Billionaire Mark Attanasio, the owner of Major League Baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers, has reached a settlement with California state regulators after facing extensive allegations of unauthorized excavation on a protected Malibu beach. Under the finalized agreement, Attanasio will turn over a prime piece of coastal real estate valued at $2 million to the public to resolve violations stemming from unpermitted construction and earthmoving activities outside his beachfront estate.
The agreement brings an end to a high-profile dispute that began in 2024, when state officials first launched enforcement actions against the sports franchise owner. State regulators identified significant disruptions along the sensitive shoreline, leading to protracted negotiations over environmental mitigation, coastal restoration, and public access remedies.
According to regulatory findings, the illicit activity was carried out through Attanasio’s company, 2XMD Partners LLC. The business deployed heavy industrial machinery, including excavators, directly onto the public shoreline at Lechuza Point, situated just north of Point Dume along the western perimeter of Broad Beach.
The heavy equipment was utilized to dig up and extract natural coastal materials from the beach, including large quantities of sand, beach cobbles, and heavy boulders. The primary purpose of this unauthorized operation was to reinforce Attanasio’s private beachfront property, specifically to execute repairs on an unstable and failing seawall.
A formal September 2026 report published by the California Coastal Commission revealed that workers scooped material directly out of the public tidelands and piled the displaced sediment and stones along the beach. The extracted sand, boulders, and cobbles were then repositioned and packed behind the private seawall to serve as backfill.
In addition to the illegal earthmoving operations, the regulatory investigation determined that Attanasio’s team installed unpermitted private infrastructure. This included the construction of a private beach stairway and a revetment positioned directly inside a public access corridor, built to enable heavy construction equipment to reach the shoreline.
The shoreline operations caused substantial concern due to the ecological significance of the targeted area. The excavation occurred within a delicate marine protected zone characterized by a rocky intertidal habitat that provides critical shelter for marine life.
State environmental specialists emphasized that the affected rocky segment of Broad Beach sustains an exceptionally diverse marine ecosystem. The agency noted that more than 1,000 species of algae and invertebrates, alongside various fish species and sea stars, rely on the specific tideland habitat that had been altered by the excavators.
Following the initial discoveries, the California Coastal Commission issued a formal notice of violation to Attanasio, citing profound disruptions to the marine reserve and unpermitted interference with public coastal lands. What followed was nearly two years of formal negotiations to establish an adequate remediation plan.
Under the comprehensive terms of the resolution, Attanasio is required to dismantle all unpermitted structures and clear any obstacles that currently impede the public's ability to reach the shoreline. This mandates the full removal of the revetment and the unauthorized private access stairway.
Furthermore, the settlement obligates the property owner to conduct extensive ecological restoration. Attanasio must reconstruct the missing section of the boulder field in the intertidal zone, repairing the footprint of the public beach that was excavated during the seawall reinforcement work.
The cornerstone of the enforcement agreement is the complete surrender of a valuable real estate parcel. Attanasio agreed to deed a $2 million beachfront property situated at Big Rock Beach in eastern Malibu over to the public free of charge.
The surrendered property sits well to the east of Point Dume, positioned closer to the Pacific Palisades community. The parcel had previously been listed on the open real estate market for $2 million before being designated as compensatory public land under the enforcement settlement.
State officials underscored the strategic importance of acquiring this specific parcel for public recreation. Regulators pointed out that only a limited number of accessways exist along that nearly six-mile stretch of the Malibu coast, meaning the transfer will significantly enhance coastal access opportunities.
Commission planners noted that the newly acquired parcel holds strong potential for long-term recreational development, including the possible future construction of a public stairway leading directly down to the sand. Following a formal commission vote confirming the agreement, California Coastal Commission Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge hailed the outcome as a major victory for the people of California.
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