A Belgian Diamond Mogul’s Miami Beach Home Lists for $45 Million

A recently completed home on the waterfront in Miami Beach’s Venetian Islands is coming on the market for $45 million.

The sellers are Fabrice Finkelstein and his wife Zyvile Cer. Mr. Finkelstein’s family is in the diamond business in Belgium, Ms. Cer said, and she is a former fashion model turned interior designer.

The five-bedroom, roughly 7,250-square-foot house was completed in 2022, according to the listing agent, Dina Goldentayer of Douglas Elliman. On less than an acre, the property has a dock and a 57-foot-long heated pool with a hot tub. 

Mr. Finkelstein and Ms. Cer bought the land for $7.85 million in 2018, records show. At the time, the site contained an dilapidated older home, Ms. Cer said. The couple had paddleboarded past the property, she said, and liked the location for its views of downtown Miami and the sunset. After buying the property, they tore down the older home and started building the current house. “We wanted something earthy and homey,” she said.

The couple is based in Europe and spends winters in Miami, Ms. Cer said. While they originally intended to live in the house, she said they changed their minds as it neared completion, deciding instead to move on to a new project.

“I really enjoyed this,” she said. “After we built it, I felt kind of sad that it was done. I said, ‘I want to do this again.’”

Ms. Cer said the house was designed to combine contemporary design elements with midcentury modern touches. It has an architectural floating staircase, a dining room with a custom bar, European white oak flooring, travertine walls and electric sliding windows. A “grand salon” has a 54-foot-wide wall of glass, 12-foot ceilings and a geometric travertine fireplace. The primary suite has a cinema screen that retracts into the ceiling, as well as surround sound and a hidden projector. 

The median sales price for a luxury single-family home in Miami Beach was $21 million in the third quarter of 2022, according to a report by Elliman. If the property sells for close to its asking price, it will set a record for the Venetian Islands, Ms. Goldentayer said. 

Ms. Goldentayer said that the Miami market continues to post strong sales activity, despite a slowdown in the luxury market across the county. While other areas of Miami are known for their “McMansions,” she said homes in the Venetians tend to be simpler because of the smaller lot sizes, but still command some of the highest prices in the area on a per-square-foot basis.

“The Venetians aren’t about having a bowling alley or an in-house gym,” she said.