Brazilian media mogul “the Bishop” among buyers at Porsche Design Tower

Closings are underway at Dezer Development’s Porsche Design Tower, including the nearly $10 million condo sale to Brazilian media mogul Edir Macedo.

Macedo, known in his home country as “O Bispo” or “the Bishop,” paid $9.65 million for unit 4005 with his wife, Ester Bezerra. Macedo owns Rádio & Televisão Record, a media conglomerate that runs Brazil’s second largest television network, and is the founder of the a Pentecostal church that preaches “prosperity theology,” according to Bloomberg. Forbes pegged his wealth at $1.1 billion, but he fell off the list in 2016.

Records show six units have closed so far for a combined $64.25 million at Porsche Design, which received its temporary certificate of occupancy at the end of November. It has an estimated sellout of about $840 million, with $760 million presold. Dezer told TRD last week that 126 of the luxury tower’s 132 units have been sold.

Macedo’s neighbors will include another once-billionaire, now-millionaire. Russian businessman Igor Yakovlev and Galina Yakovlev paid $8.7 million for unit 5101. In July, the Yakovlevs sold their condo-hotel unit at the St. Regis Bal Harbour for $7.5 million. Igor Yakovlev made his money in home appliances and and the electronic retail market, once controlling Eldorado, the largest home appliance and electronic retailer in Russia, according to Forbes.

The developer has said that 22 billionaires purchased units in the building.

The other four condos to have closed at Porsche Design, at 18555 Collins Avenue, are:

• Lapmi Inc. paid $16.5 million for unit 4805.
• PDT 5201 LLC paid $11.1 million for unit 5201.
• Posh 8 Dynamic Inc. paid $12.8 million for unit 4401.
• Valerry International Corp. paid $5.5 million for unit 2503. The entity is controlled by architect Valeria Dasilva.

The star feature of the 60-story tower is the Dezervator car elevator, which hoists residents and their automobiles to their units. The beachfront project’s other features include balcony plunge pools, racing and golf simulators, and “man caves,” the latter of which are for sale.

In September, a neighboring condo association filed a lawsuit against Porsche Design, alleging Porsche’s foundation work left cracks in the building’s structure.