Wrigley heir sells newly built Fort Lauderdale home for $7.25M

An heir to the Wrigley chewing gum company sold a waterfront Fort Lauderdale home for a sweet $7.25 million, property records show.

James S. Offield’s trust sold the 7,707-square-foot home to Sunset River Estate Limited Partnership, a Quebec, Canada-based entity. Offield is the great-grandson of William Wrigley Jr., who founded his eponymous company in 1891.

The modern home, at 655 Middle River Drive, features five bedroom suites, a chef’s kitchen with a walk-in cooler, two garages that fit five cars, a pool and 70-foot dock. Don Colonello of Douglas Elliman was the listing agent and Thom Fox of Century 21 Universal Luxury represented the buyer.

Records show Offield paid $4.67 million for the 13,642-square-foot property in 2014.

Colonello, who declined to comment on the seller’s identity, said his client received a certificate of occupancy for the house about a year ago. It hit the market in August for $9 million, then was reduced to $7.75 million in December before it went under contract about a month later. That means it sold at a 19 percent discount off of its original asking price.

It traded hands for $940 per square foot.

Colonello said the deal is the fifth-highest home sale in Broward County this year. In February, a similarly sized home at 701 Middle River Drive sold for $7.35 million, or just over $1,000 per square foot. And about a month ago, the waterfront house at 2501 Aqua Vista Boulevard traded, near rapper Rick Ross’s former mansion, for $9 million or $1,456 per square foot, according to Redfin.