Mail Online : Feb 04, 2020, 01:42 PM
Amazon's Jeff Bezos construction site for his massive Washington D.C. mansion has amassed 564 parking tickets amounting to just under $17,000 in the three years since he first bought the property. From October 2016 to October 2019, Records obtained from the D.C. Department of Public Works indicate that the city issued 564 parking citations around the 2200 and 2300 blocks of S Street.The area sits right outside the mansion - the former Textile Museum - that Bezos purchased in 2016 for $23million before spending another $12million for renovations. Prior to the renovations, the residence in Washington D.C. was already the largest in the city at 27,000 square feet, WUSA reports. The now 34,000-square-foot mansion has 11 bedrooms, a ballroom, wine cellar, whiskey tasting room, a movie theater and more than 1,000 light fixtures. 'You're entering Citizen Kane-level of cavernous size,' Washingtonian staff writer Ben Wofford said. But the tickets have garnered quite the price tag, amounting for $16,840. The amount is now said to be $18,000. I would be surprised if it even registered as a line item on the final inventory,' Wofford added. Of the 564 parking tickets, 93 were handed out in April 2018 - averaging out to three a day. Tickets appeared to be issued for vehicles that were blocking crosswalks and obstructing the path of pedestrians, among other things. Anyone hired for the renovation has been required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to two contractors who worked on the project. That makes connecting the tickets to a vehicle practically impossible.Local reporters at the scene saw various workers very much aware of the tickets. One van for a home electric design company received 14 parking tickets over a three-week stint. A source familiar with the project said the tickets had been paid. 'From the start of the project, the general contractor worked to mitigate the parking challenges in the area by setting up off-site parking and shuttles to and from the site,' a source familiar with the project said. 'All the outstanding tickets in question have been paid,' the source added.Bezos appears to be rubbing both the city and his neighbors the wrong way. Several of them have put up 'NO PARKING FOR CONSTRUCTION' signs in front of their buildings. An Amazon news release for the fourth quarter shared on Thursday reveals that sales went up 21 per cent during the fourth quarter period, gaining $87.4billion. This amount is a nice jump from the 72.4billion in net sales made by the company at the same point in 2018.The news caused stock to jump more than 12 per cent in after-hour trading and helped add to Bezos' already sizable fortune. He is now worth approximately $129billion.