Glenn Straub, a developer who owns the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, plans to bid for the former Versace mansion, which is scheduled to be auctioned tomorrow in a federal bankruptcy proceeding.
Palm Beach Polo filed a notice of appearance with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Miami on Friday, according to the Miami Herald.
Straub has met the court’s conditions to bid by putting $3 million into escrow and demonstrating the ability to cough up at least $40 million, his attorney, Luis Salazar, said in a statement.
The auction will take place at the decadent former residence of Italian designer Gianni Versace, who was gunned down on the front steps in 1997.
First listed for $125 million, then dropped to $75 million, the auction is a last-ditch effort to sell the mansion and clear the gilded mansion’s messy debt history, as The Real Deal previously reported.
The debt holder, VM South Beach LLC, has put in a stalking-horse bid of $25 million itself, setting a minimum for other bidders. The sale will include the property fully furnished.
The current owner, Peter Loftin, put Casa Casuarina LLC, the company that owns the property, in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings on July 1 in a bid to stave off creditors’ efforts to appoint a receiver. The parties soon afterward agreed to the auction.
David Beckham, who is considering taking league soccer rights to Miami, and his wife, Victoria, could be among tomorrow’s bidders, according to UK press reports. [Miami Herald] — Emily Schmall