Facial recognition CEO sells oceanfront Hillsboro Beach mansion for $18M

The CEO of a facial recognition company sold his oceanfront Hillsboro Beach mansion for $18.4 million.

Records show Michael and Sarasina Tuchen sold the house at 973 Hillsboro Mile to Martina Velez as trustee of the Real Estate 1925 Land Trust. 

Chad Carroll, who was recently named Compass’ top Florida agent, had the listing, and Svetlana Izgarsheva with Miami VIP Realty brought the buyer.

Michael Tuchen heads Onfido, a tech firm headquartered in London that specializes in facial recognition technology for digital access and security uses. Before joining Onfido, he helmed Talend, a data management company in San Mateo, California. 

Sarasina Tuchen is a senior scientist at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Highly Automated Systems Safety Center of Excellence. Last month she spoke about advanced air mobility at South by Southwest in Austin. 

The couple bought the mansion for $16.6 million in 2021, records show. Built in 2009 on 0.6 acres, the 10,900-square-foot house has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and three half-bathrooms, according to property records. The home also has a gym, golf simulator, wine room, pool, 100 feet of oceanfront and has a 70-foot dock on the Intracoastal Waterway, the listing shows.

The Tuchens moved to Florida during the pandemic and decided to return to California, Carroll confirmed. They listed the mansion for $21.7 million in November, according to Redfin. The sale is the area’s priciest so far this year. In March of last year, an affiliate of a Canadian commercial real estate firm bought an oceanfront mansion for $19.2 million. 

Carroll calls Hillsboro Beach a “hidden gem” in South Florida’s hot luxury market. While the oceanfront community saw pricey sales pick up during the pandemic boom, few sales have closed since the market cooled. It is less popular with luxury buyers than neighboring communities in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Carroll said. With prices surging in nearby markets, he expects luxury buyers looking for more oceanfront land at a lower price to home in on Hillsboro’s waterfront estates. 

“People are a little more value conscious since Covid,” he said. “And the value is there.”