Setting the bar: Luxury car dealer pays record price for Pinecrest home

It sold for 50% more than the sellers paid less than two years ago

Thomas Moorehead and Mario Longhi with the Pinecrest home (Getty, David Hernandez/ Rews Miami for ONE Sotheby’s)
Thomas Moorehead and Mario Longhi with the Pinecrest home (Getty, David Hernandez/ Rews Miami for ONE Sotheby’s)

A saga that is becoming common in South Florida: The sellers of a non-waterfront home in Pinecrest opted to list the property when the market for luxury single-family homes blew up — and scored a record with the sale.

The sellers received two offers, and had four showings on the day it went into contract, listing agent Elena Bluntzer said. The house at 9121 Southwest 62nd Court ended up selling for $9.8 million, a record in Pinecrest. It surpassed the 2017 record of $7.4 million for a non-waterfront home purchased by former Miami Heat player Dion Waiters.

The price per foot – $985 – also marks a record for the city.

“There was no negotiation,” said Bluntzer of One Sotheby’s International Realty. “The offer came in for full price.”

Property records show the sellers are retired steel executive Mario Longhi and his wife, Maria Helena Longhi. The buyer is Thomas Moorehead, the first African-American Lamborghini, McLaren dealer and Rolls-Royce dealer, and a real estate developer, records show. Johnetta Shearer of Beachfront Realty brought the buyer.

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The 1.1-acre Pinecrest estate has a main house, guest home, and separate gym/media room. The property features a 500-bottle wine cellar, an elevator, outdoor showers, pool, summer kitchen and a four-car garage. It was designed by architect Eduardo Calil, according to the listing.

It previously sold for $6.5 million in 2019. That means the house sold for about 50 percent more than the sellers paid less than two years ago.

Longhi was formerly CEO of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, which was once the largest steel producer and largest corporation in the world. He led the company between 2013 and 2017. The Brazilian-American businessman was previously CEO of Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation, the largest producer of long steel in the Latin America.

Bluntzer said the deal has set the bar for the high-end market.

Records are being set throughout South Florida. Just last week, Miami Heat player Victor Oladipo paid $7.8 million for a Hibiscus Island home, marking the highest price for a non-waterfront house in Miami Beach.