Chicken Kitchen founder Christian de Berdouare has chopped the asking price for the former Miami Beach home of Pablo Escobar.
De Berdouare and his wife Jennifer Valoppi reduced the price to $17.9 million and relisted 5860 North Bay Road, a property they demolished earlier this year, according to Realtor.com. They planned to redevelop the 33,000-square-foot waterfront lot into a modern, multimillion-dollar mansion.
That hasn’t changed, de Berdouare told The Real Deal.
Keeping it on the market allows the couple to keep their options open, he said. It first hit the market in September 2015 for $21 million, was reduced to $17.995 million in October and then again this week. The $17.9 million asking price breaks down to about $540 per square foot.
“Ideally, I would like to build a house there, but I own three properties on North Bay Road,” de Berdouare told TRD.
They also own 5004 North Bay Road, a new spec mansion on the market since early 2015 for $35.9 million. De Berdouare said it was completed last month. One Sotheby’s International Realty agent Mirce Curkoski has both listings.
The Berdouare family lives down the street at 5750 North Bay Road.
The house at 5860 North Bay Road belonged to the “King of Cocaine” from 1980 to 1987. Escobar reportedly used it as a residence and base for his drug operation. De Berdouaré and Valoppi hosted a press conference when they demolished the 1956 house earlier this year, revealing that a safe likely belonging to Escobar had been stolen.
Records show the couple paid $9.65 million for the 5860 North Bay Road property in 2014. The house surrounded a large Banyan tree, which de Berdouare said is still there.