A trust tied to the billionaire Bezos family is seeking approval from Coral Gables to upgrade the dock behind their prime Gables Estates compound.
Companies tied to the Bezos Family Foundation acquired two adjacent waterfront mansions in 2022 for a combined $78 million. The LLCs were linked to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ late mother, Jackie, and his stepfather, Mike. They paid $44 million for the 8,713-square-foot home at 9501 Journeys End Lane and $34 million for the 12,829-square-foot mansion at 9475 Journeys End Road.
The properties total just over four acres in the gated Coral Gables community.
Forgotten Fountain LLC submitted an application to the city for variances that will allow a boatlift to extend 54 feet and two inches, more than twice as far as currently allowed; as well as a variance to allow mooring piles to be set 67 feet and four inches, nearly three times as far out from the banks of the waterways. The city’s board of adjustment will review the variance requests at its meeting on Monday. The board of architects approved the requests in July.
The existing dock will remain, according to the application. The boatlift and mooring piles can’t be located closer to the shoreline because of the mangrove trees, a protected plant.
The application includes an approval from the Journey’s End Homeowners Association, signed by president Louis Wolfson III.
Bezos’ mother, Jackie, died in August at the age of 78. Jackie and Mike owned a home in Miami’s Palmetto Bay until 1984, two years after Jeff graduated from Miami Palmetto Senior High School.
Mike Bezos is reportedly planning a “major expansion” of his family office, the Wall Street Journal reported in September. The office, called Aurora Borealis, recently hired Valeria Alberola as CEO.
Jeff, whose net worth is about $235 billion, has acquired waterfront properties in the exclusive village of Indian Creek, also home to Jared and Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady, Jeff Soffer and Carl Icahn. He’s building a waterfront estate on the island.
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