Sabal sells spec home for $21M, marking priciest Venetian Islands sale this year

Pascal Nicolai’s Sabal Development sold a waterfront Miami Beach spec home for $21 million, marking the priciest sale on the Venetian Islands this year.

Records show an affiliate of Sabal Development sold the house at 1370 South Venetian Way to Joshua Memling Golder. Dora Puig of Luxe Living Realty represented both the buyer and seller in the deal.

Golder is a local real estate investor. He financed his latest purchase with a $12 million loan from City National Bank, records show. 

In 2021, he flipped an oceanfront Highland Beach mansion for $18 million, and owns a Murano at Portofino condo in Miami Beach that he bought for $6.2 million in 2020, records show. He also owns five units in the 1800 Club in Miami that he bought for a total of $3.1 million in five separate deals.

Golder has already listed the Venetian Islands home for rent at $150,000 per month, joining the ranks of some of South Florida’s priciest rental properties. Douglas Elliman’s Tracy Galya has the rental listing. She declined to comment on the property.

Nicolai’s Sabal, a frequent spec developer on Miami Beach’s islands, bought the 0.2-acre South Venetian Way property on San Marco Island for $4.2 million in 2020, records show. Completed this year, the 7,400-square-foot house has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and two-half bathrooms, the rental listing shows. The property has 60 feet of water frontage, two pools and a movie theater, according to a press release from Sabal.

Nicolai first listed the house for $21.9 million last year and went into contract with Golder during construction, he confirmed. New construction is king in South Florida’s current luxury real estate landscape, he said.

“Three years ago there were lots of brand new houses on the market. Today there is nothing,” he added. “Rich people, they want finished products.”

South Florida’s pandemic real estate boom sent prices for waterfront homes on the Venetian Islands soaring to new heights. Developer Alex Sapir listed a pair of adjacent homes on San Marino Island for $54 million as he battles with his wife, Yanina Sapir, in their divorce proceedings. A Bahamian casino magnate sold his waterfront home for $28.3 million in January. Cybersecurity CEO Lane Bess bought a renovated waterfront house for $26 million in December. In November, legendary crime writer Edna Buchanan sold her longtime Venetian Islands home for $12 million.