Rick Ross Pays $35M for Miami Mansion on Star Island

Miami Gardens native Rick Ross, a.k.a. Ricky Rozay, dropped $35 million to acquire the waterfront Star Island estate he was in contract to purchase.

The Grammy-nominated rapper and record executive closed on the 12,400-square-foot mansion at 37 Star Island Drive in Miami Beach, according to the listing agents. Ross posted about the purchase on social media after he was approved by the Star Island homeowners association in mid-July.

His neighbor on the island, Sean “Diddy” Combs, gifted Ross a golf cart, according to a post on Instagram.

The nearly 1-acre property was on the market for $37.5 million with a group of agents led by Coldwell Banker’s Jill Eber and Jill Hertzberg, of The Jills Zeder Group. Kimberly Knausz with One Sotheby’s International Realty represented Ross.

Rick Ross’ Star Island home Rick Ross with the property at Star Island (The Jills Zeder Group/1 Oak Studios)

Property records show longtime Oracle executive Yale Brown, now managing partner of Columbus Ventures, sold the home. Brown paid $4.6 million for the estate in 1999.

It has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and one-half bathroom.

Ross, whose real name is William Leonard Roberts II, founded the record label Maybach Music Group in 2009. He grew up in the Carol City neighborhood of Miami Gardens and attended Miami Carol City Senior High School.

His Star Island home, built in 1992, features a large covered terrace, pool, summer kitchen and a Japanese Zen garden. The property has 100 feet of water frontage on Biscayne Bay and a 40-foot dock.

Star Island, with about 30 homes, experienced turnover over the past three years as the luxury market boomed shortly after the pandemic began.

New owners include billionaire hedge funder Ken Griffin, who began acquiring Star Island land in 2020. Last fall, he sold the lot at 14 Star Island Drive to former baseball star turned real estate investor Alex Rodriguez. The deed was recorded at $18.5 million, about $5.5 million less than Griffin had paid.

In October, Lennar Corporation Executive Chairman Stuart Miller secured city approval for the waterfront mega mansion planned for his 2.8-acre assemblage at 4, 5 and 6 Star Island Drive. The modern compound would span 120,000 square feet, including outdoor space, featuring upper and lower level lagoons, a conference center/home office, a gym pavilion with a spa and massage room, a master suite with a terrace and plunge pool, a koi pond, and tropical landscaping, including gardens and a green roofscape.

Two years ago, billionaire Anthony Hsieh, founder and ousted executive chairman of LoanDepot, paid $30 million for the waterfront mansion at 34 Star Island Drive.

The waterfront Star Island estate owned by plastic surgeon Lenny Hochstein, also known as the “Boob God,” has been featured on “The Real Housewives of Miami.” Hochstein’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Lisa Hochstein, is a cast member on the show and has continued to live at the property after Lenny Hochstein first announced their divorce.