Lebron James Coral Gables Mansion

Where is Lebron James new home in Miami? - UPDATE August 4th - NOT in Coral Gables - Potamkin says he has had not contact with Lebron James, is not selling his Coral Gables home to Lebron James or anyone, and that it is in fact OFF the market.

"King of the castle...king of the castle." I wonder if LeBron will walk in to his sprawling new mansion in Miami and say the same phrase made famous in the movie Borat. LeBron has begun paperwork on buying the most expensive mansion in Coral Gables, Florida. Several years ago Pat Riley called it home and he may have advised James to take a look at it.

The estate, located on 11 Casuarina Concourse, is being sold by auto dealership owner Alan Potamkin. Built in 2000, the two story, 20,862 square foot home contains eight bedrooms, 11 full baths, and sits on a 3.6-acre property in Gables Estates.

James' new home will offer much more privacy than the mansions he could have selected on or near Miami Beach. It is surrounded by 880 feet of waterfront and has a perfect view of Biscayne Bay and the Miami skyline. He can literally take his boat to the Miami Airlines Arena dock! (yes they have one)

Amenities include a 150-ft. dock, a lighted tennis court, and an adjacent private guest suite. There is also an "elevator, bar, master suite with a full gym, a billiard and media room, and a four or more car garage."

"In addition to these particulars, there is Lutron lighting and a 12-camera security system throughout the estate."

Needless to say MTV may want to consider bringing back the show "MTV Cribs" in order to give people a tour of LeBron's new humble abode.

-From BleacherReport.com

Vanilla Ice - Filming DIY Home Makeover Show in Versailles Community in Wellington, Florida

A lot of people know that Vanilla Ice lives somewhere in South Florida, but we do get the question alot: "Where does Vanilla Ice Live?"

So Here ya go:
Vanilla Ice lives at 10364 Trianon Place in Wellington, Fl 33414. Robert Van Winkle, better known as rapper Vanilla Ice, is filming a home makeover series for the DIY Network. Van Winkle and friends are rehabbing a home in the gated Versailles community in Wellington. Vanilla Ice, bought the Wellington, home, just down the street from his Versailles home for $420,000 and hopes to sell it for 3 times what he paid for it after the rehab project is done. When Vanilla Ice bought the house earlier this year vandals/theives had stolen fixtures, pool equipment, tiles and the home's appliances.

Van Winkle, 42 and four heavily tattooed friends are rehabbing the 7,000 square foot crib into a greener, more gadget friendly home. Van Winkle says some of the features of the redone six-bedroom house will include a movie theater with a laser-generated starry ceiling and an infinity pool flanked by fire torches electronically colored in different shades reflecting ones moods (red for angry, blue for calm).


Is the Versailles HOA bothered by the omnipresent media and camera crews? “I’m nice to the HOA,” Van Winkle said, “and I’m friends with the guy who developed Versailles. That helped. But this series is going to show Versailles and the rest of Palm Beach County in a good light. It’ll be good for home sales.”

Since Van Winkle already owns two dozen rental properties throughout Palm Beach County and a building on the pricey Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, the show is not too big of a stretch.

And Van Winkle hopes to make a couple bucks, too. He plans to offer the house up for sale in the summer for $1.5 million.

 

Wackenhut Estate - Indian River Shores - Vero Beach, Mansions

The famous former Wackenhut mansion, a massive European style 5-acre oceanfront estate at 270 Bermuda Bay Lane in Indian River Shores, has changed brokers.

The home, touted as the most expensive residential property ever sold in Indian River County, is now being marketed by Clark French, broker at Premier Estate Properties in Vero Beach. It was purchased for $18.6 million in 2005 by an Illinois entity named Bermuda Bay LLC. Clark sold the property back then as well.

The estate features 48 rooms with eight bedroom suites, 15 bathrooms, a library, game room, media room, a two-story master suite, a solarium, a main house and guest house. Exceptionally well-priced at only $22,995,000 reduced from $39,600,000.

George Wackenhut and his wife, Ruth moved from their medieval-style estate in Coral Gables to the Vero Beach mansion after the home was built in the late 1990s. He founded global security firm Wackenhut Corp. and was known as an outspoken Republican. After his death in 2004, his wife sold the estate.

The furnished palatial estate has 22,000 square feet of living space and is situated on 360 feet of private ocean access.

Other expensive Treasure Coast Homes:

Tiger Woods purchased the 400 block of South Beach Road, a 12-acre site in Jupiter Island, for $44.5 million during 2006 and 2007.

• NBA great Michael Jordan purchased two lots in an exclusive development called The Bear’s Club in Jupiter for a combined $4.8 million in 2008.

• In 2008, Burt Reynolds listed his Mediterranean-style, 12,500-square-foot, waterfront house in Hobe Sound for $8.9 million.

• In January, Richard Fuld Jr., the former chairman and chief executive officer of Lehman Brothers, shifted ownership of his $13.3 million Jupiter Island home exclusively into his wife’s name almost two months after the company made the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

• In 2005, Renlec Management Inc., a Canadian artist-management company run by Celine Dion and her husband, Rene Angelil, shelled out $12.5 million for a 3.7 acres waterfront home in Jupiter Island.

• In November, professional golfer Greg Norman dropped the price of his Jupiter Island home from $65 million to $47.5 million.

Celebrity Home - Chris Tucker Taking Huge Loss on Orlando, Florida Mansion

SELLER: Chris Tucker

LOCATION: Monteverde, FL
PRICE: $2,000,000
SIZE: 8,861 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 5 full and 3 half bathrooms

From TMZ - It appears the real estate bubble exploded all over Chris Tucker -- the tax-troubled star is trying to sell his Florida mansion for $2 million ... even though he paid $6 million for it just three years ago!


According to public records, Tucker took out a $4.2 million loan to score the 8861 square foot home back in 2007 ... a home that includes 5 bedrooms, a wine cellar, pirate ship-themed home theater and a library with a SECRET ROOM! The home is located in swanky Montverde ... a suburb of Orlando.


Tucker owns multiple properties in California -- according to RealEstalker.com -- but it's unclear if he's looking to unload any of those as well.

As TMZ first reported, Tucker is dealing with some serious tax issues at the moment -- the IRS claims he owes more than $11 mil ... which makes the timing of this sale much more relevant.

Chris Tucker's faux-Tuscan Floridian getaway, located just outside of Orlando, FL, sits on an approximately 1 acre lake-front lot in the upscale and guard gated golf and equestrian community of Bella Collina.

David Siegel's $100 million dollar Unfinished Windemere, Florida Mansion

The Windemere mansion started by timeshare tycoon David Siegel in Windemere Florida boasts some impressive stats: 90,000 square feet. Twenty-three bathrooms. Thirteen bedrooms. Ten kitchens. A 20-car garage, with additional space for two limos. Three pools. A bowling alley. Indoor roller rink. Two-story movie theater. Video arcade. Fitness center. Baseball field and two tennis courts. This megamansion is over 36 times larger than the average American home.

You can buy this huge mansion in Florida for $75 million as is, or completed for $100 million.

Nicknamed "Versailles" for the French royal palace that inspired it, the edifice hit the market recently. Construction was halted last year to save money in a recession that proved particularly hard on Siegel's once-booming industry.

The unfinished palace at 6121 Kirkstone Lane in Windemere makes Tiger Woods' place just down the street in this gated Orlando suburb look more like a guest house. Siegel, who has 12 children, could have easily moved forward with construction but wanted to avoid cutbacks at his company, Westgate Resorts.

Taxes alone on the property, if sold at $100 million, would be between $1.45 million and $1.74 million annually, according to Orange County appraiser's website. The yearly upkeep also would likely fall in that range, real estate agents said. That's what you get for buying one of the biggest mansions in Florida!

Bill Gates Florida Mansion (Hobe Sound, Jupiter Island)

For rent: A 10,500-square-foot, four-bedroom, six-bath, home, with an Intracoastal Waterway yacht dock and heated indoor pool. Cost: $50,000 a month (in season). Landlord; billionaire Bill Gates.

The barrier island municipality already has the distinction of having the second-highest per capita income of any inhabited place in the country. Among its residents are publisher Nelson Doubleday, Scripps Florida President Richard Lerner and singer Celine Dion. Golfer Tiger Woods is building a home on the island.

Now, Gates, a founder and the president of Microsoft, listed annually among the wealthiest in the world, has picked up land on the northern end of the oceanfront island through a company run by a 25 year old who lives in the state of Washington.

Jeff Gelman, who sold his 5.2-acre home at 100 Harbor Way, at the end of a narrow mangrove-lined private road for $5 million to Justin Hance and his company Front Range Investment, said Gates is behind the July 13 hardball purchase on the property that was appraised by Martin County at $8.7 million.

Gelman said he believes Hance, whose office is in the same Kirkland, Wash., building as Gates’ private investment and holding company Cascade Investment LLC, is working for Gates or fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, Buffett is also an investor with Cascade.
Hance, a 2006 graduate of Claremont McKenna College in California who according to the college’s Web site interned at Cascade Investment, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Officials with Cascade Investment did not immediately respond to a request for comments send by e-mail Monday.

Gelman said his accountant would constantly remind him of the daily expenses of maintaining the property that included $117,000 in property taxes in 2008.
“I would have liked for them to have paid more, but it was what it was, this is a tough market,” said Gelman, who had lived in the home for five years but had already moved to new home. “I didn’t get all the money I wanted, but I got rid of it.”

Tom Turner, who brokered the deal for Waterfront Properties, couldn’t confirm that Gates is the potential buyer.

“It’s been bandied all over the place, from Gates to Buffet to Paul Allen, Gates’ original partner with Microsoft,” Turner said. “I don’t really known the answer and probably if I did I’d probably plead the fifth.”

Gelman, who has been selling real estate for two decades and considered Hance's negotiation tactics distasteful, has previously sold homes to Dion and Richard Fuld Jr., the chairman and chief executive officer of the failed Lehman Brothers.

“They were trying to take advantage of the deal,” Gelman said. “They were under contract at $5.4 (million) so they continued inspections, kept prolonging the due diligence, and finally one week before they were to close, they lowered the price from $5.4 (million) to $5 million on us. I just figured whatever, you must need this 400 grand really bad.”
First Range did not purchase the three adjoining lots owned by Gelman, two vacant parcels and one that includes a 3,515-square-foot, 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath home.

Stephen Ross Palm Beach Mansion - "The Reef" (Owner and Founder of The Related Companies)

A little about Stephen Ross's Palm Beach Mansion - The Reef, lauded as an architectural gem at The Paris Exposition of 1937, is still a scene-stealer seven decades later, landing $31.85 million in a private, very quiet sale in October.

Stephen Ross purchased the house in 2008 - 702 N. County Road, $31.85 million


The buyer of the landmarked oceanfront mansion at 702 N. County Road is Stephen M. Ross, co-owner of the Miami Dolphins and chairman, CEO and founder of The Related Companies, a real-estate development empire that created the Time Warner Center and dozens of luxury towers in Manhattan.

The Reef was not listed for sale, and no real estate brokers were involved in the deal.
Ross, who paid $6.36 million for a condominium at Il Lugano in 2002, is one of the four owners of CityPlace in West Palm Beach, which The Related Companies developed. The sellers were Anita and Stuart Subotnick, executive vice president and partner in Palm Beacher John Kluge's Metromedia empire. The Subotnicks paid $9 million for The Reef in October 1996. In 1989, a mansion known as The Reef, at 702 North County Road, Palm Beach, sold for $4.6 million to Gerald Tsai Jr. Now Tsai has financed the residence with NationsBank for $6.15 million. The Reef has 19,692 square feet.

The Reef, a Treanor & Fatio-designed oceanfront mansion was built in 1936, and has been lauded as "The best design of Maurice Fatio's career."

Celine Dion's Jupiter Island Mansion - HUGE Pool

Celine Dion has a RIDICULOUS POOL at her Jupiter, Florida Mansion!

Dion's Jupiter Island house, which was built in 1963, has four bedrooms and four bathrooms.  At 6,859 square feet, it's much smaller than the pop diva is accustomed to, although the property includes a 1,700-square-foot guest house built in 1985. The pool has got to be bigger and worth as much as the entire house!  If Dion intends to build a new home on the site, Jupiter Island laws discourage mega-mansions such as the diva's Lake Las Vegas compound in Henderson, Nev.

Lord Conrad Black's Stolen Palm Beach Mansion For Sale

While Lord Conrad Black, aka Conrad Moffat Black, aka Baron Black of Crossharbour, the third biggest newspaper magnate in the world, is now loving in  Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Orlando, his Palm Beach Mansion is up for sale. Black was found guilty of diverting funds for personal benefit including having one of his corporations actually buy this home after he defaulted on the mortgage.

Tiger Woods Mom Mansion on Jupiter Island, Florida (Tida Woods Jupiter Mansion)

Tiger Woods is building his Mom a mansion on Jupiter Island. Woods bought two adjacent properties directly across the Intracoastal from his soon-to-be Jupiter Island residence for $2.4 million in 2007. Now, he is building Mommy Tida a mansion that is costing another $2.6 million for construction. Tida Woods, who usually stays out of the spotlight burst onto the media stage Friday with her long embrace for her son after his televised apology. This is some home, wish I could do this for my Mom!

Dwayne Wade's House in Miami, Florida

At 9330 SW 59th Pl, Miami, FL 33156 you will find Miami's favorite baller, Dwayne Wade's House.
The massive home in the Pinecrest, Florida area puts to shame other NBA homes I have seen such as those owned by Shaquille O'Neal and Karl Malone. Like Shaq, Wade personalized his pool and like Malone, Wade went a wee bit crazy with the murals.

From the outside the nearly 12,000-square-foot French-style home seems rather sedate but once inside the six-bedroom home things get a bit Flashtastic. Wade, known as "Flash," has put a "W" inlaid in the marble floor in the entrance hall and the listing includes the furnishings, artwork and some of Mr. Wade's memorabilia. There are rooms in the home, such as the dining room that are rather elegantly decorated, there are also touches like the Spider-man-themed bathrooms and the many, many renderings of Mr. Wade, that make this a home in need of some work. The home is so idiosyncratic that you would really have to be a fan to live here and I wonder if he will have as tough a time selling as Malone did. There is also a one-bedroom guest house, pool and patio with a summer kitchen on the property. The home is listed at $8.9 million. After the jump, a monument to ego.

UPDATE: Wade has struggled to sell the home, reducing the price several times. It is now listed at $4.599 million.

Rosie O'Donnell's Miami Beach Mansion

43 Star Island Dr, Miami Beach, FL 33139, FL 33139 is home to Rosie O'Donnell. Rosie bought the house in 1999 for 6.7 million and it is now worth between 14 and 16 million.

Transformer's Director Michael Bay Bought The Hogan's Old Miami Beach Mansion

Does Michael Bay's Miami Beach Mansion look familiar? Well it should, it was the one that Hogan Knows Best was filmed in. Terry Bollea, aka wrestler Hulk Hogan, has sold his Miami Beach mansion on the bay -- to Michael Bay, Hollywood director and producer.

The Miami Herald writes that the deal was done for just under the sticker price of $18.9 million. Bollea, 54, bought the gated residence at 2900 N. Bay Rd. in April '06 for $12 million.

Bay, 42, the director of many action films, including the recent "Transformers" will enjoy his modern six-bedroom main house with elliptical floating staircase, two guest apartments, pool, cabana and dock, plus a five-car garage.
Troubles have been plaguing the family Hogan, as Hulk, wife Linda, daughter Brooke and son Nicholas realized someone stole jewelry during their move Thursday -- including a diamond watch and a couple of necklaces. The police report put the value of the missing items at $100,000.

Hulk has an estate in Belleair, near Clearwater, in the style of a French chateau.

Neal Litman, Bollea's Miami real estate attorney, declined to comment on the sale to the Herald. "He's exciting, he's interesting, he's humorous. The way he acts on TV, he really is that guy, but he's got a warm side to him.''

Andy Roddick's Boca Raton Home (much smaller than his Austin, Tx mansion)

Andy Roddick rose to tennis fame in Boca Raton Florida. While he still maintains a home in Boca Raton, Florida, it pales in comparison to Andy Roddick and Brooklyn Decker's Austin, Texas mansion!

In November of 2003 Andy Roddick purchased a home in Austin, Texas for just under $2 million. Built in 1998 and located on Lake Austin, the two-story home offers a spacious 5,558 square feet. Roddick added a boat lift and a sport court to the home in 2004.

Jim Clark, Netscape Founder's Palm Beach Mansion

Who knew the interweb fad would last? Clark, cofounded Silicon Graphics and Netscape, had been married 4 times and also houses his yachtes, Hyperion and Athena at this Palm Beach mansion he calls home. His most recent wife (version 4.0) is an Austrailian model 36 years his junior (Kristy Hinze).

Malcom Glazer's Palm Beach Mansion sold to Billionaire Jeff Green

Palm Beach's biggest recorded deal of the 2009 just happens to be the recent sale of Tampa Bay Bucs owner Malcolm Glazer's oceanfront La Bellucia home, a 12,000-square-foot spread on 3.8 acres, for a cool $24 million. The buyer? Los Angeles real estate investor and billionaire Jeff Greene. The sale was first reported by the Palm Beach Daily News. Here's the story.

La Bellucia is a landmarked oceanfront Addison Mizner-designed house at 1200 S. Ocean Blvd with nine bedrooms, nine-and-a-half-bathrooms. According to the newspaper, it had a price tag of $27.5 million and was on the market for less than 30 days. Willey J. Kingsley, a physician and capitalist in Rome, N.Y., built the home in 1924 and named it Beautiful Lucy after his wife, Lucy.

Glazer’s company, First Allied Jacksonville Corp., bought it in July 2000 for $14 million. The Glazers originally sought permission to demolish the main house and then, later, to bring the entire property back to its former grandeur, local realtors say. But they later decided against the renovations and chose to remain in their current home nearby, also on Palm Beach’s Billionaire’s Row.

Jeff Green Greene, became a billionaire by betting, correctly, in 2006 against the subprime mortgage market.

Nelson Peltz Palm Beach Mansion

Situated on North County Road in Palm Beach, the Nelson Peltz property, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and just north of the famed Breakers Hotel, features a French Regency-style, 44,000-square-foot main residence. The 13-acre property also has a 16,000-square-foot guesthouse, two swimming pools, a tennis court and a movie theater. Peltz, who is a member of The Forbes Four Hundred Richest in America list, is chief executive of New York holding company Triarc Companies (arbys, wendys). He is trying to sell the property because he doesn't use it anymore. Ned Monell of Sotheby's International Realty has the listing. Nelson Peltz is the former owner of Snapple. His current net worth is estimated at $1.05 billion, and he lives in an oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach.

Where Can I find the Mansions in Palm Beach Florida

Well, we are hearing this question pretty frequently" "Where Can I find the Mansions in Palm Beach Florida?"

If you are visiting West Palm Beach or Palm Beach anytime soon, you may be asking yourself, "Where can I find the wealthy home area?" Well, the answer is pretty easy. To overly simplify this, the million dollar homes in this area of Florida are along A1A (also known as Ocean Ave). Though they can be hard to find given the gates and massive landscaping (including Royal Palms that are over a hundred years old and huge ficus hedges).

Many million dollar homes are located on South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach Florida. This street has many famous homes to include the Mar-a-Lago Club that is owned by Donald Trump. (answering another popular question: where is Donald Trumps Marlago mansion?" This strip has several huge Florida Mansions, including a couple valued at over $50,000,000. Many of these homes along A1a in West Palm Beach, Manalapan and Ocean Ridge have cabanas on the ocean side that match their house, connected by tunnels to the main homes, where the backyards are the intercoastal! It's an exciting drive to pass these million dollar homes in Palm Beach County. If you pass this area at night and on a weekend, you may catch a glimpse of a celebrity in one of the nearby restaurants just located off of South Ocean Boulevard. Local celebrities in Palm Beach County include Chris Evert Loyd, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Celine Dion, Rush Limbaugh, and many others.

If you want to walk around some of the lower million dollar homes, then there is metered parking around a mile from the Mara-a-Lago Club. It's extremely hard to get one of these metered parking spots if you are arriving before 6:00 P.M. It is a lot easier to find parking after 6:00 P.M, when the sun has gone down and the beach goers are finished swimming and surfing. This community is perhaps one of the most luxurious in the United States of America. Many world famous millionaires live in this area and security is extremely tight. If you are looking to shop around this area, be sure to bring plenty of cash since the restaurants and shops are a bit pricey.

Scott Stapp's Boca Raton Florida Mansion

UPDATE - Scott Stapp's Boca Raton Mansion for Sale "Scott Stapp and Jaclyn Nesheiwat have listed for sale an eight-bedroom, 3.5-bath home at 8812 Twin Lake Dr. in Boca Raton for $4.4 million. Stapp and Nesheiwat acquired the house for $4.995 million in March 2006. The 13,357-square-foot house in the Whisper Walk neighborhood was built in 2006. Katrina S. Campins of the Campins Co. Luxary Real Estate is the listing agent for the house. He received a degree in music from Valencia Community College. He also attended Western Kentucky University and Vol State Community College. Nesheiwat is a beauty pageant contestant and the winner of Mrs. Florida America 2008 as well as Miss New York USA 2004." Scott Stapp's, from Creed Boca Raton Mansion is pretty nice. Scott Stapp previously had a huge home in Orlando, Florida area for several years but relocated to Miami Beach in 2005. Stapp settled into a $5 million waterfront home in the La Gorce subdivision and also owned a nearly $3 million condo. On February 10, 2006, Scott Stapp married Miss New York USA 2004 winner Jaclyn Nesheiwat. Soon after the marriage, Stapp purchased a $5 million, two-story home in Boca Raton, Florida. The home offers seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, tennis court, swimming pool and spa. Boca Raton is located approximately 30 miles north of Miami Beach. In March of 2007, Stapp had listed both of his Miami Beach residences for sale and moved to this Boca Raton Mansion. He recently made news when his wife Jaclyn Stapp called the police saying Scott Stapp was “on drugs and pot. There is a lot of pot in the house"

Huge Ocean Ridge Boynton Beach Mansion a1a and Ocean Blvd

So we get alot of emails and questions about the huge mansion at the end of Ocean Blvd where it meets A1A. This gargantuan Florida mansion next to the Boynton Beach Oceanfront Park.



The founder of the Miami Beach landmark restaurant The Forge is expanding his residential enclave in Palm Beach County's exclusive Ocean Ridge.

Multimil-lionaire Alvin Malnik dropped $7.9 million for a five-bedroom house on the Atlantic Ocean in the sleepy town east of Boynton Beach. The 9,417-square-foot house built in 1985 is at 6307 N. Ocean Blvd.

The lawyer-turned-real-estate-investor and his wife, Nancy, live in an 11-bedroom, 18.5 bathroom estate next door at 6301 N. Ocean Blvd. Their expansive home of six years measures about 44,600 square feet on 2.23 acres, making it the biggest house in Ocean Ridge. Ocean Ridge has about 3,000 residents -- including seasonal visitors.

Joseph and Carol Russo sold Malnik his newest home on March 28. The Russos paid $2.2 million for it in 1990. County appraisers put the market value of the oceanfront home at $3.85 million, less than half of the purchase price.

Malnik paid about $800 per square foot, and one broker said it was a good price.

"Some homes are selling for well above $1,000 per square foot in that area," said broker Candace Friis with the New York-based Corcoran Group in Delray Beach. "It is a terrific buy for the buyer. It is a very nice house."

Friis was not involved in the sale. She said the property was not on the Multiple Listing Service.

The Russos recently bought a house that's half the size in Palm Beach. They paid $3.95 million for a 4,686-square-foot home on Australian Avenue in February.

Malnik owes his South Florida celebrity in part to the success of The Forge, now run by his son, Shareef Malnik. Rich in European architecture and art, the former casino is a draw for celebrities, politicians and wine connoisseurs. The restaurant's underground cellar has room for up to 300,000 bottles.

Alvin Malnik, 73, bought the neglected restaurant in 1968 when he was a young attorney and his roster of clients included mob financier Meyer Lansky.

Considered one of the fathers of the organized crime in the United States, Lansky established gambling operations in Florida, New Orleans and Cuba in the mid-1930s. His illegal operations extended to drugs and prostitution. In the 1970s, he faced tax evasion charges and fled to Israel. His extradition brought him to Miami and prison. He died of lung cancer in 1983, leaving behind a $400 million fortune.

Malnik's association with the gangster tainted his reputation. In a 1980 opinion, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission described Malnik as a "person of unsuitable character and unsuitable reputation."

Malnik has always denied any involvement with organized crime, noting he was never convicted of any crime.

In recent years, Malnik has focused on real estate. He transferred ownership of The Forge to his son in 1991 after a spectacular roof fire heavily damaged the restaurant.

Shareef Malnik re-opened it and took it to a higher level. He created Jimmy'z at Cuba Club as part of the restaurant and has hosted celebrities such as Madonna, Michael Jordan, Robert De Niro and Paul McCartney.

The elder Malnik has been an active investor in South Florida real estate for at least three decades, said Mark Gilbert, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield in Miami. Malnik invests in commercial and residential income-producing properties, but his name rarely appears on corporate records filed with the state.

Gilbert has been a friend of Malnik's for years and does business with him at times. Gilbert was the registered agent of ANC Rental Plaza, in which Malnik was an investor. In February, ANC sold the former Blockbuster headquarters in Fort Lauderdale for $23 million to Miami-based N.R. Investments. The new owner is converting the tower to office condos, said N.R. Investments' principal Nir Shoshani.

Renamed Museum Plaza, the 177,000-square-foot building has 45,000 square feet available for sale. Blockbuster founder H. Wayne Huizenga's penthouse office and the ground-floor retail space are on the market for $290 to $320 per square foot, Shoshani said.

Malnik's real estate portfolio also includes 32.5 acres of vacant land northeast of Lyons Road and Clint Moore Road west of Boca Raton, according to Palm Beach County property records.

The founder of the Miami Beach landmark restaurant The Forge is expanding his residential enclave in Palm Beach County's exclusive Ocean Ridge.

Multimil-lionaire Alvin Malnik dropped $7.9 million for a five-bedroom house on the Atlantic Ocean in the sleepy town east of Boynton Beach. The 9,417-square-foot house built in 1985 is at 6307 N. Ocean Blvd.

The lawyer-turned-real-estate-investor and his wife, Nancy, live in an 11-bedroom, 18.5 bathroom estate next door at 6301 N. Ocean Blvd. Their expansive home of six years measures about 44,600 square feet on 2.23 acres, making it the biggest house in Ocean Ridge. Ocean Ridge has about 3,000 residents -- including seasonal visitors.

Joseph and Carol Russo sold Malnik his newest home on March 28. The Russos paid $2.2 million for it in 1990. County appraisers put the market value of the oceanfront home at $3.85 million, less than half of the purchase price.

Malnik paid about $800 per square foot, and one broker said it was a good price.

"Some homes are selling for well above $1,000 per square foot in that area," said broker Candace Friis with the New York-based Corcoran Group in Delray Beach. "It is a terrific buy for the buyer. It is a very nice house."

Friis was not involved in the sale. She said the property was not on the Multiple Listing Service.

The Russos recently bought a house that's half the size in Palm Beach. They paid $3.95 million for a 4,686-square-foot home on Australian Avenue in February.

Malnik owes his South Florida celebrity in part to the success of The Forge, now run by his son, Shareef Malnik. Rich in European architecture and art, the former casino is a draw for celebrities, politicians and wine connoisseurs. The restaurant's underground cellar has room for up to 300,000 bottles.

Alvin Malnik, 73, bought the neglected restaurant in 1968 when he was a young attorney and his roster of clients included mob financier Meyer Lansky.

Considered one of the fathers of the organized crime in the United States, Lansky established gambling operations in Florida, New Orleans and Cuba in the mid-1930s. His illegal operations extended to drugs and prostitution. In the 1970s, he faced tax evasion charges and fled to Israel. His extradition brought him to Miami and prison. He died of lung cancer in 1983, leaving behind a $400 million fortune.

Malnik's association with the gangster tainted his reputation. In a 1980 opinion, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission described Malnik as a "person of unsuitable character and unsuitable reputation."

Malnik has always denied any involvement with organized crime, noting he was never convicted of any crime.

In recent years, Malnik has focused on real estate. He transferred ownership of The Forge to his son in 1991 after a spectacular roof fire heavily damaged the restaurant.

Shareef Malnik re-opened it and took it to a higher level. He created Jimmy'z at Cuba Club as part of the restaurant and has hosted celebrities such as Madonna, Michael Jordan, Robert De Niro and Paul McCartney.

The elder Malnik has been an active investor in South Florida real estate for at least three decades, said Mark Gilbert, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield in Miami. Malnik invests in commercial and residential income-producing properties, but his name rarely appears on corporate records filed with the state.

Gilbert has been a friend of Malnik's for years and does business with him at times. Gilbert was the registered agent of ANC Rental Plaza, in which Malnik was an investor. In February, ANC sold the former Blockbuster headquarters in Fort Lauderdale for $23 million to Miami-based N.R. Investments. The new owner is converting the tower to office condos, said N.R. Investments' principal Nir Shoshani.

Renamed Museum Plaza, the 177,000-square-foot building has 45,000 square feet available for sale. Blockbuster founder H. Wayne Huizenga's penthouse office and the ground-floor retail space are on the market for $290 to $320 per square foot, Shoshani said.

Malnik's real estate portfolio also includes 32.5 acres of vacant land northeast of Lyons Road and Clint Moore Road west of Boca Raton, according to Palm Beach County property records.