Who Bought Units in Great Gulf’s West Palm Beach Project

Great Gulf’s La Clara condominium in West Palm Beach is complete, and financiers, real estate investors, designers and heirs are among the buyers at the tower. 

The 25-story, 83-unit development started recording deeds in June, and has since closed more than $209 million in unit sales, records show. Only 15 condo sales remain to be recorded for the tower at 200 Arkona Court, including the pricier penthouse units. 

Toronto-based developer Great Gulf bought the 2.5-acre waterfront development site, formerly identified as 1515 South Flagler Drive, for $24 million in 2016. Great Gulf partnered with Frank Trabold’s Texas-based Terrace Mountain Investors on the project, and commissioned Edmonton, Canada-based Stantec to lead architectural and engineering design for the luxury building. Hariri Pontarini Architects, a Toronto-based firm, also worked on the design of the building, according to a press release. 

Douglas Elliman’s Chris Leavitt led sales of the tower, which launched in late 2018. Recorded sales for the one-, two-, and three-bedroom units range from $1.5 million to $5.1 million. The units span 1,500 square feet to 3,000 square feet.

The new tower’s residents come from a variety of backgrounds and industries –– Hollywood, fashion, finance, real estate and media. Here are some of La Clara’s most high profile buyers:

Jonathan Lerner | VP, Lerner Enterprises

Records show Jonathan Lerner bought unit 604 for $4.2 million. Lerner is vice president of his family’s Maryland-based commercial real estate firm Lerner Enterprises. Founded by Theodore N. Lerner in 1952, Lerner is one of the largest developers in the nation’s capital.

The family also holds majority ownership of the Washington Nationals baseball team, as well as minority ownership in the NBA’s Washington Wizards, NHL’s Washington Capitals and WNBA’s Washington Mystics.

Christopher Pia | founder, Pia Capital

Chrisopther and Mary Pia bought unit 704 at La Clara for $4 million, records show. Christopher Pia is CEO and founder of Greenwich, Connecticut-based Pia Capital, his family’s investment office. Pia previously managed investment portfolios at the hedge fund Moore Capital Management for 20 years, LinkedIn shows. 

In 2016, he listed his family’s West Village home in New York City for $17.9 million. 

Stephanie Currey Ingram | philanthropist

Records show Stephanie Currey Ingram bought unit 1601 at La Clara for $4.7 million. Currey Ingram and her husband, John R. Ingram, are veritable Nashville royalty and heirs to the multibillion-dollar Ingram Industries fortune, according to published reports. Currey Ingram’s father and grandfather co-founded Equitable Securities, and merged with American Express in 1967, securing a significant stock portfolio in the financial firm. 

John Ingram serves as chairman of the company his parents founded. Forbes lists his mother, Martha Ingram, as having a net worth of $4.2 billion. John Ingram also owns Nashville SC, the city’s professional soccer team. He and his wife endowed the Currey Ingram Academy in 2002, the Tennessean reported. 

Louis D’Esposito | Co-President, Marvel Studios

Louis D’Esposito, a film producer and director with Disney’s Marvel, bought La Clara unit 2001 for $4.8 million, records show. His work includes superhero staples “Ironman,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Avengers: Endgame,” and many, many more of Marvel’s blockbusters. 

He is widely considered one of the most influential executives at Marvel, and has been a central leader of Disney’s vision for the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the past 15 years. The deed shows an address for a condo at Related Companies’ The Century in Los Angeles. 

Martin Katz | jewelry designer

Records show jewelry designer Martin Katz and his wife, Kelly Fisher Katz, bought unit 2004 for $4.9 million. 

Stars like Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie have all donned Katz’s designs over the years. His brand’s website sells pieces up to $40,000; anything more expensive must be purchased in-person at his Beverly Hills location. 

Fisher Katz is the former chairman of the National Committee for the Performing Arts at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Jonathan Maurer | Director, Maurer Family Foundation

Records show Jonathan Maurer and his wife, Gretchen Shugart, closed on unit 1901 in La Clara for $4.5 million. Maurer’s father, Gil Maurer, had a more than 40-year executive career at Hearst Corporation, including an eight-year run as the company’s COO. Both Jonathan Maurer and Shugart hold leadership positions in the Maurer Family Foundation, the organization’s website shows. The Maurer Family Foundation funds the arts, which it describes broadly as “the entire realm of creative human endeavor.”

David Heil | menswear designer

Another designer to the stars, David Heil, bought unit 1801 for $4.5 million, records show. Heil’s brand, David August, offers luxury men’s suiting and tailoring.

Heil launched the brand in 2003, and has since suited the likes of Warren Buffett, Kobe Bryant, Conor McGregor, Frank Gehry, Jeff Koons, Elon Musk, Clint Eastwood, and Sylvester Stallone, according to his website.

Heil sold a home in Laguna Beach for $5 million in 2015, the OC Register reported. 

Sheri Gellman | CEO & founder, SG Partners

Sheri Gellman closed on unit 804 for $4.1 million, according to property records. She founded the executive search firm SG Partners, which specializes in headhunting for the global financial services industry, according to its website. Gellman’s firm has offices in New York, San Francisco and Delray Beach, the website shows.