The CEO of Builders Capital, a Seattle-based firm that provides financing to single-family homebuilders, bought a waterfront Fort Lauderdale spec mansion for $17 million.
Records show Robert and Dana Trent bought the house at 1515 East Lake Drive from an LLC named for the address, managed by John Long and Richard Cole of Virginia. Long is the owner of JD Long Masonry, and Cole is the company’s vice president.
Robert Trent founded SDC Homes in 2007, and it became one of the largest homebuilders in Washington before Denver-based Richmond American Homes acquired it in 2011, the Seattle Times reported. He was promoted to CEO from COO of Builders Capital in 2019, according to a press release.
The Trents financed their purchase with a $12.8 million mortgage from JPMorgan Chase Bank, records show.
Josh Dotoli of Compass brought the buyers, and Layda Soledy Lara of Fidelity Real Estate represented the sellers in the deal. Neither agent responded to requests for comment.
Records show Long and Cole bought the property for $3.2 million in early 2020, just before pandemic shutdowns and spikes in the South Florida luxury market. The spec mansion they built on the 0.4-acre lot spans 10,500 square feet, with seven bedrooms, nine full bathrooms and two half-bathrooms, according to the listing. The property includes an eight-car garage, an elevator, and docking capacity for a 90-foot yacht.
According to Realtor.com, the property was listed for $15.9 million in April 2020, just two months after Long and Cole bought the property. It listed for just shy of $20 million in May of last year.
The mansion is in the Harbor Beach neighborhood, and faces Lake Sylvia, one of the most in-demand waterfront areas in Fort Lauderdale.
A California restaurateur bought a mansion fronting Lake Sylvia, up the street on East Lake Drive for $13 million in July, $5.5 million more than it sold for the year prior.
Waterfront Fort Lauderdale properties have repeatedly broken records for Broward County. This summer, a waterfront estate set a countywide price record when it sold for $28.5 million, only to be outdone when a waterfront spec mansion sold for $32.5 million one month later.