Shaq’s home sold at discount
South Florida Business Journal - by Oscar Pedro Musibay
The buyer of NBA All-Star Shaquille O’Neal’s Star Island home will live in the 19,440-square-foot mansion bought at a discount for $16 million, the buyer’s broker said Friday.
Philip Freedman, a broker with Flagstone Realty, said he would not identify the buyer, which operates a Florida-based real estate investment company. The sale closed Wednesday, as negotiations were being finalized to trade O’Neal from the Phoenix Suns to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Freedman said Friday that the buyer was attracted because the 2.5-acre, waterfront site is “a spectacular piece of land” and intended it for “personal use”.
O’Neal paid $19.8 million for the property that included $1 million in furniture. Former Miami Heat center Rony Seikaly also owned the home at one time.
The 7-foot-1 center, who helped bring an NBA championship to the Miami Heat, had tried several times to sell the house.
The first time O’Neal put it on the market, the price tag was more than $30 million, but was soon pulled off the market. The price eventually dropped to $22.5 million. Both New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez and a Tony award-winning Broadway producer had contracts fall through.
City National Bank provided O’Neal with two mortgages on the property totaling $15 million.
The island has been home to Sean Combs and Gloria Estefan.
Most Read Stories |
Most Emailed Stories |
