Florida Panthers owner and billionaire Vincent Viola parted ways with two Fort Lauderdale condos for $11.3 million.
Viola and his wife, Teresa, sold units 2103 and 2104 in the south tower of Auberge Beach Residences & Spa, at 2200 North Ocean Boulevard, to Nyota J. and Mahesh P. Desai, property records show.
Mahesh Desai is a co-founder and managing member at Parkland-based Capital Vision, a commercial real estate syndication company.
Unit 2104 spans 2,639 square feet and unit 2103 has 4,757 square feet, which means the deals break down to $1,528 per square foot. The Desais, who purchased the Fort Lauderdale units via a trust in their names, financed the acquisition with a $7.3 million loan from San Francisco-based First Republic Bank, records show.
The Violas paid $10 million for both condos in 2019, shortly after the development was completed.
The Related Group, Fortune International Group and the Fairwinds Group developed Auberge. Amenities include a full-service salon, plunge pool, and indoor and outdoor cabanas. Construction was completed in 2018.
In addition to owning the professional hockey franchise and investing in real estate, Viola is the founder and chairman emeritus of Virtu Financial, a New York City-based high frequency trading firm. He was former President Donald Trump’s first nominee for Secretary of the U.S. Army, but he withdrew himself from consideration for the appointment.
Over a year ago, Viola sold his Brooklyn mansion for a record $25.5 million. Several months later, he sold his Upper East Side townhouse for $59 million to a British billionaire Alan Howard, the co-founder of European hedge fund Brevan Howard Asset Management.
Fort Lauderdale has benefited from a surge in luxury residential sales.
Auberge is one of the newer developments in Fort Lauderdale Beach. Other buyers at Auberge include Fort Lauderdale-based Saber Interactive founder Matthew Karch, who paid $10 million for unit 2303 in the south building in 2020, and former Citrix CEO David Henshall and his wife, Rose, who paid $6.9 million for units 2101 and 2102 three years ago.
Last month, Fort Partners completed the Four Seasons Residences Fort Lauderdale, where sales are averaging more than $2,000 per square foot.