The Falic family, owners of the Duty Free Americas empire, sold a waterfront home in Bal Harbour for $17.5 million.
Redfin shows the family’s Central-Med Distribution sold the house at 74 Bal Bay Drive in the final days of 2024. The deed has yet to appear in public records and the buyer is unknown.
Moshe Goldshtein of One Sotheby’s International Realty represented both sides of the deal. He declined to comment on the identity of the buyer.
The Falic family, led by brothers Simon, Jerome and Leon, owns Duty Free Americas, which operates more than 250 retailers in airports and at border crossings in the Americas. Founded in 2001, it is based in Hollywood. The outlets sell liquor, tobacco, and designer goods free from certain local and national taxes, and annual revenue has topped $2 billion in recent years, according to TRBusiness.
“Currently, we’re bidding for locations in New York, expanding in the Middle East, have recently opened a Falic Group office in Dubai, are exploring opportunities in India and engaging in strategic partnerships for European expansion,” Leon Falic told TRBusiness in April.
The brothers, along with their mother Nily Cohen, bought the Bal Harbour home as an investment for $13 million in 2021, according to records and Goldshtein. It was built in 2001 on nearly half an acre with 77 feet of waterfront, records and the listing show. The home spans 6,800 square feet, with four bedrooms, six bathrooms, a pool and a dock.
They listed it for $19.5 million within days of buying the home, according to Realtor.com. The asking price was raised to $21.5 million in 2023 before the sale closed for $17.5 million in December.
Goldshtein confirmed a tenant has been living in the home since the Falics bought it. The buyer is considering either renovating and expanding the existing house, or tearing it down and building a new home, he said.
The deal marks the latest in a string of pricey waterfront Bal Harbour deals. In October, Brazilian footballer Neymar, whose full name is Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, bought a waterfront plot for $26 million. In November, smartphone mogul Samuel Ohev-Zion and developer Jacob Ohayon bought a waterfront teardown for $16.5 million, where they plan to build a $45 million spec mansion. Goldshtein said he used the deal as a comp in negotiations for this sale, and he anticipates more big deals in Bal Harbour.
“I think prices are about to go through the moon,” he said.