Ben Ashkenazy sells oceanfront Golden Beach lot for $29M

Four years after listing it, billionaire developer Ben Ashkenazy sold a 0.8-acre oceanfront lot in Golden Beach for $29 million.

Records show Ashkenazy’s Golden Beach Owners LLC sold the land at 401 Ocean Boulevard to David and Lorena Rodriguez in an off-market deal. 

David Rodriguez is president of Amicus Medical Group, which has primary care centers across South Florida. Conviva Care Centers acquired Amicus in August of last year for an undisclosed amount, according to published reports. In January of last year, the couple bought a condo at Château Beach Residences in Sunny Isles Beach for $13 million. In 2020, they bought an oceanfront Golden Beach home for $7.2 million. They still own both homes. 

Ashkenazy is the billionaire founder, CEO and majority owner of New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. In recent years, the developer has been embroiled in battles against investors to maintain control of his $12 billion portfolio. His net worth has dropped from its peak of $4 billion in 2019 to $2.6 billion, according to Forbes. Earlier this month, the Gindi family heaped on new accusations to their three-year legal battle with Ashkenazy, with the new aim of sanctioning their former investment partner.  

In Miami, Ashkenazy Acquisitions owns Bayside Marketplace at 401 Biscayne Boulevard.

Ashkenazy bought the Golden Beach property for $6 million in 2011, records show. He tore down the existing home and commissioned architect Chad Oppenheim to design an 18,000-square-foot mega mansion. He listed the property with the approved plans in 2019. 

Oren Alexander and Isaac Lustgarten, then of Douglas Elliman, now with Alexander’s Side-backed brokerage Official, had the listing then. Alexander represented Ashkenazy in this deal, a source confirmed. 

Redfin shows the lot was listed and delisted several times until October of last year, when it was removed from the Multiple Listing Service for the final time. Records show Ashkenazy filed a notice of commencement in March, to begin construction of a new home to be built by the Alexander Group, led by Oren Alexander’s father, Shlomy Alexander. The contract was terminated and construction ceased on Wednesday, Miami-Dade County records show. 

Among recent sales in Golden Beach, mortgage chief Michael Rappaport sold his waterfront home for $19.6 million in June. In March, Jill Fischer, wife of financier Brett Fischer, bought a renovated waterfront home for $8.2 million. Private equity boss Scott Collins bought a non-waterfront spec mansion for $25 million in August of last year.