Trust of late wife of Wendy’s founder sells Fort Lauderdale estate

The trust of the late wife of Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas sold a waterfront estate in Fort Lauderdale for $7.3 million.

The trust of I. Lorraine Thomas sold the 13,446-square-foot estate at 1 Bay Colony Drive for $542 per square foot, records show. A company tied to attorney Gregory A. McLaughlin bought the property.

The estate has 183 feet of deep water dockage. It features a five-car garage and private staff quarters with separate entrance, two offices, a home theater and a custom pool. It has seven bedrooms and eleven bathrooms. The home was built in 1970, records show.

Thomas, whose husband founded Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers in 1969, was known as the First Lady of Wendy’s. She was a prolific donor to philanthropies in Broward County, including donating $1.5 million to Broward Health to help expand its children’s hospital, according to the Sun Sentinel.

The buyer and the seller were represented by Janette Pearson of Woods & Associates Realty.

February has been a hot month for Fort Lauderdale’s luxury residential market.

This week, Pharmaceutical mogul Bruce Paddock sold a 12,938-square-foot estate at 1831 Southeast 9th Street for $1,584 per square foot, records show. Earlier this month, two houses sold in the Harbor Beach neighborhood for $8 million and $11 million.