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Flying the coop: Bird founder Travis VanderZanden sells waterfront Coral Gables mansion for $26M
13,800 sf home has a gym, media room, staff quarters and playground
Travis VanderZanden has flown the coop.
The Bird founder and his wife, Samantha VanderZanden, sold their waterfront Coral Gables mansion for $26 million, more than a year after listing it for $39.9 million.
Records show the couple sold the house at 325 Leucadendra Drive in Gables Estates to the Pazos Qualified Personal Residence Trust, with attorney Keith Diamond signing on behalf of the buyer. The true buyer is unknown. The trust financed the purchase with an $11.3 million mortgage from CitiBank, records show.
Nathan Zeder of the Jills Zeder Group at Coldwell Banker Realty had the listing, and Kathy Diamond of Universal Realty Services brought the buyer.
Travis VanderZanden founded the Miami-based electric scooter company Bird, which was at one point valued at $2 billion, according to Wired’s recent profile of the firm. The pandemic proved financially challenging for Bird, and VanderZanden stepped down from the board in June, TechCrunch reported. Bird filed for bankruptcy in December.
Prior to launching the scooter company, VanderZanden held early leadership roles in both Lyft and Uber. Records show he bought a spec home in South Miami for $6.8 million in September.
The VanderZandens bought the 1.3-acre Gables Estates home in 2021 for $21.8 million, property records show. Built in 2015, the mansion spans more than 13,800 square feet, with nine bedrooms, nine bathrooms and two-half bathrooms, according to records. The estate also has a pool, dock, gym, playground and staff quarters, the listing shows.
The VanderZandens first listed the estate for $39.9 million in 2022, subsequently dropping the price four times before landing at $29.9 million in June, Realtor.com shows. The final sale price marks a $13.9 million reduction from the initial listing price.
Also in Gables Estates, prominent attorney and University of Miami donor John Ruiz sold two waterfront mansions last year, one for $30 million in January, and one for $27.5 million in May. In March, Leon Medical Centers CEO Benjamin Leon III sold a waterfront lot for $10.4 million. In August, the trust of the late Bunny Bastian, whose family owned the CIA-linked airline Southern Air Transport, sold her teardown waterfront estate for $36 million.