UPDATED Feb. 15, 6:15 p.m.: This is sure to be an art-filled abode.
Pablo Picasso’s grandson just bought a condo in Miami Beach’s South-of-Fifth neighborhood.
Olivier Widmaier-Ruiz Picasso paid $3.6 million for unit 3701 at Icon South Beach at 450 Alton Road, records show. The 2,145-square-foot unit traded for $1,686 per square foot. That’s the highest price per square foot for a non-penthouse unit, according to the brokers, Iconic Properties co-owners Arshan Borhan and Brian Kulju, who represented both the buyer and seller.
Picasso, an author, television and music producer, is the son of Maya Widmaier-Ruiz, who is one of Pablo Picasso’s five surviving heirs, according to a 2016 Vanity Fair article. Her mother, Marie-Thérèse Walter, met Picasso when she was leaving the Paris Métro, and he said, “You have an interesting face. I would like to do a portrait of you,” according to the article. They lived together for many years and she was his muse.
The custom-built condo was designed by architect Rene Gonzalez, using glass and geometric forms, which reminded Picasso of his grandfather’s Cubism art, according to the brokers.
Picasso, who lives in Paris, has friends at Icon South Beach, and wanted to buy a unit as a retreat for the winter months, Borhan said. “He’s excited to put his touch on it in terms of furnishings and art, which he will do,” added Kulju.
Records show the unit’s seller is Ion Varouxakis of Greece. It was listed in May for $4.1 million, which means it sold for 12 percent below the listing price.
Icon South Beach was completed in 2004 by the Related Group.