The founders of New Vernon Capital just paid $7.25 million for a unit at Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach.
Records show Sky Farm II LLC, a company controlled by Arshad Zakaria and Thomas H. Patrick, closed on unit 2601 at the luxury condo tower. Zakaria is co-founder, president and CEO of New Vernon, a private equity and hedge fund manager based in Jersey City, New Jersey. Zakaria was also an executive vice president of Merrill Lynch, where he worked with Patrick, then executive vice chairman of finance and administration. Patrick, New Vernon chairman, also co-founded the firm with Zakaria, according to Bloomberg.
No financing was recorded in the condo sale. Records show a similarly named New Vernon-controlled LLC, Sky Farm LLC, paid $6.1 million in 2013 for a unit at the St. Regis in Bal Harbour. That condo is not listed for sale.
Dezer Development completed Porsche Design Tower late last year, and public records have revealed a roster of buyers that includes the daughter of an alleged New York mobster, a Russian real estate investor, Mexican billionaire Carlos Peralta Quintero, a Major League Baseball player, and a Brazilian media mogul.
The 132-unit, 60-story building, at 18555 Collins Avenue, is known for its “Dezervator,” a patented car elevator that takes residents up to their units, in their cars. Amenities also include balcony plunge pools, and racing and gold simulators. Dezer told The Real Deal in November that he’s already eyeing his next car-branded condo tower, and plans to announce the project within months.
Other beachfront towers that are under construction nearby in Sunny Isles include Jade Signature and Muse Residences.