Treasure Hunter’s Paradise: The Site Of Pablo Escobar’s Miami Beach Home Is For Sale
If you’re into hunting for treasure and have $16 million to spare, you can buy the site of Pablo Escobar’s former Miami Beach Home!
That’s right, the infamous drug kingpin was known for burying his riches in the yards of his various houses or hiding things in the walls of his estates. Two safes have already been found in the yard at 5860 North Bay Road, although they have not yet been opened and most of the 30,000 square foot lot has yet to be excavated. The lot also has 150 feet of bay frontage with Downtown Miami skyline views, so it is almost certain that unspeakable things were coming and going from the estate on the regular.
Escobar purchased the estate in 1980 for $762,500 and then lost it to a US Government seizure in 1987. After years of falling into disrepair, the CEO of Chicken Kitchen purchased the property for $9.65 million in 2014. The fast food scion is apparently a bad boy in his own right, he was named in the recent release of the Panama Papers, although maintains his innocence.
Not long after purchasing the property, the owner razed the existing structure placed the lot on the market for a whopping $21 million (which he did not get). After several price reductions and marketing re-launches, it now sits on the market for $15.9 million.
According to a recent article on Realtor.com, one of the two safes that was found during the demolition of the home was stolen. The other is still around, but will likely be opened on a televised documentary that is currently being produced. The existing safe weighs between 600 to 700 pounds.
The seller also told the reporter that he had professional treasure hunters take a look at the lot. They reported lots of subterranean “activity,” particularly under the 100 year old banyan tree, so if you would like to go farming for riches and yayo, let’s make a deal! Even if you don’t find anything, you could also build a history-making home of your own on the gorgeous lot.
Gorgeous Spec Home at 6440 North Bay Road Reduces Price to $26,950,000
After a brief hiatus, the newly constructed spec home at 6440 North Bay Road has returned to the market with a $2 million price chop, asking $26,950,000. The home has 15,519 interior square feet with 7 bedrooms and 9 baths.
The tropical-zen inspired home blends contemporary interiors with the outdoors and features sliding glass walls throughout much of the space. There is an office, gym with outdoor yoga area, a theater and a separate 2 bedroom guest wing with a private staircase and dedicated terrace and living area.
Outdoors, there is a separate cabana with retractable canvas awning surrounded by tall, mature landscaping and infinity-edge pool. The lot features 100 feet of bay frontage with a wooden dock.
The North Bay Road home was developed by Peter Fine’s To Better Days Development, that is based in New York. Have a look at the MLS photos below..
Will Chris Bosh Stay In Miami After His Career-Ending Diagnosis?
It is a sad day for Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat. The NBA doctors have officially ruled that his blood clotting disorder is a career-ending ailment. The 11-time all star maintains that he is in good health to play, but the ruling has been made and it looks like the Heat will waive him from the roster so that they can make room for a new player to take his place.
So, if he is indeed forced off of the roster, will he stay in Miami? What will happen to the $12 million luxury home he purchased in 2010 on North Bay Road? He still has $52 million left on his contract, which he will reportedly get to keep, so he doesn’t really have to work again although he maintains a desire to continue playing. He is only 33 years old, after all. What would you do?
Here are some additional photos of the Miami Beach waterfront mansion that he calls home. It has 7 bedrooms, 8 baths, 2 powder rooms and 12,000 square feet of interior space. The North Bay Road lot has over 100 feet of bay frontage.
Miami Beach Teardown Fetches Record Price
What would you pay to have this sunset view every day of the year? If you are a South African business mogul, I’d say you would likely pay $10 million. Then you could tear down the house that is on the lot and build something amazing that is customized to your taste. Yes, that’s what would happen because that’s what did happen. An unnamed South African businessman has taken the leap and paid an astonishing $746/square foot to call 28 S Dilido Avenue home. The property is very special, it is a 13,408 square foot lot with 107 linear feet of water frontage and a year-round view of Miami’s famous multi-colored sunsets as the sun sinks behind Downtown Miami’s glistening condo towers.
Because the lot is so special, calculating the final price took six months and surgical precision, according to Dora Puig, who brokered the sale. She spent endless hours dissecting the comparable sales of waterfront teardown homes. Dora is also the Miami Condo Investments Team’s Madrina, the sales team is very proud to call her our broker! Here are the types of details she went through…
The overall average price per square foot of Miami Beach waterfront teardown lots is $392/square foot over the last year (excluding this sale). There were 19 total sales with the lots ranging from 9,500 square feet up to 30,000 square feet and with between 60 feet and 200 feet of water frontage. You also have to consider what type of waterfront views the lots have. Some have the same open bay view with the skyline backdrop, which is considered a premium by many. Some have views of the Port of Miami, so they can watch the cruise ships depart and arrive and commuters sit in traffic, and some have a peaceful lake view. Dora had to do the math on 19 properties and figure how much each factor of each property was worth, then do the math backward with the property the buyer is interested in to calculate what it would be worth. I consider this part a daunting yet gratifying task.
The most expensive sale prior to 28 S Dilido was 40 W San Marino Ave, which traded for $610/square foot. That lot had similar views but was 3,000 square feet smaller and had almost half of the linear water frontage that Dilido has.
The least expensive recent land sale has been 860 Lakeview, which sold for $132/square feet. This lot is an ENORMOUS 18,630 square feet that has 80 linear feet of water frontage, but the view is not the year-round multi-colored sunset behind the downtown buildings view that Dora’s mystery buyer was seeking. It looks out over the new Ritz Carlton Miami Beach, that was once Miami Beach’s Heart Institute and is currently under construction. That is going to be a gorgeous building, but let’s stay on topic.
Now that Dora has been victorious in discovering the land value and closed the sale, whispers around the office are that the buyer (who has not been named) has chosen Saota to design his now home. Saota is a South African design and architecture firm who is responsible for that amazing Miami Beach mansion on Pinetree Drive with a waterslide off of the roof that sold for $34 million in January. That post took me a long time to write because I couldn’t stop looking at the pictures. I am overjoyed to hear that Miami will receive another home that they have designed!
What is the takeaway of this sale?
People ask me all the time if the Miami market is a bust because of the hoards of negative news reports that are being written. I have to be honest and say that yes, there is an inventory glut in the Downtown and Brickell area condo market, but that doesn’t equate to a bust.
Wealthy people buy what they want, not what is cheap and Miami is an immensely desirable location for people from around the world. This buyer could have chosen any city in the world to call his home, and he chose Miami. We have the lifestyle that people seek, amazing culture, convenient accessibility and ease of access from other international locations, and that all-important multicolored sunset that shines behind our glistening condo towers year-round. Just like the client wanted. Congratulations to him! Let’s see that sunset again for good measure.
Jennifer Lopez & Alex Rodriguez an Item; Could a Miami Beach Waterfront Home be in Their Near Future?
If A-Rod and J-Lo are heating up as much as they say, the pair may soon be on the hunt for a future love nest. With Rodriguez’s real estate background, my guess is that the couple “eases” into their relationship by purchasing a vacant, waterfront lot and then developing upon it their ultimate dream home…and if they’re still together by the time the home is completed, then it’s meant to be.
If my predictions are correct, A-Rod and J-Lo will soon be on the lookout for a vacant waterfront lot on North Bay Road – the go-to choice for Miami Beach’s rich and famous. My bet is that they’d pursue 5840 North Bay Road (pictured above) – the largest available lot with the most water frontage on North Bay Road. 5840 North Bay Road is a 38,000 square foot lot with 191 linear feet of water frontage and comes with an asking price of $16.9M.
If Lopez really is still Jenny from the block, she should have no reservations about moving to a waterfront estate on North Bay Road since she once owned a home there two lots down at 5800 North Bay Road. That home eventually sold a few years ago to Grammy Award-winning artist Phil Collins.
Photo Tour: $34 Million Miami Beach Home With Rooftop Water Slide Finds A Buyer
It is fun for the whole family! Last week, we took a photo tour of one of my favorite old Miami Beach homes, and this week we get to go on a photo tour of one of my favorite new Miami Beach homes!
This newly built home at 4555 Pine Tree Drive has 16,000 square feet of living space and an additional 3,000 square feet of outdoor living space. Even indoors though, you are able to open the sliding glass walls to give an indoor/outdoor feel and maximize your enjoyment of Miami’s fabulous climate. In total, the home has 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms plus 2 powder rooms. Elements of the home include stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean from the master bedroom, a water slide concealed by an elegant glass staircase, a pool with open views and a boat dock that will be built to suit the buyers’ preferences.
We won’t have word until after the closing of who the buyer is or how much the property ultimately sells for, but you can rest assured we will be watching and waiting.
Latin Singer-Songwriter Ricardo Montaner Lists Miami Beach Home For $11M
Ricardo Montaner, the South American singer-songwriter who is famous for singing love songs. Over the course of his 30+ year career, he has sold over 22 million albums and I want to sing 22 million love songs to his Miami Beach waterfront estate, which hit the market this week for $11 million.
I showed this Miami Beach luxury home several years back, when it was being quietly offered as an off-market deal and there is just something special about the place. The property is located at 4950 Pinetree Drive in Miami Beach. It is a corner lot on a secluded part of the street that is extremely quiet despite being in the middle of Miami Beach. Because the house osits on a 46,000 square foot corner lot, the estate boasts a whopping 400 linear feet of water frontage!! That’s more than most condo developments!
The house owned by Ricardo Montaner was constructed in 1939 and could use a bit of modernization but is absolutely stunning. There is a gorgeous atrium that I could imagine having fabulous dinner parties in, or a romantic dinner for 2 in a setting so disgustingly romantic, it would be fit for The Bachelor TV show. The poolside cabana is large enough to be a single family home of its own, with a rooftop observation deck.
Overall, the house has nearly 8,000 square feet of living space under a/c with 8 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms and 1 half bath. Sadly, I did not see the Ricardo Montaner home on the list at the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board. I’ll be praying that whoever is the ultimate buyer of the property doesn’t destroy this gem to make way for a gauche McMansion with drop ceilings in the gameroom.
DEAL ALERT: Lovely Venetian Islands Waterfront Home Has $2M Reduction
Earlier today a little birdie peeked into our email tip line and suggested that there was a house at 1370 S Venetian Way on San Marco Island that was going through a series of price reductions with an “especially eager” seller. I thought to myself, “this is going to be fun.” I jumped over to the MLS to see what could possibly be wrong with the house that would make a total of $2 million in price reductions necessary. What I found was an especially lovely house and nothing to make fun of. Heck, if I’d love to live here if I had $5.865M.
The house hit the market back in August for $8.9M and has had steady reductions ever since. It is now priced alongside the average closed sales price for similar waterfront properties on the Venetian Islands, which is $5.865M over the last 3 months. Built in 2001, the current owners have outfitted the property with tasteful updates and seemingly kept the property up well. They opted for things like hurricane impact windows throughout over the typical more flashy upgrades we typically see in Miami. Good call.
Situated on a southern-exposure waterfront lot with 60 feet of frontage to the Biscayne Bay, the views from the pool, patio, balcony and rooftop sundeck are beautiful day and night. You would be able to see the Port of Miami, Downtown Miami lights and skyline and the underlit MacArthur Causeway at night. The interior is 4,033 square feet with 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths and a guest house. As of today, the listing price is $5,865,000 and from the tip we received, I imagine there is more room to negotiate. I’m at a loss. I don’t know why this house has no buyer. Do you have suggestions? Have a look at the MLS photos and drone video below and let us know. You can also compare it to other luxury houses in the neighborhood by viewing our collection of luxury homes for sale in Miami, Florida.
Venetian Islands Waterfront Lot Fetches $6.5 Million
Just this morning, escrow was closed on a 15,750 square foot lot at 412 West Dilido Drive on the Venetian Islands to an unnamed businessman from Brazil. The sale included plans for an amazing 7 bedroom home with almost 8,500 square feet of living space designed by Max Strang.
According to those involved in the sale, the buyer does intend to build his personal residence on the property. The plans are already approved and permitted from the grandfathered code regulations that allow a larger home, 1,100 square foot rooftop terrace and a private elevator. The same home would not be approved today.
Other aspects of the planned residence include an Ipe wood summer kitchen and Fleetwood telescopic floor to ceiling sliding doors. The buyer will have the opportunity to customize the interior to his taste. Aside from the 3rd floor rooftop terrace, there will be a series of three 2nd floor covered decks, two first floor patios, a cabana and an atrium. The lot offers 90 feet of waterfront with a dock and amazing sunset views.
The property and plans sold for $6.5 million. Dora Puig from our very own Luxe Living Realty represented the seller and David Pobiak from Beachfront Realty brought the buyer. See below for renderings of the project:
