Mexican steel CEO buys condo at Ritz-Carlton in Sunny Isles

A Mexican steel executive purchased a unit at the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sunny Isles Beach.

Property records show Sunny 4205 LLC, led by Eduardo Zundelevich Kauffman, paid $5.05 million for unit 4205 at the luxury condo tower. Kauffman is CEO of Plesa Steel, a major steel processing and distribution company, according to the industry publication Metal Bulletin.

The 3,640-square-foot unit, with four bedrooms, a family room, maid’s quarters and five-and-a-half bathrooms, sold for $1,387 per square foot.

Fortune International Group and Château Group completed the 52-story, 209-unit luxury condo tower in February, closing a number of units remotely due to coronavirus. The developers recently announced they paid off their $212 million construction loan from Bank OZK.

Kauffman’s all-cash deal closed in mid-April, according to the deed. Diego Arnaud of DA Luxury Realty represented the buyer, who he declined to identify. Arnaud also represented the buyer of unit 701, which sold for nearly $4 million to Ecuadorian automotive businessman Ramon Yulee, records show.

Both sales closed virtually, Arnaud said, adding that he performed the walkthroughs using an iPad. In the smaller deal, the buyer financed part of the purchase with a loan, which made it more complicated since the buyer was in Quito, Ecuador and could not travel to the U.S., Arnaud said.

“The way this pandemic is shaping our industry is incredible because we need to start thinking this may be the new normal,” he added. “At some point, maybe virtual reality is the new normal.”

Other buyers at the Ritz-Carlton-branded tower include Inter Milan soccer player Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez, who paid $2.45 million for a unit on the 26th floor.