Miami’s Versace mansion sold for $ 41,5 million

Casa Casuarina, Miami Beach, FL

Auction house Fisher Auction Company held an auction for the sell of Gianni Versace’s mansion ,Casa Casuarina, bought by the designer in 1992. The winning bidder was the company VM South Beach,who own the Hotel Victor next door on Ocean Drive, and got the villa for the sum of $ 41,500,000 (the initial value of the lot was $ 25.5 million). At the end of the auction company representative said that the villa in the future will become a hotel under the name Versace Hotel Villa.

“They’re so thrilled they can now combine these properties to offer top-quality entertainment and hospitality to their customers,” said Ralph Bekkevold, a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig in Miami, who represents the winning bidders.

Others bidders were Donald Trump — who deployed his son, Eric Trump, to bid on his behalf at the court-ordered bankruptcy sale — bid as high as $41 million for the iconic South Beach estate, and a third bidder who had put up a $3 million deposit to participate in the auction — Palm Beach Polo and Country Club owner Glenn Straub — made a single bid and stopped, leaving the Hotel Victor interests and Trump to duke it out, according to Lamar P. Fisher, of Fisher Auction, which conducted the auction on the site.( source miamiherald.com)

In 2000, telecom tycoon Peter Loftin boughtCasa Casuarina, paying for it $ 20 million, first villa served as his country house, and then he opened it like a boutique hotel. In 2012, the businessman put the mansion for sale, asking for his $ 125 million later the price dropped to $ 75 million, however, it did not find a buyer. This auction was held as part of the company’s bankruptcy .

“The exterior of the building is deceptively simple, but the inside is all about grandiosity. Versace purchased the property in 1992 and spent $33 million in renovating it, adding a wing and making additional upgrades. Each room is decorated in a fantasy theme.

The house, which has hand-painted murals and ornate statues throughout, boasts a 54-foot, mosaic-inlaid pool lined in 24-karat gold.” -miamiherald.com