James Star Buys Waterfront Miami Lot for 200% More in 2 Years

Investment manager James Star, who is married to a member of the billionaire Crown family of Chicago, paid $18 million for a waterfront lot in Miami’s Coconut Grove — more than 200 percent above its sale price two years ago.

Records show a company led by developer Sergio Guardazzi sold the 0.3-acre plot at 3323 Poinciana Avenue to Poinciana Starlight LLC. The buyer is managed by James A. Star, who is chairman of Chicago-based Longview Asset Management. Star is married to Sara Crown Star, who is part of one of the wealthiest families in Chicago. Forbes pegged the family’s net worth at $10.2 billion in 2020

The couple sold their townhouse at Murano at Portofino in Miami Beach this summer for $5.3 million, marking a slight loss compared to their purchase price in 2018. James Star also owns two penthouses and a cabana at the Caribbean condo building at 3739 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, property records show.

The Coconut Grove lot previously sold in November 2021 for $5.8 million. That means it just traded at a 213 percent markup. The property includes about 200 feet of water frontage.

Lourdes Alatriste of Douglas Elliman represented the seller. Stacy Robins of Stacy Robins Companies represented the buyer. Robins did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alatriste, who declined to comment on the buyer, said property values have soared in Coconut Grove. The neighborhood, she said, is “going to get better and better.”

The seller, Guardazzi, purchased the previous home on the site two years ago, in an off-market deal that Alatriste arranged after reaching out to the previous owner. Guardazzi had the house torn down.

“In one year and a half to make more than $13 million, that’s a lot of money,” Alatriste said.

Not all residential properties are gaining value. A hidden buyer paid $20.3 million for the waterfront Coconut Grove mansion at 3029 Brickell Avenue in August, which marked a loss compared to its previous $29 million sale price in late 2021.

In May, another hidden buyer paid $49 million for the waterfront mansion at 3301 South Moorings Way in Coconut Grove.