Everyone in Miami Beach knows who the Robins family is, led by the late Jerry Robins, who helped shape the city’s skyline.
His death in the fall of 2022 triggered a family fight over his kids’ inheritance and the value of their father’s estate.
In The Real Deal’s latest issue, Francisco Alvarado dives into the bitter fight playing out in court.
Brothers Scott and Craig are both developers, while their sister Stacy is a broker. Sister Gina is not in the real estate industry. And Joan, Jerry’s widow, has been caught in the crossfire.
Scott, Craig and Gina Robins maintained for years that Jerry’s assets totaled just over $3 million.
Stacy Robins is convinced there’s more to it. In 2023, she sued, accusing her siblings of deliberately excluding roughly $6.1 million of assets from the probate process, including four investment accounts and the minority stake in two Miami Beach commercial properties.
Jerry’s empire encompassed businesses, properties and investments, including an ownership stake in media publishing companies founded by former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine.
When all is said and done, Stacy and Gina will each get 35 percent of the estate, while Scott and Craig will receive 15 percent.
Stacy isn’t done fighting. She alleges in court filings that her family members conspired to hide more than $30 million in assets. (An attorney for Joan, and Stacy’s siblings said Stacy’s legal challenges are without merit.)
The legal saga details allegations of Stacy’s family members working to turn Jerry against her in the final months of his life during which she claims he was heavily medicated. It also raises the question of how much and what Jerry intended to leave his children.
“While [Jerry] was under the influence of these potent pharmaceuticals, Scott brought [Jerry] documents to sign, and assets that [Jerry] owned were conveyed out of his ownership — some into a trust, and some to his surviving spouse, Joan,” the lawsuit states. “But for these conveyances, these assets would constitute part of [Jerry’s] probate estate.”
What we’re thinking about: Who’s the buyer (reportedly an “international finance executive”) who’s in contract to pay $110 million for a waterfront property next to billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Indian Creek properties? Send me a note at [email protected].
CLOSING TIME
Residential: The estate of Barbara Voorhees sold the waterfront house at 1788 Royal Palm Way in Boca Raton to a land trust named for the address for $31.5 million.
Commercial: Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega’s Ponte Gadea paid $165 million for the 44-story, 259-unit apartment tower at 201 South Federal Highway in downtown Fort Lauderdale for $165 million. The Pérez’s family’s Related Group sold Veneto Las Olas after completing the tower last year.
Special thanks to Kate Hinsche for contributing to this newsletter!
NEW TO THE MARKET
An oceanfront mansion in Delray Beach with a 20-car garage hit the market with Serhant’s Christian Prakas for $44.9 million. The 1-acre, 15,200-square-foot estate at 526 North Ocean Boulevard has a five-bedroom main house with six bathrooms and three half-bathrooms, a two-bedroom guest house with two bathrooms and one half-bathroom, a pool, tennis court, golf simulator, 150 feet of oceanfront and a separate boat house with a 50-foot dock, the listing shows. Real estate investor Daniel Edwards bought the estate for $22 million in 2023.
A thing we’ve learned
June 8 is World Oceans Day. The United Nations’ theme for this year’s celebration is “Wonder: Sustaining what sustains us” with the aim to celebrate the awe inspired by the world’s oceans. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection shares information on local beach cleanups here.
Elsewhere in Florida
- An unknown man posed as a producer for the award-winning news magazine broadcast “60 Minutes” to hunt for information on a controversial public land deal in Northeastern Florida. The person claimed to be scheduling an interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis while pressing fishing charter captain Matt Chipperfield for information on a proposal for The Upland LLC to acquire 600 acres of the Guana River Wildlife Management Area. “They were pumping me for information about who I was talking to,” Chipperfield tells the Tampa Bay Times. “It was nefarious in nature, but it also let me know that I said something that put pressure on somebody.”
- A crane accident killed two workers in Merritt Island near Cocoa Beach. According to experts, high winds likely caused the accident, as gusts reached up to 55 miles per house at the construction site of Health First’s Cape Canaveral Hospital on Merritt Island, Florida Today reports.
- The Miami City Commission is set to vote at its June 12 meeting on a proposal that would push this year’s election to November 2026, the Miami Herald reports. Proponents, like commissioner Damian Pardo who spearheaded the switch, said it will align the city’s elections with national elections and increase voter turnout. If passed, the delayed elections would mean an extra year in office for Mayor Francis Suarez and commissioner Joe Carollo, who are both termed out.
- Manatee County is considering raising impact fees for developers to help cover the effects of rapid growth. County commissioners are reviewing a plan to raise fee rates to the maximum allowed in the state, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Real estate industry insiders oppose the move.
