Chicago art collector heir buys Murano at Portofino condo

Unit sold for $2,764 psf, marking the highest sale in the building

Stacy Robins, Debra Quade, Despina Ikonomidou and Murano at Portofino unit 3501
Stacy Robins, Despina Ikonomidou, Debra Quade and Murano at Portofino unit 3501

The daughter of a prominent Chicago art collector paid $9.3 million for a condo in South Beach, The Real Deal has learned.

Ruth Mayer, daughter of Beatrice “Buddy” Cummings Mayer, and her husband Akiva Gross, closed on unit 3501 at Murano at Portofino for $2,764 per square foot – which marks a record in the building on a per-square-foot basis. The previous record was held by a $2,100 per-foot sale of a penthouse at Murano, which sold in January to Marci Roberts, the wife of Miami sports agent and real estate developer Marc Roberts, for $5.5 million.

In this latest deal, the seller is Robert Curran, a photographer who paid $6.73 million for the unit in 2015.

Curran was represented by Stacy Robins of the Stacy Robins Companies. Debra Quade and Despina Ikonomidou of Cervera Real Estate represented the buyer. The agents all declined to disclose the buyer’s identity.

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Beatrice Mayer and her husband were co-founders of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Beatrice, who died in September, was an art collector and philanthropist.

Ruth Mayer and her husband closed on the 3,365-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom unit on Friday.

Other prominent owners at Murano include the billionaire Crown family of Chicago.

The Related Group completed the 189-unit building in 2002. Sieger-Suarez designed the bayfront tower, which includes a health and fitness center, swimming pool and spa, and lighted tennis courts.