Social media influencer and livesteamer IShowSpeed bought a warehouse for a content creation studio near West Little River for nearly $11 million, The Real Deal has learned.
IShowSpeed, whose real name is Darren Jason Watkins Jr., bought the 26,600-square-foot industrial building on a 1.8-acre lot at 8700 Northwest Seventh Avenue in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, according to sources familiar with the deal.
The seller, an entity managed by Edgar and Farid Guanuna, had paid $8 million for the property in 2022, purchasing it from nonprofit Miami Rescue Mission, records show.
The property, completed in 1969, has been painted completely black, including its windows, property records and Google Street View show.
Jordan Karp, who represented IShowSpeed in the deal, declined to comment.
George Belesis of DWNTWN Realty Advisors and Lukas Foiani of AFS Living represented the seller. Belesis declined to comment and Foiani couldn’t be reached for comment.
Watkins, a Cincinnati native, started gaining social media prominence and a following for his animated livestreams while gaming. He first registered his YouTube channel in 2016.
Subsequently, he re-focused on other content, including soccer. In more recent years, he posted content from across the world, earning him praise and recognition as a cultural ambassador.
He is a millionaire, with 54.5 million Instagram followers, 59.5 million YouTube subscribers and 47 million on TikTok.
The 21-year-old performed as a musician at the FIFA World Cup closing ceremony.
Watkins has a controversial reputation and was temporarily banned from Twitch for allegedly making a sexually intimidating remark.
During the World Cup, FIFA opened an investigation over whether a game attendee directed racist abuse at Watkins during the Argentina vs. Cape Verde game, which Watkins was livestreaming.
South Florida has been thrust in the headlines for its draw of financial and tech billionaires, but the region also has been a draw for influencers, though they’ve mostly homed in on the residential market.
Braden Peters, known online as Clavicular, the controversial livestreamer and influencer, rented a penthouse this summer at downtown Miami’s Paramount Miami Worldcenter. His shtick is “looksmaxxing” content, where people go to extremes to “maximize” their physical attractiveness.
Grant Cardone, a social media personality and multifamily syndicator who proffers his 10X platform as a way to supercharge businesses, has been a frequent investor in South Florida’s apartment market.
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