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James Curnin sells unfinished Venetian Islands spec house for $23M, sets sights on multifamily projects
Buyer, family office CEO Justin Korsant, plans to drop another $5M on construction
Clara Homes’ James Curnin and 416 West San Marino Drive (Getty, Clara Homes, Dina Goldentayer / Legendary Productions and Strang Design)
James Curnin’s Clara Homes sold an unfinished waterfront spec house in Miami Beach’s Venetian Islands for $23.1 million.
Records show Curnin’s Clara Homes sold the house at 416 West San Marino Drive to Justin Korsant, after asking as much as $29 million for the property.
Korsant, CEO of Miami-based family office Long Light Capital, plans to spend another $5 million completing the house, according to Douglas Elliman agent Dina Goldentayer. She represented both the buyer and seller in the rare trade of an incomplete home in Miami Beach’s luxury market, where most buyers want turnkey mansions.
It will be one of Curnin’s last single-family spec homes, as he is shifting his focus to multifamily development, Goldentayer said. Curnin landed a $26 million construction loan for a three-building, 150-unit apartment project in Bay Harbor Islands in February.
He bought the 0.30-acre Venetian Islands property for $9.5 million in 2020, according to records. He tore down the existing house and started construction on a 6,900-square-foot home with five bedrooms, six bathrooms, one half-bathroom, a dock and a pool, the listing shows. The property spans 103 feet of waterfront. Curnin first listed the spec project for $25 million in 2021 and upped the price to $29 million in 2022, Realtor.com shows.
Goldentayer said her buyer wasn’t initially interested in an unfinished home, but is a fan of architect Max Strang, who designed the house, and wanted to be involved in the final interior design decisions.
“A more sophisticated buyer pool has entered the Miami market,” she said. “For them, the standard spec house isn’t going to be good enough.”
After South Florida residential real estate’s busy season got off to a slow start, big luxury sales have been closing across the region. This Venetian Islands deal is the latest in a string of eight-figure sales in the neighborhood, which Goldentayer said is “hands down the market leader.”
“The Venetians had a great season,” she said.
Last month, British investor Kevin Flaherty sold a Max Strang-designed waterfront spec home for $23.9 million. In March, “PayPal Mafia” member David Sacks was linked to the sale of a waterfront Venetian Islands home for $22.5 million.