The soccer star’s favorite Florida real estate

Real Estate

Alexa Art Basel 2023

By Christopher Cameron

It was the biggest coup in the history of Major League Soccer and the buzziest thing to happen in South Florida since string bikinis.

In June, FIFA World Cup champion Lionel Messi joined the David Beckham-backed Inter Miami CF team.

The result was “Messi Mania,” a frenzy of interest in not only the athlete and the team, but in South Florida itself.

The so-called “Messi effect” went way beyond sports, impacting real estate everywhere from Miami Beach to Fort Lauderdale (the current home of the team’s stadium).

“The Inter Miami folks came knocking on our door,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis tells Alexa. “We met with Beckham and came to a deal. Then, suddenly, Messi came to our city. I don’t think he would have come without such a state-of-the-art facility.”

Not only does the star bring droves of fans to the area, but Trantalis says he drives awareness, population growth and fresh development — all of which ultimately impact home sales. “There is tremendous economic excitement,” he said, noting that the average age of a resident is falling fast.

“We are seeing continued investment and people are buying homes. Even in a modest neighborhood, you can’t get anything decent for under $800,000.” Years before the announcement, Messi was already investing in South Florida.

He kicked things off with a 4,400-square-foot unit on the 47th floor of the 60-story Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach in 2019. Broker Gustavo Strallnikoff handled the $5 million deal. ”He’s a very educated buyer,” Strallnikoff says.

Messi also picked up units asking $1 million each on the 40th, 41st and 43rd floors of the nearby Trump Royale tower. Messi’s family then paid $7.3 million for the ninth-floor condo at Regalia, another oceanfront condo tower in Sunny Isles.

Then in September, he tucked a 10,500-square-foot mansion (with eight bedrooms, nine and a half bathrooms, a three-car garage and a pool) into his portfolio.

Located in the gated and ultra-exclusive Bay Colony community in Fort Lauderdale, he paid $10.75 million and was repped by Samuel and Donna Simpkin at Compass.

And where Messi buys, others follow, brokers say, pushing up prices. “This area was kind of a sleeper in terms of price point,” says Chad Carroll of Compass, a broker who reps area properties such as 28 Minnetonka Road in neighboring Sea Ranch Lakes, a five-bed, four and a half-bath home asking $9.9 million.

“Now, it’s really on the map, and people know about it. I’ve seen other major purchases there since Messi started to look.” Ole!