The Weeknd has purchased a waterfront mansion in the gated Gables Estates community of Coral Gables for $50 million, marking the most expensive residential sale ever recorded in the city.
Brokers confirmed that the transaction for 41 Arvida Parkway closed at $50 million, though the deed is not yet available in public records. Earlier this month, The Real Deal reported that The Weeknd, whose legal name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, was under contract to buy the property, which had been listed for $54.9 million.
Eddy Martinez and Roland Ortiz of One Sotheby’s International Realty represented the listing, with Ortiz also bringing in the buyer. Both declined to disclose details about either party involved in the sale.
The Weeknd is a Canadian-born artist who has won four Grammy awards. He performed during the Super Bowl halftime show in 2021 and co-created and starred in HBO’s “The Idol” with Lily-Rose Depp in 2023. In 2021, he also bought a mansion in Bel Air, Los Angeles for $70 million.
The seller of this Gables Estates home is Steven Lempera, an oil recycling entrepreneur who acquired it at auction in 2019 for $25.5 million. According to records, the nearly 19,000-square-foot mansion was built in 2018 and features eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms, two half-bathrooms, a pool, and a dock.
Lempera first listed the property for $49.9 million in 2020 and adjusted its price several times over five years before relisting it at $54.9 million this June. Redfin data indicates that it went under contract in September.
This sale surpasses Coral Gables’ previous price record set by the 2022 purchase of 650 Casuarina Concourse for $45.3 million by a Delaware entity linked to Citadel founder Ken Griffin—one of South Florida’s highest sales that year (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2022/12/28/citadel-ceo-ken-griffin-pays-record-45m-for-coral-gables-mansion/).
Since the pandemic began, there has been significant migration of wealth into South Florida neighborhoods like Coral Gables, resulting in frequent record-breaking real estate transactions across these areas (https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/29/south-florida-home-prices-soar-as-demand-remains-high.html). For example, earlier this month Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy paid $27.8 million—a record—for a waterfront mansion in Islamorada located within the Florida Keys (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/10/01/barstools-dave-portnoy-pays-record-28m-for-islamorada-mansion-in-the-keys/).
