More than a year after the deal closed, Goya Foods heir Andrew Unanue is revealed as the buyer of a $63.4 million lakefront estate in Palm Beach.
Palm Beach’s most expensive homes frequently trade between anonymous trusts and LLCs, shielding the buyer’s identity with the aid of lawyers and non-disclosure agreements. This was the case when Unanue bought the 2-acre compound at 854 South County Road from spec developer Todd Glaser and his partners in May of last year.
Town planning documents now show Unanue is seeking approval for an additional guest house, as well as modifications to the hardscape, landscape, driveway and gazebo at the South County Road compound.
Built in 1936 and designed by Howard Major, one of Palm Beach’s Big Five architects, the estate is part of the town’s historically significant buildings program. The 10,200-square-foot mansion has nine bedrooms, eight bathrooms and three half-bathrooms, according to Realtor.com and property records. The compound spans 218 feet of waterfront, and includes a dock, pool, putting green and guest house.
Glaser and his partners bought the estate for $53 million in 2022, and listed it for $79 million later that year. At the time of the sale, Glaser understood that the buyers wanted to renovate the mansion, he told The Real Deal at the time.
The deal was among the priciest in South Florida last year, and part of a wave of trophy sales fueling the ultra-luxury market in Palm Beach.
Unanue is the grandson of Goya Foods founders Prudencio Unanue Ortiz and Carolina Casal de Valdés. Goya is the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the country, according to published reports. Forbes estimated the Unanue family’s net worth at $1.1 billion in 2014, but Andrew Unanue’s money isn’t all tied up in the family business. He left Goya in the early 2000s to establish a family office, and today helms AUA Private Equity Partners in West Palm Beach, according to his LinkedIn.
This South County Road purchase wasn’t Unanue’s first in Palm Beach. In 2020, he bought a house for $11.3 million, which records show he flipped for $17.8 million six months later.
Another Goya scion, Francisco R. Unanue, sold a 1-acre waterfront Coral Gables lot for $18.5 million last month.