pool with spa, sports court, barbecue area, generator and driveway on the currently vacant 2.56-acre lot fronting on Long Island Sound.

The application was filed Sept. 16 with the Planning and Zoning Department on behalf of David Hasson and Chiara Rudzin, listed as co-trustees. The application agent is Cindy Tyminski, of Moon Gardens, LLC, of Westport.

The lot at 28 Beachside Ave. is one of two abutting properties Weinstein owned on the exclusive Soundside mansion row. He bought the first at 26 Beachside Ave., with a Colonial dating to 1909, for $4.25  million in 1994, according to published reports, and acquired the lot at 28 Beachside for $4 million in 2000, according to town land records.

Among the high-powered guests and celebrities Weinstein entertained at his Westport home was Barack Obama, guest of honor at a star-studded fundraiser for his 2012 presidential re-election campaign.

But when Weinstein fell from grace and his business collapsed after numerous women accused him of rape, sexual assault and inappropriate behavior — a prime target of the #MeToo movement — he sold both properties in 2018. The buyer was Andrew Bentley, owner of several other Beachside Avenue properties, who paid $10 million for 26 Beachside and $6 million for 28, according to a report by WestportNow at the time.

The mansion at 26 Beachside was subsequently torn down when both properties were put back on the market for a combined total of $21 million in 2023.

The current owners of 28 Beachside purchased the lot in May for $8.5 million, according to town land records.

The land is currently assessed at $4,883,900, with an appraised value of $6,976,950, town records show.

A date has not yet been assigned for a P&Z hearing on the application to build the new house.

Weinstein was serving a 23-year prison term in New York following his conviction in 2020 on several sex-crime charges, but the case was overturned in April by that state’s highest court.

He currently is appealing a 16-year prison sentence for his conviction on rape and sexual-assault charges in California. 

John Schwing, interim editor of the Westport Journal, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.