Billionaire Teddy Sagi to Buy Miami Beach Teardown for $24M

Billionaire Teddy Sagi is buying a waterfront teardown to build a home for himself in Miami Beach, sources told The Real Deal.

The Israeli mogul, who has an estimated net worth of $5.6 billion, according to Forbes, is in contract to buy the house at 4521 Pine Tree Drive for $24 million, Douglas Elliman agent Sheerel Toledano confirmed. She represented him in the deal, and Saddy Delgado of One Sotheby’s International Realty had the listing. Delgado declined to comment on the buyer’s or seller’s identities or the price.

Sagi, who made his fortune with gambling software company Playtech, is now investing heavily in South Florida real estate. He has more than $50 million invested in development projects, in partnership with Isaac Toledano’s BH Group and Jorge Pérez’s Related Group, including the ultra-luxury Six Fisher Island condominium project. Sagi insisted he is merely the money man in these projects at TRD’s Miami Showcase & Forum in November, saying, “I am only the investor. I am not the decision maker.”

He was out of the country and not available for comment on this purchase.

The seller of the Pine Tree Drive home is the estate of the late Albert Reichmann, patriarch of the Canadian development family that operated Olympia & York. Olympia & York built Manhattan’s World Financial Center, which is today known as Brookfield Place. Reichmann amassed a family fortune estimated at $10 billion, before the company declared bankruptcy in 1992, according to published reports. The family sold the firm to Brookfield Properties in 2005, and founded the private investment firm ReichmannHauer Capital Partners in Toronto in 2007.

Reichmann bought the 1.4-acre Pine Tree Drive estate from Russell Galbut for $750,000 in 1991, records show. Built in 1995, the 8,500-square-foot mansion includes five bedrooms, six bathrooms, one half-bathroom, a pool and a dock, records show. The property spans 150 feet of waterfront on the Intracoastal Waterway.

Sagi plans to demolish the mansion and build a new single-family home for himself, Toledano confirmed. The property first listed for $29.9 million last year, and the asking price dropped to $27.9 million in October, according to Redfin. The market for land and teardowns is softer than for finished homes, Delgado said.

“It was a little challenging because not everyone wants to build in this market,” she said. “It’s a three-year process, possibly four with permits and plans.”

Another Miami Beach land deal went into contract this week. Billionaire media mogul Barry Diller is set to buy a vacant 1.5-acre waterfront property from Related Companies’ Bruce Beal Jr. for $45 million, marking a record for North Bay Road.