Resi roundup: Car dealer, Subway bakery investor and sporting goods scion buy and sell homes in South Florida

In the latest roundup of South Florida residential sales, a Michigan car dealer, Subway bakery investor and sporting goods scion bought and sold homes across the region. 

Sales spanned Golden Beach to Palm Beach, and prices ranged from $9.4 million to $18 million.

Golden Beach

In Golden Beach, an investor group sold a renovated non-waterfront house for $12 million.

Douglas Elliman agent Brett Harris confirmed that he and Lance Burstyn, through their O B Development LLC, sold the home at 128 Ocean Boulevard. The deed is not yet public and the buyer is unknown. Harris had the listing. 

The investment group bought the house for $5.4 million in 2019, records show. Built in 2018 on 0.4 acres, the 7,700-square-foot home has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, two half-bathrooms and a pool, according to property records. The group updated the house and listed it for $12 million in November, Redfin shows. 

Since closing, Harris has relisted the home for rent, asking $60,000 a month, according to Redfin. 

Fort Lauderdale

In Fort Lauderdale, car dealer Todd Wenzel bought an incomplete waterfront spec mansion for $18 million.

Records show Wenzel bought the site at 3 Pelican Drive from 3 Pelican Drive LLC, a Florida entity managed by court-appointed receiver Glen Waldman. 

Wenzel founded Todd Wenzel Automotive, a car dealership group that sells GMC, Buick and Chevrolet brand cars in Michigan, its website shows. 

The LLC is registered to Jon Owoc, the son of embattled energy drink mogul Jack Owoc, who dropped a record $40 million on an oceanfront Fort Lauderdale mansion in October. The elder Owoc founded Bang Energy, and leveraged TikTok influencer marketing to gain popularity in recent years. Owoc lost control of his company after Monster successfully sued the firm for false advertising and won $293 million in damages, according to published reports. Now, Bang’s liquidator is seeking more than $100 million from Jack Owoc for his mismanagement of the beverage firm, including his use of company funds to finance his son’s real estate endeavors. 

Jon Owoc bought the 0.4-acre Pelican Drive property for $3.9 million in 2020, records show. He tore down the existing house.

Palm Beach

In Palm Beach, a Dallas couple who made their fortune in Subway sandwiches sold a Kirkland House condo at a loss for $11.9 million.

Records show Bennie and Stephanie Bray sold unit 3A at 101 Worth Avenue to Richard Mashaal and Evelyn Jerassy.

Dana Koch of the Corcoran Group had the listing. 

Mashaal is CEO and co-chief investment officer of New York-based investment firm Senvest Management. Last month, Senvest agreed to pay a $6.5 million penalty after the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the firm with failures to preserve records and uphold a code of ethics, a press release shows. 

Bennie Bray is an operational partner with the Dallas-based investment firm CIC Partners and a lead investor in CraftMark Bakery, the Indianapolis-based operation that produces Subway’s baked goods. In 2010, the couple bought the former Palm Beach home of Bernie Madoff from the U.S. government for $5.7 million. They sold it for $9 million in 2013, records show. In October, they bought a flipped Palm Beach townhouse for $13.9 million. 

The Brays bought the Kirkland House unit for $15 million in 2022, records show. The renovated unit spans 4,100 square feet, with three bedrooms, four bathrooms and one half-bathroom, according to the listing. The condo building was completed in 1974, property records show.

The couple listed the unit for $16.5 million in April of last year, subsequently dropping the price three times before selling it for about $4 million less than they paid for it. 

Elsewhere in Palm Beach, interior designer Linda Saligman sold a renovated, non-waterfront house for $13.5 million.

Records show Saligman sold the house at 230 Atlantic Avenue to a Delaware LLC named for the address.

Lisa and John Cregan of Sotheby’s International Realty had the listing, and Joshua McPherson and Farhad Farman of Douglas Elliman brought the buyer.

Saligman is the widow of Harvey Saligman, the former CEO of St. Louis-based shoe and furniture maker Interco (later known as Furniture Brands International) and managing partner of real estate investment firm Cynwyd Investments. He died in 2013.

She bought the Atlantic Avenue house for $4 million in 2019, records show. Built in 2007, the 4,000-square-foot house on 0.2-acres has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, two half-bathrooms and a pool, according to property records. 

Saligman listed it for $14.8 million in October, Redfin shows. 

West Palm Beach

Over the bridge in West Palm Beach, a Palm Beach couple downsized to a non-waterfront spec house in the El Cid neighborhood for $9.4 million. 

David and Becky Gochman bought the house at 201 Sunset Road from Palm Beach Trojans LLC, a Florida entity with Jeremy Myers signing, according to records.

Gary Pohrer of Douglas Elliman had the listing, and Ryan Beckett of BitRealty brought the buyers.

David Gochman sold Academy Sports & Outdoors, his family’s Texas-based sporting goods empire, to the private equity firm KKR for $2.1 billion in 2011, according to published reports. The family’s net worth was estimated at $2.5 billion in 2015, Forbes shows. The couple also owns an oceanfront house at 200 South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach, which they currently have listed for $59 million. It is one of the priciest listings on the island this season. 

Their new 0.3-acre Sunset Road property last sold for $830,000 in 2022, records show. Myers demolished the existing home that year, and completed a 4,800-square-foot house with five bedrooms, five bathrooms, one half-bathroom and a pool this year, the listing shows. 

It listed for $10.5 million in January, according to Redfin.