Medical device CEO sells Key Biscayne teardown for $19M in latest island deal

Gerald Slemko, the head of a Canadian medical device maker, sold a waterfront teardown in Key Biscayne for $19.3 million. 

It’s the latest teardown to sell on the island this season.

Records show Slemko’s 398 Harbor Corporation sold the house at 398 Harbor Drive to Key Biscayne Real Properties LLC, a Delaware entity. The true buyers are unknown.

Carlos Coto of One Sotheby’s International Realty represented both sides of the deal. He confirmed the buyers are from the West Coast of the U.S., plan to build a home on the property, and are considering relocating permanently to South Florida. 

Slemko is CEO of Trudell Medical Limited, a medical device maker based in London, Ontario in Canada. The company specializes in products for treating respiratory ailments, according to its website. 

He bought the Key Biscayne house for $11.1 million in 2018, property records show. Built in 1952 on half an acre, the 1,800-square-foot house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. The property also spans 100 feet of waterfront, Coto confirmed.

It was advertised as a development opportunity and listed for $19.9 million in August, Redfin shows. The price was raised to $22 million in April before closing just below its first asking price. 

Key Biscayne, an island community off the coast of Miami, was established in the 1950s with small homes, Coto said. Now that Key Biscayne is popular among wealthy buyers, the well-heeled are demolishing the older homes. In March, Dr. Maurice Ferré Jr., son of the late former mayor of Miami, Maurice A. Ferré, sold a waterfront teardown for $16.5 million. Last month, James McNamara, the former CEO of Telemundo, sold a waterfront home built in 1997 for $18 million.

Coto said a wave of buyers coming into Key Biscayne are taking on new construction projects, which has been less common in the hot post-pandemic South Florida market.

“Most are end users. However, we have a handful of locals who are developing homes for spec,” Coto said. In June of last year, developers sold a waterfront spec home to a Peruvian executive for $17.5 million. 

The priciest sale of the year so far remains a waterfront home that sold for $24.5 million in February.