Palo Alto neighbors reportedly miffed at Zuckerberg’s Crescent Park compound

(KRON) — Mark Zuckerberg’s neighbors, or at least the few that remain, are reportedly not happy. The billionaire Meta CEO has reportedly spent 14 years buying up homes in Palo Alto’s leafy Crescent Park, turning the once charming neighborhood into what some have called a “compound,” and other have characterized as an “occupation.”

According to the New York Times, Zuckerberg has turned the area around Edgewood Drive and Hamilton Avenue into his own personal “Monopoly game board,” spending over $110 million to buy at least 11 houses in the area. To acquire the homes, he has reportedly offered previous owners double, or even triple, of what they are worth.

In the Bay Area’s crunched housing market, several of the homes Zuckerberg has purchased now sit empty. Others are being used to house guests or for entertainment. Another is reportedly being used as a private school, in violation of city code.

Zuckerberg compound

In 2016, Zuckerberg literally sought permission from the City of Palo Alto to build a compound. According to the NYT, the city rejected the application and he withdrew it. In the ensuing years, however, Zuckerberg has gone ahead and built it, “just more slowly and piecemeal,” the Times said.

“No neighborhood wants to be occupied,” said Michael Kieschnick, a neighbor who spoke to the newspaper, and whose property is virtually surrounded by property owned by Zuckerberg. “But that’s exactly what they’ve done.”

“A billionaire’s bat cave’

Beneath the 11 homes he owns above ground, the NYT is also reporting that Zuckerberg has added 7,000 square feet of underground space. While building permits reportedly characterize the space as basements, the Times said neighbors refer to it as “bunkers” or a “billionaire’s bat cave.”

The work, according to the Times, has resulted in eight years of construction, the near constant presence of massive equipment on the street, and “a lot of noise.”

‘Intense’ surveillance

Along with the construction, Zuckerberg’s presence in the neighborhood has also come with “intense levels of surveillance,” the Times is reporting. The tech billionaire has cameras positioned outside his home with views of neighbors’ property. He also reportedly employs a team of private security guards, who “sit in cars, filming some visitors and asking others what they are doing as they walk on private sidewalks.”

Neighbors in the area who spoke to the New York Times seemed equally as frustrated with the City of Palo Alto as they were with the Facebook founder and his wife, Priscilla Chan.

“Billionaires everywhere are used to just making their own rules — Zuckerberg and Chan are not unique, except that they’re our neighbors,” Kieschnick told the paper. “But it’s a mystery why the city has been so feckless.”

Zuckerberg has reportedly made efforts to mend fences with neighbors, offering gifts that include donuts, wine, chocolate, and even noise canceling headphones.