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Deal Reached To Permanently Protect Playboy Mansion

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Instead of being designated a historical-cultural landmark, the Playboy Mansion will instead be permanently protected from being demolished by an agreement between the city and the property's owner and neighbor, Daren Metropoulos.

Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz had been seeking landmark status for the property, the former home of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and backdrop to lavish, celebrity-studded parties for decades.

The 20,000-square-foot mansion, which had been owned by Playboy Enterprises since 1971, was sold in 2016 to Metropoulos for $100 million, with a deal that allowed Hefner to live there until his death, which came on Sept. 27 of last year.

A designation as a historic-cultural monument would have put limits on what alterations could be made to the property and also prevent the mansion from being demolished without a review. The permanent protection covenant will remain in effect under future owners.

Metropoulos, 34, said after the sale that he planned to connect his estate and the Playboy Mansion while doing renovations on the property, including repairing the façade of the structure.

"The significance of the property to Los Angeles' history actually starts with the Letts family and shouldn't be forgotten," Koretz said. "We are all very grateful to the Holmby Hills Homeowners Association for spotlighting this property as a cornerstone of the founding of Holmby Hills and surrounding neighborhood. Moreover, we are pleased that Mr. Metropoulos shares our respective interest in protecting the architectural visionaries of the past that will permanently remain to benefit all lovers of Los Angeles history for years to come."

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)

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