Millionaire Russell Wright, reputed to be one of the richest African-Americans in the nation, has purchased a $4.2 million condo penthouse atop the 67-story Marquis in Downtown Miami -- just three blocks from American Airlines Arena.
Wright and his wife made the purchase the same day LeBron James announced his decision to play the 2011 National Basketball Association season with the Miami Heat, according to the Miami New Times.
That's the most spent on any downtown apartment so far this year, according to Alejandra Serna, a publicist representing the Marquis.
"Obviously, the Miami Heat stadium being near was a big part of our decision," Wright told the newspaper.
Wright's high-tech company, Sentel, helps detect undocumented immigrants crossing the Texas-Mexican border. However, he says he didn't have any top-secret info about LeBron's announcement.
"I figured that in the best-case scenario, LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh come together to make history right outside my house," he says. "Worst-case scenario: I'm a couple of blocks away from the stadium."
Wright is not the only one willing to pay over-the-odds to be within smelling distance of Pat Riley's new tropical trio, the Miami New Times reports.
According to Penni Chasens, an agent for Cervera Real Estate, at least one other LeBron fan has splashed an extra $100,000 to be near his idol.
"We were working on a deal at the Marquis, and the buyer was low-balling the developer," she says. "The day after LeBron signed, he came back with a much better offer."
Edgardo Defortuna, head of Fortune International Realty, says the LeBron effect is real but hard to quantify.
He says 49 units at Icon Brickell have sold since LeBron's announcement, and July sales for downtown were nearly double the number in June.
"I've had friends from South America call and tell me they'll buy an apartment," he says, "but only if I can find them Heat tickets first."
Source: http://www.realestatechannel.com/us-markets/residential-real-estate-1/real-estate-news-lebron-james-national-basketball-association-nba-miami-heat-miami-new-time-russell-wright-marquis-condos-penni-chasens-cervera-real-estate-2994.php
Posted by Alex Finkelstein 08/13/10 8:00 AM EST
The Criscitos has been selling South Florida luxury and commercial real estate for over a decade and has sold over $1 billion dollars of property. They work as a multi-lingual team speaking english, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. They carved out a niche as a leading boutique real estate company with two distinct divisions -residential and commercial- both personally overseeing by Marcela and Anthony Criscito.
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