Inside the Expenses of Developer Alex Sapir, Wife Amid Divorce

Ever wonder how the wealthy spend their money?

In the case of developer Alex Sapir’s wife, Yanina, she doled out $400,000 to attend Burning Man, and spends $6,000 a month on clothing, $5,000 on monthly boating expenses, and more than $15,000 each month for the house manager, according to a financial affidavit obtained by The Real Deal.

Yanina, who filed for divorce last year, estimates that her monthly expenses total nearly $175,000, which comes out to just over $2 million per year. That includes private school tuition for the Sapirs’ two children — $40,400 at Miami Country Day, and $20,300 at a Miami Beach Montessori school — and $2,600 a month to pay the handyman and children’s driver. Her attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alex is the son of the late Tamir Sapir, founder of the New York City-based Sapir Organization. He recently completed the sellout of Arte, a 16-unit luxury condo building in Surfside, with the sale of its last developer unit for $17 million. Alex Sapir now heads Sapir Org. and the Sapir Corp. He plans to work on a major development near Edgewater and the Arts & Entertainment District in Miami next.

Alex and Yanina married in Miami Beach in 2010. Yanina filed for divorce in April 2022, seeking child support and alimony from her husband based on the lifestyle they shared during their marriage, court filings show.

On top of the pricey Burning Man trip, the home manager, and boat outings, that lifestyle also includes $5,000 on miscellaneous costs (monthly), $300 (weekly) on yoga classes, an Anatomy gym membership (amount not disclosed), and $2,800 on “domestic help” (also monthly).

An aerial of Sapirs' Venetian Islands home — An aerial of Sapirs’ Venetian Islands home (Google Maps)

A company linked to the Sapirs paid $17.3 million for the modern, 7,300-square-foot waterfront Venetian Islands house that they shared, where Yanina now lives, in 2018. That and the adjacent home immediately north are both owned by a trust in Yanina Sapir’s name. The trust acquired the smaller, older home in December 2021 for just over $11 million.

Monthly mortgage payments total nearly $21,000, plus monthly property taxes of about the same amount.

This month, Yanina’s attorney, Barbara Diaz of Olshan, Spann & Fernandez-Mesa, also asked the court to enter an order that gives Yanina exclusive use and possession of the marital home. That request was made after Alex brought in a real estate agent to show the house without notifying or seeking permission from Yanina, court filing alleges.

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