Planned penthouse at Ritz-Carlton Residences goes for $32M

From left: the proposed Ritz-Carlton Residences in Miami Beach and Ophir Sternberg and George Mato
From left: the proposed Ritz-Carlton Residences in Miami Beach and Ophir Sternberg and George Mato

A penthouse in the upcoming Ritz-Carlton Residences in Miami Beach was sold to a “bachelor from Europe” for a whopping $32 million, according to Lionheart Capital director of sales George Mato.

Mato described the buyer as a 45-year-old single man from Western Europe, but declined to divulge any more details.

Pricing at the condo conversion ranges from $2 million for a two-bedroom to $40 million for a 10,000-square-foot duplex skyhouse.

Most of the potential buyers are local homeowners who no longer want to pay to maintain a big house with a staff. The group is mostly from the northeast region of the U.S.– primarily New York City – and Europe. Mato said those interested in the units are looking for second, and sometimes even third, fourth or fifth homes, and are “elite, high power families.”

Pricing for the units in the building, which will house 111 condos, is between $1,200 and $1,300 per square foot. Ophir Sternberg, the project’s developer, bought the property for $20 million about two years ago. “We took a risk,” Sternberg said. “Other developers passed.”

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

A similar product in New York City, Sternberg said, would easily be $6,000 per square foot.

Currently, the project is approaching a 50 percent occupancy rate, according to Mato.

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach – located by the Surprise Lake, rather than the ocean – will include a private iMax movie theater, reserved for its residents.

The South Beach condominium project is in its preconstruction phase. The project is expected to be completed by April 2016.