Venture capitalist Kareem Zaki and his wife Raquel Zaki bought the waterfront Miami Beach house of Edmond and Robin Leidesdorf for $26.8 million. It marks the latest pricey sale in South Florida real estate’s busy season.
Records show the Leidesdorfs sold the house at 1350 West 29th Street to the Zaki’s Agape Sunset Land Trust, with Carolina Waldrop signing. The Zakis financed the purchase with an $18.8 million mortgage from Bank of America, records show.
Michael Leduc and Mirce Curkoski of One Sotheby’s International Realty had the listing, and Curkoski and fellow One Sotheby’s agent George Burns brought the buyer.
Kareem Zaki is a venture capitalist and a partner at New York-based Thrive Capital, and has investments in Affirm, Robinhood, Stripe, and other tech companies, his LinkedIn shows. The Zakis have high-profile friends: in 2019 they attended the Wyoming wedding of Josh Kushner and Karlie Kloss, according to Daily Mail.
Edmond Leidesdorf is the grandson of Samuel D. Leidesdorf, who was Albert Einstein’s accountant and the founder of S. D. Leidesdorf & Company, a pioneering early accounting firm. Samuel D. Leidesdorf was also a prominent philanthropist in New York City in the 20th century, including to New York University Medical Center, according to the New York Times. Leidesdorf’s eponymous firm merged with Ernst & Young in 1978, which is today known as EY and is one of the Big Four accounting firms in the U.S.
Edmond and Robin Leidesdorf bought the Miami Beach home in 2003 for $3.3 million, property records show. The 7,400-square-foot house was built on 0.6 acres in 1934, according to records. The home has 10 bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a guest house, staff quarters, a pool, 325 feet of waterfront and a dock with capacity for a 100-foot yacht, the listing and records show.
The home hit the market for $34.5 million in August, according to Redfin.
It’s close to Sunset Island I and North Bay Road, which has been a hub of luxury sales in recent months. Earlier this month, spec developer Todd Glaser and his partners went into contract on a 2.3-acre estate for $105 million. He plans to either flip the property for between $150 million and $175 million, or redevelop it into a spec mansion that would be listed for $250 million.
Also this month, a 0.7-acre North Bay Road teardown sold for $25.5 million. On nearby Allison Island, Karlton Companies sold a waterfront spec mansion for a record $31.5 million.