More celebrities have been looking to sell their South Florida homes than buy in recent months. Athletes, artists and actors were among the A-listers striking deals, all waterfront mansions with one exception — a former Kardashian hangout in South Beach. The Real Deal took a look at who’s buying, selling and redeveloping along South Florida’s coast.
Celine Dion chopped the asking price for her Jupiter Island mansion by $27 million — from $72.5 million in mid-2013 to $45.5 million in mid-February. The French-Canadian singer and songwriter and her late husband, René Angélil, built the nearly 10,000-square-foot mansion in 2010. Fenton Lang Bruner & Associates is marketing the 5.7-acre waterfront property at 215 South Beach Road in Hobe Sound, north of Palm Beach County. The estate includes 13 bedrooms, a water park, a pool house, a beach house and a tennis pavilion with a simulated golf range. Dion and Angélil took out a $35 million loan on the Jupiter Island property last year.
Actor Kevin James put his Delray Beach castle up for sale in late February for $28.9 million. The “King of Queens” star acquired the two properties for his estate in 2012 and 2014 for a total of $22.8 million. The waterfront property, at 502 North Ocean Boulevard, spans 2.8 acres with about 26,000 square feet of living space. James tapped Jack Elkins of the Fite Group to sell the home, which includes a meditation room, wine cellar, eight-car garage, pool, Jacuzzi, wet bar and guest apartment. It has 10 bedrooms and 10.5 bathrooms.
Retired NFL player Jason Taylor listed his lakefront Weston home for $4.2 million in late February. The former Miami Dolphins player paid $3.6 million for the 1-acre property in 2006. Taylor’s 10,247-square-foot mansion, at 2980 Paddock Road, features a grand foyer entrance, a formal living room with fireplace, gourmet kitchen, curved glass wine cellar, home theater, billiard room, cigar and poker room and pool deck. The property, which was built in 2005, also includes a summer kitchen,100 feet of water frontage and a Jacuzzi. Ben Westby of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty is the listing agent.
11382 Redberry Drive
Miami Dolphins player Branden Albert listed his lakefront Davie home for just under $2 million in mid-March. The offensive tackle bought the 6,000-square-foot home at 11382 Redberry Drive for $1.2 million in 2014 after signing a five-year, $47-million contract with the Dolphins. His house has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms and includes a barbershop, a walk-in closet for shoes and a home theater. ONE Sotheby’s International Realty agent Kimberly Knausz is listing the property, which also includes a tiki hut, a summer kitchen and a pool with a swim-up bar.
For two months in 2009 and 2010, Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian took Miami by storm and then left it behind. The reality TV stars were former residents of unit 1001 at the penthouse unit of the Hilton Bentley Miami/South Beach, which hit the market in January for $5.9 million. Literary agent Esmond Harmsworth owned the 1,880-square-foot former hotel suite until it sold in mid-March for its asking price. Jeff Miller and David Veit of Brown Harris Stevens Zilbert were the listing agents. The penthouse was gut-renovated and includes ocean views, two terraces and stairs that lead to a private rooftop on the 11th floor.
720 South Ocean Boulevard
The former waterfront mansion of John Lennon and Yoko Ono sold to former Bear Stearns executive John Sites Jr. and his wife, Cindy Sites, in January for $23 million. Lennon and Ono purchased the three-story, 13,730-square-foot estate at 720 South Ocean Boulevard in 1980 and Ono sold it in 1986. They paid $725,000 for the 1.5-acre Palm Beach property, which includes 23 rooms, two pools, tennis courts, and a beachside cabana, and sold it for $3.2 million. Alan and Christine Curtis, who paid $4.3 million for the mansion in 1990, sold it to the Sites. Christian Angle represented the buyers, while Lawrence Moens represented the sellers.
The former waterfront home of the notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was knocked down earlier this year, wiping the Miami Beach property clean of its infamous past. Chicken Kitchen founder Christian de Berdouaré and his wife, Jennifer Valoppi, a former television journalist, tore down the 5,800-square-foot pink home, which was built in 1948. In his heyday, Escobar, known as the “King of Cocaine,” reportedly supplied 80 percent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States. Escobar paid $760,000 for the 5860 North Bay Road home in 1980 and reportedly used it for work and play. In its place, de Berdouaré and Valoppi plan to develop a new mansion.
Miami Heat player Goran DragiĆ is having a good season on and off the court. Dragić, a point guard and shooting guard for the local team, paid $7 million for a 6,560-square-foot home in Miami’s Bay Point neighborhood. ONE Sotheby’s International Realty agents Miki Curkoski and Albert Justo marketed the 23,100-square-foot property at 586 Sabal Palm Road. The home, built in 1970, features 120 feet of waterfront, a bayfront pool, seven bathrooms, six bedrooms and a covered cabana and grill area. It was listed for $7.9 million for more than a month before Dragić bought it.