Aldo shoe mogul adds to South Florida real estate portfolio

Albert “Aldo” Bensadoun, the billionaire Montreal-based founder of the Aldo retail shoe empire, just paid $10.25 million for a condo at the Four Seasons Private Residences at The Surf Club.

Property records show Bensadoun’s Junior S Cliff LP bought unit 501 in the south tower of the new luxury Surfside development condo development at 9111 Collins Avenue.

Forbes currently pegs Morrocco-born Bensadoun’s fortune at $1.01 billion. His Aldo Group sells footwear and accessories at more than 3,000 locations in 100 countries, according to its website.

Bensadoun already owns a commercial building on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. Aldo Group paid $35 million for 635-639 Lincoln Road last year.

At the Four Seasons, he joins other buyers including a former Esquire publisher, telecommunications tycoon Rajendra Singh and former Publix Super Markets CEO Charles Jenkins Jr.

Fort Partners completed the project, which includes a 77-room hotel and two 12-story residential towers, earlier this year. The Surf Club development features a private club, two restaurants, four swimming pools, cabanas, a gym and oceanside gardens. It was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier with Kobi Karp, and was built on the site of the former private beach club founded in 1930 by Harvey Firestone and designed by Russell Pancoast. Units range from $3.7 million to $31 million, and from 1,800 square feet to more than 7,000 square feet.