The mogul mecca: Who’s buying at the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club?

Records reveal 75 deals totaling $616M since the Surfside project opened last year

A rendering of the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club, Alan Potamkin, Andrew Rosen, Daniel Nir, Leo Daly III, Charles Jenkins Jr. and Michael Sacks
A rendering of the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club, Alan Potamkin, Andrew Rosen, Daniel Nir, Leo Daly III, Charles Jenkins Jr. and Michael Sacks

Hedge funders, top retail bosses, wealthy scions and several New York developers are among the buyers shelling out millions to live at a newly developed Four Seasons-branded residential project in Surfside.

Property records reveal 75 units have closed at the 150-unit Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club at 9101 Collins Avenue. Those deals generated $615.6 million in combined sales volume.

Fort Partners, led by Nadim Ashi, completed the luxury beachfront development in March 2017 and began recording closings that month. The project includes a 72-room hotel, a Le Sirenuse restaurant and a Thomas Keller restaurant that’s expected to open in July. Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier, who was accused earlier this year of sexual harassment, and Kobi Karp designed the Surfside project, restoring the original Henry Firestone Club. The developer paid $116 million for the nine-acre site in 2012.

Here’s a look at some of the notable buyers who have purchased a unit over the past year:

Marguerite Delany Hark

Hark heads the Chaplin Hall Center for Children in Chicago, according to Bloomberg, as well as a nonprofit. A trust in her name paid $22 million for Unit 901 in the south tower, the highest price recorded so far at the development.

Albert “Aldo” Bensadoun

The founder and executive chairman of the Aldo Group paid $10.25 million for Unit 501 in the south tower in October. The Canadian billionaire used Junior’s Cliff LP to close on the 3,822-square-foot condo.

Alan Greenberg

The former publisher of Esquire and the president of pricey New York-based private school Avenues dropped $7.7 million for unit 915 in the north tower, also in July. Greenberg and his wife, Joy Greenberg, took out a $4.15 million mortgage from Citibank.

Charles Jenkins Jr.

Condo shopping was likely a pleasure for Jenkins Jr., former CEO and now chairman emeritus of Publix Super Markets. He spent $6.1 million to buy unit 1011 in the north building in June.

Daniel Nir and Jill Braufman

Nir is the CEO of Gracie Capital, a New York-based hedge fund. He and his wife, philanthropist Jill Braufman, spent $12 million in an all-cash deal for Penthouse 3 in the north tower of the Four Seasons in December. The unit spans 5,200 square feet.

Andrew Rosen

The Theory co-founder and CEO paid $5.15 million for Unit 909 in the south tower, also in December. Rosen, who co-founded the fashion retailer with Elie Tahari in 1997, sold his previous penthouse at the Setai Miami Beach in February 2017 for $8.5 million.

Alan and Brigitt Rok Potamkin

South Florida auto magnate Alan Potamkin dropped nearly $22 million for a unit on the eighth floor of the Four Seasons. He and his wife, Brigitt Rok Potamkin, closed on unit 811S in February of this year, nearly a year after he sold his Coral Gables estate for about $44 million.

The couple financed the Surfside condo deal with a $14.2 million mortgage from Northern Trust.

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Michael J. Sacks

The CEO of Chicago-based investment firm GCM Grosvenor paid $21.5 million for Penthouse 5 in the north tower in July. Sacks financed the purchase with a $10 million loan from JPMorgan Chase. He acquired the unit through Miami Surf LLC.

Beth and Ronald Dozoretz

The couple paid $7.4 million on unit 815N in July. Beth Dozoretz raised millions of dollars for Hillary and Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns and served as finance chair of the Democratic National Committee in the 1990s. Her husband, Ronald, heads FHC Health Systems, a Virginia-based health care company, and is reportedly worth $250 million.

David Hamamoto

In October, the NorthStar Realty Finance CEO paid $8.7 million for unit 903S. Hamamoto took out a $6.96 million mortgage on the unit from Bank of America a month later.

Thompson Dean

Dean, co-managing partner of the private equity firm Avista Capital Partners, paid $15.9 million for an eighth-floor unit in the south tower. He closed on the pad in December, and also owns a condo at the nearby Fendi Château Residences. 

Joseph Thomas Elbling and Maria Beatriz Martins Elbling

Joseph Thomas Elbling, the CEO of Digicon S.A., and his wife Maria Beatriz Martins Elbling closed on Unit 401S for $10.5 million in September. Digicon is an ATM manufacturing company based in Brazil. Records show the couple financed the purchase with a $5.24 million mortgage from JPMorgan.

Richard Lichter

The founder and managing partner at private equity firm Newbury Partners spent $7.4 million for Unit 809 in the south tower in December. His Stamford, Connecticut-based secondaries private equity firm has more than $2.8 billion in capital commitments.

Richard Ruben

Last month, New York real estate developer Richard Ruben paid $5.82 million for Unit 1009 in the south tower. Ruben, who heads the Ruben Companies, bought the two-bedroom, 2,600-square-foot condo through the company Second Beach LLC.

Terrance Gregg

Dexcom’s executive chairman picked up Unit 917 for $6.4 million in May 2017. Dexcom, a health care company, focuses on diabetes care and management.

Leo Daly III

The chairman and CEO of Leo A Daly, an Omaha, Nebraska-based architecture firm, paid about $6 million for Unit 919, also in May 2017. Daly and his wife Grega G. Daly bought the unit through a trust.

Howard and Michelle Swarzman

The Glenwood Management executive and his wife Michelle spent $10.25 million on unit 621N using the company MSHS Surf Club LLC. Howard’s grandfather was the late Leonard Litwin, a billionaire developer and head of Glenwood, one of the largest owners of rental housing in New York. The Swarzmans financed the deal with a $4.35 million mortgage from M&T Bank.