Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin is the mystery buyer behind last week’s $106.9 million deal for Adrienne Arsht’s waterfront Miami estate, sources told The Real Deal.
Griffin, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars purchasing South Florida real estate over the last decade, acquired Arsht’s 4-acre Coconut Grove estate at 3031 and 3115 Brickell Avenue.
The deal, which set a record for single-family home sales in Miami-Dade County, gives the Citadel founder and CEO a waterfront home about 2 miles south of his future office in Miami.
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The property hit the market in January for $150 million, but sold at 29 percent below that. Ashley Cusack of Berkshire Hathaway EWM HomeServices Realty represented Arsht, while Jill Hertzberg of The Jills Zeder Group at Coldwell Banker represented the buyer.
Both declined to comment on the buyer’s identity. A spokesperson for Griffin did not confirm nor deny he was the buyer.
Property records show 3031 Brickell LLC, a hidden Delaware entity, purchased the estate.
Griffin, who is moving his family and his companies to South Florida, is worth more than $26 billion, according to Forbes. He has spent over $350 million assembling residential land in Palm Beach, where Citadel is opening an office, and purchased waterfront properties in Miami Beach — on Star Island — and in Coral Gables. His firm has also spent hundreds of millions of dollars on commercial real estate in Brickell this year.
The Coconut Grove estate is just south of the Brickell financial district, on a residential portion of Brickell Avenue near Vizcaya. The two homes on the property, which includes 400 feet of bay frontage, combine for 12 bedrooms and 13.5 bathrooms across more than 25,000 square feet.
Arsht had the primary five-bedroom home built in 1999. It features 20-foot ceilings, a primary bedroom suite that includes a full gym, six-car garage, bayfront pool and more, according to a press release.
The second house, built in 1913 by William Jennings Bryan, former U.S. Secretary of State, is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by the late architect August Geiger.
Arsht acquired the homes in two separate deals. In 1996, she paid $4 million for the property that is now the site of the newer house. She then bought the historic home for $12 million in 2007, records show.
The neighborhood is home to Leonard Abess Jr., the son of City National Bank founder Leonard Abess, who owns the nearly 11-acre property bordering Vizcaya Museum & Gardens; and Miami developer David Martin, who is building a house on the same street as the one Griffin just bought.
The record for single-family home sales in Florida was set by billionaire Larry Ellison’s $173 million purchase of a Manalapan estate this year. Prior to that, private equity billionaire Scott Shleifer’s $122.7 million deal for an oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach held the top spot.