Ken Griffin adds to Star Island assemblage with $25M purchase: sources

Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin has purchased another property on Star Island, likely completing his assemblage there, The Real Deal has learned.

Griffin acquired 10 Star Island Drive for $25 million, according to sources. A deed for the transaction shows Star West Property LLC sold 10 Star Island Drive to Florida Way Charter LLC, a Delaware company.

All told, Griffin has likely spent about $95 million on the Star Island properties. A company tied to the Citadel founder and CEO paid $37 million for the double lot at 11 and 12 Star Island Drive in August. He’s also reportedly the buyer of 13 Star Island Drive, which was previously linked to Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez. That deal closed for $32.5 million.

The Star Island assemblage isn’t the first for Griffin in South Florida: He’s spent more than $350 million on land in Palm Beach, on top of the $60 million he paid for two penthouses at Faena House. His Chicago-based hedge fund began operating a temporary trading room in Palm Beach at the start of the pandemic, and Griffin, a Daytona Beach native, has donated tens of millions of dollars to the expansion and renovation of the Norton Museum of Art in nearby West Palm Beach.

Griffin, who’s worth about $15 billion, owns some of the most expensive residential properties around the world, including in Manhattan, Chicago and London. In 2019, he closed on a $240 million apartment at New York City’s 220 Central Park South, breaking the record for the most expensive residential transaction recorded in the U.S.

The ultra-luxury single-family home market has been incredibly active in Miami Beach and Palm Beach in recent months. On Star Island alone, former U.S. ambassador Paul Cejas sold his waterfront mansion to a private equity investor for $20.1 million in September, and the mansion at 14 Star Island Drive closed for $24 million.