French soccer prop Paul Pogba won’t get to play in the World Cup, but he did at least score a pair of waterfront condos in Miami.
Pogba is in contract to buy two units at a planned bayfront development in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood, according to a press release from the developer, Melo Group.
Pogba, a midfielder, is paying more than $4 million for the units at one of two towers at Melo’s not-yet-built 62-story Aria Reserve Miami, at 711 Northeast 23rd Terrace. He’s reportedly earning about 15 million euros this year, or the equivalent of $15.4 million.
The units will be a vacation home for Pogba, who is absent from this year’s World Cup tournament due to knee injuries.
One unit will span 2,600 square feet with four bedrooms, five bathrooms and a home office. The other unit will be 1,800 square feet with three bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, a spokesperson said, citing information from sales director Nicolas Barbara. Both condos will have views of Biscayne Bay.
John Reza Parsiani of Parsiani Real Estate represented the developer in the sales, and Mary Sharon of Lux Realty Group represented Pogba, according to the release.
If completed on schedule, the units could be ready in time for the next World Cup, which will be held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in 2026. The first tower, with 383 units, is expected to be delivered in 2024.
Other soccer pros who have picked up homes in South Florida include Lionel Messi and his family (at two separate Sunny Isles Beach developments), retired superstar and Inter Miami CF co-owner David Beckham, and Sergio Agüero, one of the top all-time strikers who has long played for Manchester United.
Melo, led by Jose Luis Ferreira de Melo, Martin Melo and Carlos Melo, launched sales of the first tower at the roughly 800-unit Aria Reserve project, last year. The developer spent more than a decade assembling the 5-acre waterfront property.
Prices for units range from $1.1 million to more than $4 million, and up to $12 million for the penthouses.
The first building will have one- to four-bedroom units ranging from 1,100 square feet to 2,600 square feet, and the penthouses will range from 3,500 square feet to more than 9,000 square feet. Amenities will include two pools, Jacuzzis, a two-story restaurant, a private marina, a garden level with sports courts, cabanas and, at the ground level, a planned public park that will connect to the baywalk. Bernardo Fort-Brescia of Arquitectonica designed the towers.