Stow your tray tables and fasten your seatbelts. If you live in the Coronado Cays, you’re in for a wild ride.
It all started late last year when the Coronado Cays Home Owners Association approved plans allowing a resident to install a Gulfstream G550 fuselage on his rooftop deck as part of a bigger remodel. The approval for the so-called “Casa Faten–the Jet House” located at 15 Sandpiper Strand rocked the small, tight-knit community, triggering a petition and a lawsuit.
But one local family is getting creative. They have their own response to what they call the “absurd” HOA decision: they got a jet of their own. And installed it on their roof.
They say it serves as sort of a “preview” to what the real instillation will look like.
“This is how obnoxious it is,” said Mandy Pagon, who purchased the 40-foot inflatable jet with her husband, Garrett, for their home at 4 Sandpiper Strand. “I don’t think people realize how ridiculous it is. You need a visual. Our inflatable is the exact size of the proposed jet and the exact same measurements. This is what you will see.”
Mandy says she and her husband got the idea for the inflatable jet while hanging out with friends at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club. They realized that evening that everyone would be able to see their neighbor’s jet fuselage from the club.
“We were joking that we should put something on our roof,” said Mandy. “And it just so happens, my friend has a contact with a company that makes custom inflatables. I reached out, and the guy at the company was like…’dude, I can have it there in two weeks.'”
On Wednesday, May 13th, the inflatable arrived at their home in a couple of boxes. The couple tasked their two sons with helping them inflate the jet and install it on their roof. Mandy said the hardest part was installing a rope through metal rings to hold it in place. It almost blew into the water.
And now, it serves as a reminder for what’s coming down the street.
“Until people really see it in three dimensions, it’s hard to visualize what we’re talking about,” said Garrett. “It doesn’t seem like anyone was paying attention when they were rubber-stamping these documents.”
Last month, a group of neighbors sued the property owner and the Coronado Cays HOA, demanding the project be halted. Garrett says the vast majority of Cays residents are against the approved plans, claiming they violate HOA guidelines requiring improvements to be “consistent with the residential character of the community.” The guidelines also prohibit elements that are “offensive or detrimental to other property in the vicinity.”
“We don’t want our neighborhood to be a spectacle,” said Garrett.
Furthermore, he said the developer never presented formal 3D renderings to the HOA. The community only learned of the plans through leaked documents and word of mouth.
And in a neighborhood known for its strict HOA rules, how did a homeowner manage to get approval for such an odd addition?
“It’s very strange, given how tight they are about everything else,” said Garrett. “I’ve had things like basketball hoops and BBQ grills and paint colors all get denied. How did this mysterious billionaire developer get this approved?”
According to SavetheCays.org, a website promoting the lawsuit, the HOA did ask the developer to make some modifications to the original plans, submitted in 2023. An eight-foot parapet wall is planned for part of the roof deck, but it does not cover the fuselage which is surrounded by a glass railing.
“This makes the Gulfstream visible from the canal, neighboring properties, and common areas,” reads the website.
Who owns Casa Faten?
The home at 15 Sandpiper, otherwise known as “Casa Faten: The Jet House,” is being built by a developer named Donatella Bonasera Development, LLC. According to public records, the home is currently owned in a trust by Abdulelah Albusseir, who is also listed as the manager of the development company.
The Coronado Times reached out to Donatello Bonasera via the developer’s website, and was contacted by a representative who signed off as “DB Development Team.”
The representative said the home is located within a “custom home zone” which allows a degree of artistic discretion, subject to association approval. The contact said the fuselage is part of the overall artistic expression of the home, and was reviewed through the HOA process.
“We followed that process completely, obtaining our approvals and permits several years ago,” said the representative. “We are now only months away from completion.”
The contact said that his custom home would likely raise property values–not reduce them, as some of the neighbors fear.
“A $30 million custom residence of this caliber would generally be expected to enhance surrounding property values, not diminish them,” said the representative. “In established custom home communities, it is often older 1970s-era or dated tract-style homes that contribute more toward stagnation of values, whereas significant modern investment, high-end construction, and architecturally ambitious residences typically elevate the overall desirability and standard of the neighborhood.”
But according to records at Homes.com, the house is not quite in the $30 million range. It last sold for $3.57 million in 2020, according to the site.
The Donatello Bonasera Development website showcases high-end luxury residences, sky rises and even protective bunkers, none of which were verified to have actually been built by the developer. The entity is also featured in a paid editorial in Architectural Digest which compares Donatello Bonasera to Leonardo da Vinci.
The same entity is applauded as an artist and jewelry maker in a paid piece on USA Today, where he is heralded as the “golden artist,” known for his “enduring vision, rarity and reverence.”
And just who is Abdulelah Albusseir, who is listed in public documents as the homeowner? The representative from the development company is vague.
“Donatello Bonasera is the known name under which our founder’s creative ventures operate, including development, art, and jewelry,” wrote the contact. “Private or international investments may be structured separately. This distinction is a deliberate choice—common among creatives—to separate public-facing work from personal holdings.”
A matter of artistic expression or a neighborhood eyesore?
But not everyone is worried about the rooftop jet at Casa Faten.
Cindy Russ Robledo, an artist and corporate flight attendant who has flown on the latest Gulfstream models, thinks it’s a great idea.
“It’s artistic, fun, and a unique project,” she said. “I love it. Let him do it. It’s not like the plane is going to take off or anything.”
Other community members shared statements on a Coronado Cays social media page such as “it’s his perception of art in his architectural design.” Another dubbed the project as “pretty cool.”
But neighbor Lance Rodgers in unconvinced. He lives just a few doors down from 15 Sandpiper with his family.
“The HOA should reconsider the approval of the fuselage and can now see how out of place and out of character the fuselage installation would be,” said Rodgers. “This obviously violates the word and spirit of the CC&Rs.”
He says the inflatable jet does an excellent job of showing the scale, in 3D, of how “ridiculous” the proposed fuselage will look on the roof. And he says it sends a clear message to the HOA: obtain better plans before approving a project.
“Elevations showing all components of a proposal and architectural renderings are critical to understand the scale and impact of the proposed item,” said Rodgers.
Garrett says the inflatable jet will stay put on his roof, for the time being. So far, it seems like most of the neighbors are getting the joke…and the point of the project.
“We are getting random texts from people, saying they think it’s hilarious,” he said.
And what about the developer of 15 Sandpiper Strand, the “Casa Faten: Jet House?” The inflatable doesn’t seem to bother him at all.
“Community members are entitled to their opinions and to express those opinions however they choose,” wrote the representative of Donatello Bonasera Development. “Some neighbors support the project while others may not, and that is part of living within a community. Donatello continues to carry respect toward all neighbors, whether they support or oppose the project.”
The Coronado Cays HOA did not respond to request for comment on the lawsuit.
