Brazilian tycoon Jose Carlos Pontes paid $17.5 million for a waterfront Hibiscus Island home, months after selling his nearby mansion for $26.5 million.
Top Hibiscus LLC, led by Pontes, co-founder of the Brazilian conglomerate Grupo Marquise, purchased the seven-bedroom, 5,437-square-foot house at 160 South Hibiscus Drive.
Property records show 160 S Hibiscus FL LLC, which is linked to The Loring Group based in Cincinnati, sold the house to the Pontes entity. It previously traded hands in May for $15.5 million, which means the Loring Group affiliate flipped it for $2 million more.
The home, with seven bathrooms, a wine cellar and two-car garage, sits on a quarter-acre lot with a pool, dock and outdoor kitchen. It was completed this year, records show. Borges & Associates, led by architect Reinaldo Borges, designed the house.
The waterfront property was on the market for $18.9 million with Alessandro Saponaro of AFS Living. Sonia Gherardi of One Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyer. Alexandre Piquet’s Piquet Law Firm was the escrow and closing agent.
Brazilian investment is expected to ramp up again now that the U.S. travel ban has been lifted. Brazil is one of 33 countries the U.S. is now allowing visitors from, effective earlier this week.
Ponte’s Grupo Marquise is involved in construction, hospitality, retail and infrastructure, according to its website and published reports.
Pontes’ purchase comes about four months after he sold the Borges-designed estate at 370 South Hibiscus Drive to a trust for $26.5 million.
Also on Hibiscus Island this year, Miami Heat player Victor Oladipo bought a spec home for $7.8 million, marking a record for non-waterfront homes.
That same month, mortgage magnate Ronald J. Leonhardt Jr. flipped two next-door waterfront properties on Hibiscus Island for a combined $27 million.