Broker breaks price ceiling from African orphanage

While volunteering in Kenya, a broker’s listing at the W netted a buyer in record time, at a record price and at an increasingly busy address.

Michael Light, a Keller Williams broker based in Coral Gables, told The Real Deal he sold unit 1830 at the W South Beach for $1.45 million to an LLC linked to a Russian investor. At $2,917.51 per square foot, the sale represents the most paid for a studio or one-bedroom in Miami-Dade history, records show. The sale closed in under 24 hours, he said.

Such distinction appears easily won at the W South Beach, considering that the county’s previous record was set in April by a unit on the same floor.

The studio’s 497 square feet contain a living area with a balcony facing the Atlantic, according to Light’s website, MiamiLuxuryHomes.com.

“I had to log in from Africa,” Light told TRD from Nairobi, where he was volunteering at an orphanage with his fiancée through the organization Global Volunteer Network. The infrequent travelers were moved to go to Africa after hearing Texas televangelist Joel Osteen speak in Miami, Light said. “Most people in Miami aren’t so good,” he said.