2024 was a long year. “We have so much news, it’s crazy” is a phrase that my editor and I have found ourselves repeating to each other.
Some things remained constant. High interest rates kept deal activity suppressed across resi and commercial real estate. Still, home buyers and sellers set records. Commercial properties traded — some at losses — and leases were signed. Condo owners and condo associations were forced to start paying attention to new legislation. An appeals court ruling in March put some condo buyout deals in limbo, and put one planned development (the Edition Residences in Miami’s Edgewater) on hold.
Palm Beach and its sister city across the bridge garnered more attention from developers, tenants and buyers. We reported on bad brokers. More to come on that in 2025.
The FBI was busy. Scandals continued to plague the Magic City.
Here are some of the highs and the lows of what we covered in 2024.
FBI arrests the Alexander brothers
Oren and Tal Alexander were among the top real estate agents in Miami and New York, respectively, until last summer, when The Real Deal first reported on civil lawsuits that alleged Oren and his twin Alon, and later Tal, drugged and raped women. In the months that followed, more women came forward with similar allegations. The Alexanders’ business, the Side-backed brokerage Official, collapsed, and in December, the FBI arrested the three brothers in Miami Beach and Bal Harbour on federal sex trafficking charges. Oren and Alon also face state charges of sexual battery. The allegations date back to when the brothers attended high school in North Miami Beach, and are as recent as 2021.
Homebuilder Sergio Pino dies by suicide as FBI was about to arrest him
In 2024, the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office were also probing murder-for-hire attempts allegedly made by developer Sergio Pino, a prominent South Florida homebuilder, against his estranged wife, Tatiana. Pino shot himself to death at his waterfront home in the ritzy Cocoplum neighborhood of Coral Gables in July as the FBI planned to arrest him for orchestrating multiple failed attempts to have Tatiana killed.
Celebrity dealmaking
Resi sales volume fell, and owners, in some cases, slashed their asking prices. But celebrities still bet on South Florida.
David and Victoria Beckham (have you heard of them?) paid just over $72 million for a waterfront spec mansion in Miami Beach, setting a record for the city’s North Bay Road, in October. Developer Niklas de la Motte sold the home, which was on the market with Dora Puig of Luxe Living Realty for $80 million.
Here are some other notable deals, though not all involve true celebrities:
All luxury eyes were on Palm Beach, home to President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, and nearby towns. Fox News host Bret Baier sold his Palm Beach house, while former Fox alum Sean Hannity paid $24 million for a mansion in Manalapan. Billy Joel sold his nearby estate for $43 million.
Neymar bought a waterfront lot in Bal Harbour. Consumer goods multimillionaire Anand Khubani paid $100 million for an assemblage on La Gorce Island in Miami Beach. French Montana bought a home in Golden Beach. Floyd Mayweather Jr. sold his Miami Beach home, but purchased a stake in Casa Casuarina, previously known as the Versace Mansion.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos paid $87 million for his third waterfront estate in the Miami area, bringing his total spent in the exclusive Indian Creek Village to $234 million. (One of these deals sparked a lawsuit that was filed against Douglas Elliman, the brokerage involved in the deal. And in case you missed it… Elliman was also in the spotlight in 2024. The brokerage struggled with shaky financial performance, saw the sudden resignation of Howard Lorber and was brought into the Alexanders story.)
Office market flounders
South Florida’s office market, touted as immune to the woes facing other major metros, showed signs of cracking for the first time since the pandemic boom. Investment sales fell significantly compared to before the pandemic. New-to-market firms pulled back, and some companies that leased during the boom backed out of their deals. And some landlords had to face their mounting debt woes.
What we’re thinking about: What expectations, good or bad, do you have for South Florida real estate in 2025? Send me a note at kk@therealdeal.com.
CLOSING TIME
Our research team compiled the top sales and leases of the year. Check them out here.
Residential: Todd Michael Glaser and his partners sold the 2.3-acre private Palm Beach island called Tarpon Island for $150 million in May. Australian infrastructure investor Michael Dorrell acquired the nearly 24,000-square-foot mansion, which hit the market in 2022 for $218 million.
Commercial: In October, Reuben Brothers purchased the W Hotel South Beach at 2201 Collins Avenue for more than $400 million from New York developers Aby Rosen and David Edelstein. The deal included 175 hotel rooms and 173 condo-hotel units.
NEW TO THE MARKET The new mansion at 999 Hillsboro Mile in Hillsboro Beach hit the market as a “coming soon” property, asking $45 million. Canadian commercial real estate firm Wilson Terra Firma Holdings owns the nearly 13,000-square-foot, six-bedroom and six-and-a-half-bathroom home. It sits on a 0.7-acre waterfront lot. Re/Max agent Marco Terminesi has the listing.
