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South Florida

Buyer of foreclosure king’s manse adds home next door: $8M

The two homes at 5 and 3 Harborage Isle Drive in Fort Lauderdale
The two homes at 5 and 3 Harborage Isle Drive in Fort Lauderdale

Two deals, one week: The same buyers who paid more than $27 million for David J. Stern’s island estate in Fort Lauderdale just picked up the neighboring house for $8 million.

And they aren’t the only ones making moves this week. The seller of the $8 million home, Sylvia Baldini, is a major property owner on Harborage Isle, and is apparently trying to offload her portfolio of spectacular waterfront mansions.

On Dec. 23, the 888 Property Trust — with Boca Raton lawyer Jeffrey L. Greenberg at its helm — paid $8.2 million for the home at 3 Harborage Isle Drive. That same day, the trust also purchased David J. Stern’s sprawling 1.4-acre estate at 5 Harborage Isle Drive for $27.5 million.

So what does nearly $36 million get you? The trust now controls Harborage Isle’s entire western exposure, which includes more than 2 acres of prime waterfront real estate. That also comes with about 23,000 square feet of residential space between the two houses, which have a combined 10 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, two pools and a private tennis court.

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The home at 3 Harborage Isle, which neighbors Stern’s estate, was sold by Baldini. She originally paid $7.7 million for the 1970s era residence in 2002, and until this year, owned four of the island’s 17 homes.

The four Harborage Isle properties once owned by Sylvia Baldini

The four Harborage Isle properties once owned by Sylvia Baldini

Broward County records show Baldini’s holdings used to include the homes at 1, 2, 3 and 9 Harborage Isle Drive. Several news reports said Baldini bought these houses at the same time her husband, Lawrence Duprey, headed the faltering CL Financial insurance conglomerate in the Caribbean. Several executives at one the firm’s subsidiaries, CLICO, were even allegedly accused of siphoning millions of dollars from the company, according to a report in the Trinidad Daily Express. The insurance conglomerate was later bailed out by the government of Trinidad and Tobago to the tune of $7.3 billion, according to a report in the Guardian of Trinidad and Tobago.

Baldini put three of her Harborage Isle homes up for sale last year: the properties at 2, 5 and 9 Harborage Isle Drive. Two successfully sold this year, while the third — 9 Harborage Isle Drive — is still on the market, according to listing service Redfin.

An interesting note is that the listing 3 Harborage Isle Drive, the one 888 Property Trust bought, said it was an “urgent” sale at below market value. County records show Baldini’s ownership on the island has been troubled: the community’s association and various lenders have filed multiple foreclosure suits against the properties for delinquent liens and loans.