189 Bal Bay Drive
Duty Free Americas CEO Simon Falic will have to pay taxes tied to this purchase.
Falic and his wife Jana Falic paid $5.5 million for the non-waterfront home at 189 Bay Bal Drive via an LLC. Todd and Karen Whitman of the Whitman family that owns Bal Harbour Shops, sold the property to the Falics.
The four-bedroom, 2,700-square-foot house was being marketed as a teardown or redevelopment. It sits on a 33,000-square-foot lot across the street from the water, according to the listing. It hit the market in June for $10 million, nearly double what it just sold for, and was reduced to $7.5 million in November.
John Olsen of Harbor Realty Investment Corp. represented the Whitmans and Chani Lipskar of Harding Realty represented the buyers, according to Redfin.
Simon Falic and his brothers purchased Duty Free Americas in 2001, and they also own the distribution license for the Perry Ellis brand fragrances and cosmetics, the Independent reported in 2015. The family has also made substantial political donations to Benjamin Netanyahu, Mitt Romney, Eric Cantor and Charles Schumer.
The Falics financed their purchase with a $6.15 million mortgage.
Property records show Todd and Karen Whitman inherited the home from the William F. Whitman Living Trust in 2008. Stanley Whitman, founder of Bal Harbour Shops, transferred ownership to the couple. He died last year, shortly after Whitman Family Development secured approval to expand the high-end mall.