Some pretty big names bought or sold some pretty big properties in the Sunshine State this year. Over the last 12 months, celebrities including Michael Jordan, Billy Joel, Luke Bryan, Tyreek Hill and others played their hand at real estate here in Florida. Here are the some of the bigger Florida celebrity listings of 2024.
Michael Jordan purchases Florida mansion for $16.5 million last April
NBA legend, shoe mogul and “Space Jam” star Michael Jordan just bought another Florida mansion. Located within the exclusive Bear’s Club in Jupiter, Florida, an Illinois-based LLC (Bull and Bear LLC) controlled by His Airness purchased the home for $16.5 million on March 27. According to property records, the seller was Dr. Michael A. Murphy, founder and CEO of AirWayz. The 9,100 square-foot home sits on one acre along a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, and comes with five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, as well as a four-car garage, a gym, a pool and spa, a guest house and a club room, says the listing. This is actually M.J.’s second pad inside the Bear’s Club. Jordan and his wife, Yvette Prieto, also own a nearby three-acre estate, complete with a 28,000-square-foot main house, a basketball court and gym, a guard house, and more. Jeremy Browne and Thomas Hughes with Compass represented the sellers, while Maria Prieto of Keller Williams Capital Realty, Jordan’s mother-in-law, represented the six-time NBA Champ.
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Celebrity chef Guy Fieri’s Florida waterfront mansion hits market in June with a $8.5 million price tag
Last February, just a few months after purchasing a new pad in Palm Beach County, celebrity chef Guy Fieri put his nearby home in Lake Worth on the market for $8.5 million. Now, it appears the home is off the market. Located at 10 Bella Vista Ave. in Lake Worth, the estate was bought by Fieri for $3.9 million back in 2021 under the limited liability company “Gus Richie 1,” which is an LLC he’s used frequently to purchase properties, reports the Palm Beach Post. The 5,951-square-foot Mediterranean-style home sits on 210-feet of frontage, and comes with six bedrooms and five bathrooms. Notably, it also features $1.5 million worth of “off the chain” renovations from Fieri, says the publication, including a new elevator, a completely redone pool and spa, new impact windows and a new dock and lift.Fieri is no stranger to the Sunshine State. Besides filming multiple episodes of his hit show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in Florida, including a handful in the Tampa Bay region, the Food Network star purchased a home in nearby Riviera Beach for $7.2 million last September.
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Vinny Testaverde’s former Tampa house sells for $1.7 million
A waterfront home that first belonged to Vinny “The Renaissance Man” Testaverde hit the market last February in Tampa’s Bay Port Colony neighborhood. Located at 5002 E Longboat Blvd., the home was initially purchased by Heisman trophy winner Testaverde, and his then wife Laura Gambucci, shortly after he was selected No. 1 overall in the 1987 draft by the Bucs. Testaverde left the Bucs in 1993 as an unrestricted free agent and promptly sold the home for $305,000, according to property records. His departure from the Bucs followed heavy criticism surrounding his high turnover rate, unfair jabs about his colorblindness, and an unfortunate hot mic incident involving NFL Player Association president Gene Upshaw. During a commercial break on NFL Live!, Upshaw was overheard saying Testaverde was “so dumb that he would drag the electric cord through his swimming pool while trimming the hedges.” Notably, Testaverde’s former pad does in fact come with a pool (but no hedges). Built in 1988, the 2,998-square foot home also features four bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as a three car garage, an outdoor kitchen, a wet bar, quartz countertops, a wood burning fireplace, a dock, and more. Without a doubt Testaverde became one of the most notable journeyman QBs in the league, bouncing around in the NFL until his eventual retirement in 2007. But in that span, Testaverde earned two Pro Bowl visits, and also broke the NFL record for throwing a touchdown pass in 21 consecutive seasons, as well as the record for most losses by a starting quarterback with 123. In 2018, his record for throwing touchdown passes to 70 different players was broken by Tom Brady. Testaverde’s former house was originally asking $1,695,000, and sold for $1,715,000.
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Florida home of Hawaiian Tropic founder Ron Rice sells for $3.6 million
The home of “The Suntan King” has finally found a new owner. Hawaiian Tropic sun tan lotion founder Ron Rice passed away at the age of 81 in May of 2022, and his massive Ormond Beach time-capsule of a house has been on the market ever since. The home initially went up for grabs in November of 2022 with an asking price of $5,999,900, but last July the price dropped down to $4.75 million. According to property records, the home sold on March 22 for $3.6 million. As of now, it’s unclear who the buyer is. However, both the buyer and the seller was represented by Bill Navarra with Realty Pros Assured. Located at 175 Ocean Shore Blvd., the 12,414-square-foot home comes with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, as well as two outdoor pools and one indoor-outdoor pool, two owner’s suites, 200-feet of beachfront, an entertaining room with a light up disco dance floor, and more. Rice invented Hawaiian Tropic in a garbage can in his garage in 1969, and eventually sold the company to Playtex in 2007 in a deal valued at $1.9 billion.
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