Florida tech billionaire to auction off his waterside Coral Gables mansion
Most homes have a driveway. This one has a canal, leading straight to the Atlantic Ocean.
Tech billionaire Manuel Medina has already moved to Miami and out of his lavish Coral Gables mansion he paid $7 million for in 2013, but he hasn’t had luck finding a buyer. So, on February 14, Medina will auction off his waterside mansion in one of Florida’s most exclusive gated communities, without a reserve price — meaning there is no minimum bidding price.
What makes the six-bed, six-bath home truly special is its access to the water with a 100-foot-long dock into a deep concrete-enforced canal providing 180 feet of waterfront, according to Trayor Lesnock, president of Platinum Luxury Auctions, which will auction off the 15,000-square-foot, three-level home.
The yard has a putting green, a resort-style heated pool, a pergola-shaded spa, a main-level courtyard, shaded and unshaded lounge areas, a dining area with grill and a five-car garage.
Inside, the home has a bait and tackle room with dozens of fishing rods lined in a row, Lesnock said, noting that Medina, a tech entrepreneur who sold his data company, Terremark, to Verizon (Yahoo Finance’s parent company) in 2012 for a tidy $1.4 billion, is an avid fisherman. (Medina is still running Terremark, along with his new Miami-based cybersecurity firm, Cyxtera.)
The home has coffered ceilings, elegant chandeliers, multiple terraces and French doors. A 5,000-bottle wine cellar and an exotic fish tank add an opulent flair to the property, and the master kitchen, designed in part by Medina’s personal chef, is professional-grade quality.
Even though the property is decked out for adults, with a gym and two wet bars, Medina’s dedication to his family is evident in the design of the house. He installed a theater room with high-grade equipment, a big screen and plush seating for his grandchildren, adjacent to the playroom. The two-bedroom “staff quarters” were mostly used as overflow accommodations for when family spent the night.
“It was the place where he would have his family gather… They [the family] are all fairly tight knit… The home was not just for him, but for the family to have a private place to enjoy each others’ company,” said Lesnock.
The community is also part of the property’s appeal. Buyers will have to be accepted by the Gables Estates Club, which requires at least a $100,000 application fee and at least five reputable references. Since 2005, over 30 Coral Gables homes have sold for more than $10 million. Currently, almost 20 Coral Gables properties are for sale with an asking price of more than $10 million each. One property is even listed for $55 million.
“CEOs, big tech founders and sports athletes like to walk around in shorts and a polo shirt, and that is the allure. The extensive application process keeps the integrity of the community very high for people from their otherwise hectic daily lives, to really feel they can be at home,” said Lesnock.
The area consistently makes headlines for its pricey real estate. Across the bay, for instance, Spanish singer and songwriter Julio Iglesias listed an empty, two-acre lot for $31.8 million last week, according to the Jills Zeder Group, the firm brokering the sale.
Why an auction
Medina first tried to sell his Coral Gables home in March 2018 for $17.9 million. Two years later, without a buyer, Medina decided to auction off the house. He had seen other auctions and began considering auctioning off the house last year, according to Lesnock.
A property at 41 Arvida Parkway, near Medina’s mansion, recently sold at auction this spring for only $25.5 million — less than half its $68 million listing price, according to reports. Still, Medina bought his home for only $7 million, so he will likely make a profit on the sale, even accounting for the several million dollars he spent renovating the property.
Sarah Paynter is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @sarahapaynter
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