Vintage Miami Beach Estate Back On The Market — With A Record $40M Asking Price
Carl Fisher first laid eyes on Miami Beach in 1912, when he had trouble giving the land away. Times have changed just a little since then.
The price of Miami Beach real estate today would astound Fisher, the city’s founding father, with the coup de gras being the $40 million asking price for his own Biscayne Bay estate (shown here in vintage form, circa 1930s), which went on the market this week.
According to broker Nelson Gonzalez of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors, the amount is a new record for any property in Miami-Dade County. Wondering what $40 million will get you these days, the Miami Herald decided to take a look. The three-story, 79-year-old villa at at 5020 North Bay Road has a mere 12 bedrooms and 19 baths. It’s on a 1.57-acre waterfront lot with a pavilion, outdoor fireplace, jacuzzi, wine cellar, and an original walk-in vault.
Oh, and the 85-foot observation tower, with its own elevator and bathroom. Reaching the top gives you panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean, Biscayne Bay and the Miami skyline.
”The view has always brought people here,” Gonzalez said. “You can never, ever, duplicate this because of the city zoning and height limits on residential properties. This is the best of the best. This is where [Fisher] used to come to close the deal.”
It is believed that Fisher constructed the tower to show off the amazing views to potential buyers in the 1920s. Architect / businessman Jorge Almeida bought the historic home in 1978 for $550,000 and sold it last year, just before he passed away, for $16.5 million. The current owners — Todd Michael Glaser, Chad Oppenheim and Armin Mattli — have spent the past several months reworking and remodeling the villa.
Once the $7 million renovation is complete, the property will have two guest houses with a poolside cabana, along with a five-car garage. But it doesn’t end there. The gardens will be adorned with statues original to the 1927 home, and part of the original master bedroom has been converted into a walk-in closet. It comes with a balcony that will look out over the villa’s gardens and Biscayne Bay.
The North Bay Road neighborhood, which boasts residents such as Jennifer Lopez, Matt Damon, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Calvin Klein and Billy Joel, is also described as the ”it” location of Miami Beach. Lenny Kravitz almost became the newest celeb on the block, even touring the Fisher property six times and making an offer before the deal fell through. According to broker Gonzalez, the Grammy-winning rocker just didn’t step up to the plate.
Would the $40 million price be too rich for Fisher himself? Surprisingly, it might not. The builder amassed a fortune of nearly $100 million — and that’s in 1920s dollars. So not only could be potentially buy the place back, he probably wouldn’t even have to glance at current Florida home loan rates before coming to his decision. Must be nice.
