Russell Weiner, the billionaire founder of Rockstar Energy Drink, paid more than $35 million for two waterfront properties on Pine Tree Drive in Miami Beach.
The controversial owners of the Centner Academy in the Miami Design District sold the historic home at 5011 Pine Tree Drive, as well as the empty lot at 5111 Pine Tree Drive, for $17 million and $18.1 million, respectively, according to property records. The properties total nearly 3.5 acres.
Trusts managed by Jamie Mandel and owned by David and Leila Centner sold the two parcels to a Las Vegas entity managed by Weiner’s trust. The properties are separated by a home owned by Richard and Maria Meruelo.
The Meruelos, who are in the midst of a divorce, face a foreclosure lawsuit on that property. Court records show RH Fund XXII LLC, which is tied to Las Vegas-based Red Hills Holdings, sued over an alleged unpaid mortgage balance of $6.3 million, plus interest, that is backed by the home. It sits on a nearly 1-acre lot.
David and Leila Centner (Getty)
The Centners secured approval earlier this year from the Miami Beach Design Review Board to add onto the property at 5011 Pine Tree Drive, which was built in 1920 by the city’s founding Collins family and designed by architect Russell Pancoast. The approval is for a two-story home, plus the relocation of the existing home and carriage boat house.
Weiner, the buyer, is no stranger to South Florida real estate. In October, he flipped two North Palm Beach homes for $48 million that he had just purchased from Swedish model Elin Nordegren, marking a 45 percent gain in one month.
Weiner is worth about $4.1 billion, according to Forbes. He sold Rockstar to PepsiCo for nearly $3.9 billion last year. In 2016, he paid $20 million for a waterfront mansion on North Bay Road, which he still owns.