Private equity boss Michael Flacks drops $24M on Fisher Island condo

Private equity boss Michael Flacks bought a Fisher Island condo for $24.2 million, a steep discount from its $37 million original listing price from 2021.

Flacks and his wife, Debbie Flacks, bought unit 7463 at 7463 Fisher Island Drive in the 7400 Oceanside building, a spokesperson for Flacks confirmed. The seller is Clarion LLC, a Delaware entity with a mailing address in Geneva, Switzerland. The true seller is unknown. 

Tatyana Ionin of Coldwell Banker Realty had the listing. Karla Abaunza of Luxury Living Realty brought the buyer.

The Flacks paid cash for the condo, the spokesperson said. 

Flacks is the founder and head of the Flacks Group, a Miami-based private equity firm that specializes in acquiring underperforming businesses, according to its website. Flacks is setting his sights on investing in Florida real estate, across residential and commercial assets, according to the spokesperson. His firm is in contract to purchase the former Sears building at Lakeland Square Mall in Lakeland, and plans to build more than 300 apartments on the site, WFLA reported. 

The Flacks have lived on Fisher Island for 18 years, according to the spokesperson. They bought unit 7921 at 7921 Fisher Island Drive in the Oceanside No. 2 building for $2.1 million in 2005, and sold it to an LLC named for the address for $1.5 million in 2011. In that same building, they sold unit 7945H at 7945 Fisher Island Drive for $1.8 million in 2009, records show. They bought it for $4 million in 2006, according to records. They started renting back unit 7921 in 2014, records show.  

Records show Clarion bought the Fisher Island condo for $13.8 million in 2013. Built in 2002, the 7,600-square-foot, five-bedroom unit includes six bathrooms and one half-bathroom, records show. The listing shows the condo includes a media room, gym, and two offices.

The selling entity originally listed it for $37 million in 2021, before dropping the asking price to $28.5 million in January. The final sale price was $12.8 million less than the original asking price. 

Fisher Island is a private island off of Miami Beach and one of the wealthiest ZIP codes in the U.S. Accessible only by ferry, boat, or helicopter, it has attracted a number of well-to-do buyers over the years.

Garbage mogul Patrick Dovigi sold a unit on the island earlier this month for $20 million in an off-market deal. Concrete boss Luis García dropped $8.8 million on a condo in May, with plans to flip it. A Shark Tank Brazil star sold his Fisher Island unit for $11.2 million in April. 
In November, Related Group and its partners launched sales of their planned 50-unit condo tower on the island, called Six Fisher Island. They are asking $90 million for the project’s penthouse.