Former U.S. ambassador Paul Cejas sold his waterfront Star Island mansion to a private equity investor for $20.1 million.
Cejas, chairman and CEO of PLC Investments and former ambassador to Belgium under President Bill Clinton, sold the property at 29 Star Island Drive in Miami Beach to Loren Schlachet, property records show. Cejas also owns a unit at Faena House in Miami Beach.
Schlachet is managing partner of the Riverside Company, a New York-based investment firm, and he co-founded and leads the Riverside Micro-Cap Fund. He previously worked at Claremont Capital Corp. and TCW Capital, according to his bio.
The six-bedroom, 9,935-square-foot Star Island estate was on the market for $24.9 million with Jill Hertzberg of the Jills Zeder Team at Coldwell Banker. Hertzberg represented the buyer and seller, according to Realtor.com.
The property features domed detailed ceilings with skylights and arched windows and doors, a chef’s kitchen, master suite with a rooftop terrace, gardens, summer kitchen, dock and pool, the listing shows.
Cejas paid $14.3 million for the mansion in 2012, records show. It was built in 2000 on a 40,000-square-foot lot. Cejas purchased it from shoe designer Donald J. Pliner and his wife, Lisa.
A number of sales have closed on Star Island in recent months. Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin paid $37 million for a double-lot at 11 and 12 Star Island Drive. Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez spent $32.5 million to acquire the mansion at 13 Star Island Drive.
Some deals are still in the works. The waterfront property at 46 Star Island Drive, which is asking nearly $40 million with listing broker Dora Puig, is under contract, according to Realtor.com.