Photo illustration of Charles Cohen (Credit: Wikipedia and Getty Images)

From TRD NYC: Developer Charles Cohen is eyeing two trophies — and they aren’t class A office towers.

Cohen, CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, co-produced two movies, “Faces Places” and “The Insult,” which were respectively nominated for best documentary feature and best foreign language film Oscars. In addition to overseeing a portfolio that spans 12 million square feet across New York, Texas, South Florida and Southern California, Cohen runs an independent theatrical distribution and production company, Cohen Media Group.

He also owns Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village, which is showing both movies. Another movie he produced in 2008, “Frozen River,” was nominated for best actress and best original screenplay. Cohen told Crain’s that he’s looking to increase his involvement in the film industry.

“It’s not dissimilar to real estate in that I’m creating an asset, in this case an intellectual asset, that throws off ancillary income for years,” Cohen said. “There’s so many ways now to make money from film—from video on demand to DVD sales to showings on college campuses, cruise ships and airplanes. For me it’s about building a library of film assets that I can be proud of.”

He also indicated that he may try his hand at writing a movie on a subject he knows well: Manhattan real estate. [Crain’s] — Kathryn Brenzel 

Hampton Inn & Suites Destin

Key International bought a Hampton Inn & Suites hotel in the Florida Panhandle for $31.5 million.

The Miami-based real estate investment and development firm paid McNeill Hotel Co. about $242,000 per room for the 130-room hotel in Destin.

McNeill will continue to manage the hotel, located along the Gulf of Mexico at 1625 Highway 98 East in Destin.

Built in 1995, the Hampton Inn & Suites Destin underwent a $12 million renovation in 2014.

The hotel has 130 rooms including 43 studio suites. The properties amenities include outdoor grilling stations, fire pits, a gym, business center and resort-style swimming pool.

The hotel is near such attractions as the Destin Harbor Boardwalk, Track Family Recreation Center, and Big Kahuna’s Water and Adventure Park.

Destin is “a treasured beach town that sees tens of thousands of visitors during spring and summer peak seasons,” Diego Ardid, co-president of Key International, said in a prepared statement.

In other hotel projects outside South Florida, Key International last year topped construction of an Embassy Suites by Hilton in St. Augustine Beach and finished renovating a Hampton Inn & Suites in downtown Gainesville for nearly $2 million. [cpexecutive.com] – Mike Seemuth

Restoration of the Southernmost Point Buoy in Key West after Hurricane Irma (Credit: WLRN)

While the rest of the Florida Keys has recovered faster from Hurricane Irma, rebuilding continues at many resorts and tourist attractions in the Lower Keys and Islamorada.

Irma hit the Lower Keys harder than the rest of the Florida Keys. The eye of hurricane made landfall Sept. 10 on Cudjoe Key at Mile Marker 20, and many resorts in the Lower Keys remain closed.

Little Palm Island, a luxurious resort on a private island near Little Torch Key, will not reopen until early 2019.

Hawks Cay Resort & Marina in Marathon is scheduled to reopen in phases by summer, starting in the second quarter.

However, some other resorts in the Lower Keys are open, including Banana Bay Resort & Marina, Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge and Skipjack Resort & Marina.

Campgrounds in the Lower Keys are gradually returning to business as usual. The Fiesta Key RV Resort & Marina is open but with limited services. The Sunshine Key RV resort on Big Pine Key is closed until spring, and the Sugarloaf KOA  campground is closed through October.

In Islamorada, the upscale Moorings Village resort reopened Jan. 15, and the adjacent Cheeca Lodge Resort & Spa is expected to reopen March 30.

Four resorts owned by Islamorada Resort Co. are in different phases of recovery. Amara Cay reopened Dec. 15. Pelican Cove Resorts is expected to reopen in early February and La Siesta Resort & Marina in March. Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina is set to reopen in stages starting in March. [Miami.com] – Mike Seemuth

The Department of Justice subpoena centers on controls in Lennar’s FHA lending process. (Credit: DigitalTrends.com)

The mortgage subsidiary of Miami-based home builder Lennar Corp. provided information on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans to the U.S. Department of Justice in response to a subpoena.

The company disclosed the subpoena in a Form 10-K  annual report filed Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and reported that “communications are ongoing” with the Department of Justice, which “to date has not asserted any claim for damages or penalties.”

Lennar reported in the SEC filing that the subpoenaed information centers on “the adequacy of certain underwriting and quality control processes related to Federal Housing Administration loans originated and sold in prior years.”

Lennar also said in the SEC filing that it doesn’t believe the Department of Justice inquiry will have “a material adverse effect on our business or financial position. However, the financial effect of litigation concerning purchases and sales of property may depend upon the value of the subject property, which may have change from the time the agreement for purchase or sale was entered into.”– Mike Seemuth

Coral Springs Financial Plaza at University Drive and Sample Road (Credit: Sun-Sentinel)

A developer is set to acquire land at the intersection of University Drive and Sample Road in Coral Springs for construction of a hotel, an apartment building, and retail space.

Developer Ron Sheldon of Boca Raton-based PreDevCo expects to close next month on the acquisition of a seven-acre site on the southwest corner of the intersection.

Sheldon would build a $168 million cluster of developments there, including a 450-unit apartment building and a 150-room hotel  with its own parking garage. He also plans to build retail spaces for a grocery store and a half dozen bars and restaurants. Coral Springs Financial Plaza, a 10-story office building on the southwest corner of the intersection, would be razed.

Sheldon’s development would be part of the city government’s vision of a new downtown district in Coral Springs at University Drive and Sample Road.

Coral Springs, which is preparing to open a new City Hall on the southwest corner of the intersection of University Drive and Sample Road, wants to sell the current City Hall location on the northwest corner to a developer. The city also may acquire a nearby shopping plaza for redevelopment.

In addition, the city plans to find a new location for the Coral Springs Charter School on the southeast corner of the intersection and to sell the land there to a developer.

The northeast corner of University Drive and Sample Road is occupied by the  former location of a Publix supermarket that closed after Hurricane Wilma hit South Florida in 2005. [Sun-Sentinel] – Mike Seemuth

Richard Salamon, the city manager of Sunrise (Credit: Sun-Sentinel)

Sunrise city commissioners Tuesday approved plans for an 18,600-square-foot Aldi grocery store at a vacant shopping center on the corner of University Drive and Sunrise Boulevard, where apartments also may be built.

The planned development site is BJ’s Plaza, a strip shopping center in Sunrise that tenants vacated almost 10 years ago.

Coral Gables-based Luxcom is still working on the details for an apartment complex, which would require a rezoning of the BJ’s Plaza property.

Sunrise City Manager Richard Salamon told the Sun-Sentinel that Luxcom has considered building up to 300 apartments on the BJ’s Plaza property.

It would be the second residential redevelopment of a depopulated shopping center in Sunrise. City commissioners last fall approved a plan to build 288 apartments at Pine Plaza, where tenants started to depart after Winn-Dixie closed a supermarket there. [Sun-Sentinel] – Mike Seemuth

Pole used for “exercise.” (Credit: Pixabay)

From TRD NYC: Resi agents often come face-to-face with the oddities of humanity when trying to sell homes.

Here are some of the whoppers two brave souls shared with the Wall Street Journal about what they witnessed in a day’s work:

Stripper poles

“Every time I show the house, people think there are structural problems, because why else would you put a pole there? I always explain it as an “exercise pole”—it’s a class, like Zumba,” said GiGi Malek oftTerrace Sotheby’s International Realty in Forest Hills.

A satanic shrine

One time Malek had a client whose son had a satanic poster, black candles and what looked like a dried goat’s head in his room.

“I said to the dad, ‘Could we take the poster down? It would be better if it was more mainstream.’ That was a challenge, because he didn’t want to hurt his son’s feelings,” she told the Journal.

A penchant for cooking fish
(Right before a showing, of course)

Cooked fish. (Credit: Public Domain Pictures)

“Sometimes I just want to tell the gut-wrenching, honest truth after an unsuccessful open house,” Malek continued. “How about not cooking fish five minutes before I get there?”

Buyers with a preference for used a mattress

A mattress. (Credit:
Masahiko Ohkub/Wikimedia Commons)

“I used to work in California, and I once had a client sell his beautiful ski chalet in Lake Tahoe completely furnished. But he happened to love [his] mattress. So he bought a nice new mattress for the buyers, not thinking it would be an issue. But during the final walk-through before the closing, they noticed [the new mattress]. They wanted the one that was per the offer, even though they knew it wasn’t brand new,” said Janine Hostetter of Robert Paul Properties in Massachusetts told the Journal. [WSJ] — Erin Hudson

Rendering of Hard Rock Hotel in Daytona Beach

The developer of a new Hard Rock Hotel in Daytona Beach expects to obtain a certificate of occupancy for the 200-room property early next month.

The developer, Summit Hospitality Management Group, has spent about $40 million to convert the former Desert Inn hotel at 918 North Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach to a Hard Rock Hotel.

It will be the 25^th Hard Rock Hotel worldwide and the fourth in Florida.

Efrain Silva, vice president of operations at Daytona Beach-based Summit Hospitality, told the Daytona Beach News Journal the development company expects to get a certificate of occupancy for its Hard Rock Hotel during the first week of February.

The hotel is scheduled to open Feb. 17, one day before the Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 18.

The Daytona Beach Hard Rock Hotel will have 18,000 square feet of meeting space and a third-floor rooftop restaurant and bar. Other common-area amenities will include a coffee shop, spa, gym and an oceanfront swimming pool with private cabanas, and a splash zone and wading pool for children.

A complimentary program called “Sound of Your Stay” will allow overnight guests to borrow a Fender electric guitar and amplifier to play in their room, or a turntable to play vinyl records, or to use headphones to listen to a Spotify playlist of songs. [Daytona Beach News Journal] – Mike Seemuth

The Fountains Apartments in Palm Beach Gardens (Credit: www.emagine.us)

The owner of a 542-unit apartment complex in Palm Beach Gardens is under contract to sell the property for $97.3 million.

BRT Apartments Corp. expects to close the sale of The Fountains Apartments in the April-June period. The contractual price equals $179,520 per unit.

Great Neck, New York-based BRT is a publicly held real estate investment trust listed on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol BRT.

BRT expects to record a $20.5 million profit on the sale of The Fountains Apartments, located at 4120 Square Boulevard, near the intersection of North Military Trail and PGA Boulevard.

The apartment complex had $9.2 million of revenue and $7.9 million of expense (including $3.8 million of depreciation and interest expense) in the 12 months ended in September, according to BRT.

The Fountains Apartments have one-, two- and three-bedroom units with monthly rents starting at $1,144, according to the property’s website.

Common-area amenities include three swimming pools, a 24-hour gym, a tennis and basketball court, a fitness trail and a picnic area with barbecue grills. – Mike Seemuth

Todd Michael Glaser (Credit: Haute Living)

Todd Michael Glaser, who last year bought two houses in Palm Beach, paid $2.67 million for property in West Palm Beach to serve as the local office of his real estate development company.

Glaser and his wife, Kim, bought a former bank building and adjacent land at 301 Southern Boulevard, near the western end of the Southern Boulevard bridge connecting West Palm Beach to Palm Beach.

The seller is former Palm Beach resident Lee Munder, who had owned the property on Southern Boulevard since 2004 and had stored his collection of antique cars there. The old Wachovia Bank and a vocational school previously occupied the 7,769-square-foot building, which Glaser plans to renovate.

David Solomon of EWM Realty International represented Glaser in his acquisition of the Southern Boulevard property. John Jaspert, a vice president of CBRE, listed the building for sale almost a year ago and showed it to approximately 60 prospects.

A Miami Beach native, Glaser told the Palm Beach Daily News he expects a revitalization of the section of Southern Boulevard where his newly acquired property is located because the area has “the same feel as what was going on in Miami in 1988 and 1989.”

In November, a company run by Glaser paid slightly less than $11 million for Casa Vera, a landmarked house a 125 Via Del Lago in Palm Beach, and already has listed it for sale for $13.9 million.

Last summer, the Glasers paid $5.9 million for  a landmarked house at 1221 North Lake Way in Palm Beach, which the couple is renovating. [Palm Beach Daily News] – Mike Seemuth

Styled living room. (Credit all: Pixabay)

Millennials are officially home-buying age and, with the cash to back up their aspirations, they’re expecting to be swept off their feet.

So how to reach this new cohort of buyers who were responsible for more than a third of American home purchases between July 2015 and June 2016? Well, a great Instagram account is a good start, but it won’t seal the deal.

“Millennials need to see themselves living there,” New York broker Dolly Lenz told Mansion Global. “They’re more about an experience than anything else.”

These experiences could range from a showing featuring catering by a local coffeehouse or restaurant, an impromptu fashion show or a salon-style get-together populated by groups of presumably smart and cultured potential buyers.

“We try to bring together an interesting group of people, so that even if they don’t buy in this development, we’re in contact with them afterwards,” explained Ziegert Bank and Real Estate Consulting’s Dorothea Metasch.

Brokers should also be ready to get quizzed.

“Millennials ask amazing questions,” Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty’s Brennan Stravlo told Mansion Global. “They want to know everything about a property before they make a decision.”

But perhaps the best way to attract and win over millennial buyers is hiring millennials to make the sale, because as one broker, who is himself a millennial, said, “we understand their fears, their concerns and their must-haves.”

[Mansion Global] — Erin Hudson

1900 South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach (Credit” Andy Frame and Sothebys International Realty)

A new mansion in Palm Beach was listed for $61.5 million, the fourth-highest asking price among all properties listed for sale in the exclusive barrier-island enclave.

Located in a section of Palm Beach called Billionaires Row, the ocean-to-lake house at 1900 South Ocean Boulevard has 200 feet of oceanfront directly across the boulevard and 180 feet of lakefront on the west side of the property.

Construction of the three-level house is nearly complete as the “finishing touches” are applied, according to John P. Dewing of Sotheby’s International Realty, who shares the $61.5 million listing with another Sotheby’s agent, Morgan B. Atkins.

The listing states that the three-story house has 21,305 square feet of air-conditioned space. Its features include a library, a lounge and bar, and a fireplace-equipped family room that leads to a loggia and terrace overlooking the Lake Worth Lagoon.

The house has a guest wing with three bedrooms. The property also comes with a freestanding guest house.

Suzanne Frisbie, president of the Palm Beach Board of Realtors, told the Palm Beach Daily News that the asking price for the never-occupied house is competitive because it is under $3,000 per square foot of air-conditioned space.

Frisbie, an agent of Corcoran Group, also told the newspaper that the house is one of only 19 ocean-to-lake properties in Palm Beach.

Keith Frankel and his wife, Tammy, built the house. They briefly listed it for sale in 2014 with a pre-construction asking price of $65 million.

Frankel, president and CEO of New Jersey-based vitamin manufacturer VitaQuest International, bought the South Ocean Boulevard property in 2007 for $15.9 million. [Palm Beach Daily News] – Mike Seemuth

Naples City Councilman Sam Saad (Credit: Tallahassee Democrat)

Real estate attorney Sam Saad, a member of the Naples City Council, said the Florida Bar dismissed an allegation that he acted unethically by voting in favor of a development that involved one of his clients.

In May 2016, Saad voted in favor of a proposal to build a gas station and convenience store in River Park, a Naples neighborhood with a mostly African-American population.

Though many residents of River Park opposed the development, the Naples City Council approved it in a 4-3 vote.

Vincent Keyes, president of the NAACP chapter in Collier County, filed an ethics complaint against Saad with the Florida Bar.

Keyes alleged that Saad violated a Florida Bar rule that prohibits lawyers from acting in their own self-interest as public officials.

The Naples Daily News has reported on Saad’s business relationships with New York-based Axonic Capital Group, which sold the River Park property to convenience-store chain 7-Eleven.

The Daily News reported that Saad did legal work for Axonic before and after the sale and had entered real estate development partnerships with Axonic manager Matt Pikus, who earned a $24,000 commission on the River Park property sale to 7-Eleven.

A spokeswoman for the Florida Bar told the newspaper on Saturday she was unable to confirm that the Bar dismissed the ethics complaint against Saad because details of the case weren’t immediately available.

A nine-member state ethics panel earlier dismissed a separate ethics complaint against Saad after determining he was unaware before his vote on the River Park property that the sale would generate a $24,000 commission for Pikus.

Naples City Councilwoman Linda Penniman filed the ethics complaint against Saad in March of last year. [Naples Daily News] – Mike Seemuth

Whale Cay, Bahamas (Credit: Business Insider)

A private island in the Bahamas with a colorful past has been listed for sale with an asking price of $20 million.

The 711-acre island in the Berry Islands, Bahamas, called Whale Cay has seven miles of white-sand beaches on its 12-mile shoreline.

Whale Cay, accessible by water or air, has a 4,000-foot paved runway for aircraft.

The private island also comes with multiple structures built between the 1930s and 1970s and in need of repair. These include a main house, guest cottage, museum and laundry room, plus a dormitory for staff, several maintenance buildings, a seaplane hangar and a lighthouse.

A 2.5-mile natural waterway along the northern side of Whale Cay could be dredged for a marina development.

A brokerage firm called 7th Heaven Properties has the listing for Whale Cay.

In 1934, the island was purchased by Marion Barbara “Joe” Castairs, whose mother was an heiress to the Standard Oil fortune.

Castairs cross-dressed as a man and had affairs with famous actresses including Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, according to Robert Cooper, director of 7th Heaven Properties. [Business Observer] – Mike Seemuth

Ingvar Kamprad, left in 2010; Ikea store in Regensburg, Germany, right. (Credit left to right: Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications of Sweden/Sandra Baqirjazi; High Contrast/Wikimedia Commons)

One of the richest men in the world and creator of a company whose furniture sits in the homes and offices of millions worldwide died yesterday in Smaland, Sweden.

At 17, Ingvar Kamprad founded Ikea as a mail-order business in 1943 with a basic idea: to sell low-cost minimalist furniture. Over about seven decades, he developed the idea into an empire of 350 stores, with $47.6 billion in sales and a personal net worth of $58.7 billion, making him the eighth richest person in the world, according to the New York Times.

The enduring concept of Ikea’s business — assemble furniture yourself, wander independently through self-service stores located on cheap land outside of major cities and a corporate culture of frugality is largely attributed to its founder’s ethos and behavior, though Kamprad’s life was more complicated than that simple picture he exuded publicly.

As the Times reports, Kamprad’s alcoholism, involvement in Sweden’s fascist movement and luxurious estates in Switzerland, France and Sweden give a glimpse of the man behind the cultivated image.

Though Kamprad officially retired in 1986, he continued leading the company in key decisions and visiting various stores. It was only in 2013 that he officially placed Ikea under the leadership of his son, Mathias Kamprad, with his other two sons occupying significant roles in the company. All three have since transitioned out of operational roles. [NYT] — Erin Hudson

Back: 2011 photo from a North Dakota flood. (Credit: 3rd Combat Camera Squadron Staff Sgt. Shardia Jackson; illustration by Wikimedia Commons)

American cities are debating how to tackle the changing nature of storms, but the one thing everyone can agree on is that no one is prepared.

The most recent city to be shook by unexpected extreme weather was Boston. The city experienced an unprecedented tidal surge during a storm earlier this month, according the Wall Street Journal, with the flood waters permeating parts of the city that had never been thought of as flood risks. It’s one of several wake-up calls in coastal U.S. cities that’s prompting reflection on what to be done.

In the case of Boston, a geologist working for the city who estimated the cost of “storm-proofing” the Big Dig would be almost $200 million along with other related projects in neighborhoods that would run up bills of more than $400 million. But there’s disagreement on what plan to follow.

R.J. Lehmann from R Street Institute told the Journal that such projects should be selected carefully with acknowledgement that not every neighborhood can be saved from extreme weather.

“There will be places where the costs exceed the benefits. And where that happens, we might lose some communities,” he explained. Buyouts, to him, “are part of the future.”

Others say projects need to get underway now — even without certainty that they will fully address weather threats.

“We are either going to get it a little wrong, or a lot wrong,” said Carnegie Mellon University’s Constantine Samaras to the Journal.

Adding to various municipal crises, at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week CEO of AXA SA Thomas Buberl noted that insurers were also watching climate-related weather changes and said that there are some properties that may just not be insurable in the future. So much for flood insurance. [WSJ] — Erin Hudson

Nir Shohani

Miami’s Arts and Entertainment District is getting two more NR Investments projects.

Just two blocks south of its Canvas luxury condo tower and its apartment building, Filling Station Lofts, the developer is proposing a two-tower, mixed-use project split into condos, a hotel and office space.

And just north of Canvas and Filling Station Lofts, NR Investments seeks to build a smaller development consisting of a 30-story, 225-unit residential tower with 8,000 square feet of retail and some office space.

Nir Shoshani, a principal of NR Investments, said the company has not set a definite timetable for the construction of either project. “I have no idea yet,” Shoshani said. “It is a tricky market out there. We are in the analysis phase of both projects. The idea is to start moving forward in late 2018 on one of the two.”

The Miami City Commission last week voted in favor of requests made by NR Investments to increase bonuses to the floor areas of both proposed projects from 30 percent to 40 percent above what is permitted. Iris Escarra, NR Investments’ attorney, told commissioners that the developer is not increasing the number of units and the height even though the zoning change would allow up to 573 units and up to 60 stories.

For the first project, NR Investments brought in architect Carlos Zapata to design a 45-story tower with 457 condos, an 11-story hotel with 150 rooms and 30,000 square feet of office space, according to documents submitted to the city commission. The hotel would act as a buffer between the taller residential tower and a historical firehouse. The development would rise on a 1.14-acre site on Northeast 14th Street between North Miami Avenue and Northeast Miami Court.

The second project is on a 24,700-square-foot site consisting of two lots at 70 and 90 Northeast 17th Street and a third property at 1642 Northeast First Avenue. The rezoning would allow a building with maximum square footage of 370,500 and 283 units. However, NR Investments is only seeking 225 units.

Escarra told commissioners that the developer would set aside 10 percent of the units for workforce housing if NR Investments decides the project will be all condos. If NR Investments makes it a rental building, the set aside would be 14 percent.

NR Investments would seek to offer buyers Fannie Mae financing for the 14th Street project or the 17th Street development if the company decides to do condos there, Shoshani said. In 2016, the firm was approved for Fannie Mae financing on its Canvas project. Shoshani said NR Investments is running bi-weekly seminars on Fannie Mae for potential qualifying buyers.

“We believe the market is ready for the next step after the last three to four years were mostly about investors,” he said. “We are very optimistic. Banks are slowly, but surely, starting to lend to the end user. The young generation of professionals can save their rent money and with a little bit of a down payment, they can get back to purchasing homes.”

Arquitectonica’s Bernardo Fort-Brescia and Babylon Apartments (Credit: Google and Oceana Residences)

After recently losing its short-lived landmark status, an eye-catching building on Brickell Bay Drive, designed by Arquitectonica, may be demolished.

In a 4-1 vote, Miami commissioners moved to overturn the Babylon Apartments’ protected architectural landmark status, according to the Miami Herald. It was granted landmark status last year by the city’s historic preservation board, but the building’s owner appealed the decision, stating the 34-year-old, vacant building is in too poor of condition to maintain.

Francisco “Paco” Martinez Celorio has been wanting to tear down the building for years, according to the Miami Herald. He applied for a permit to demolish the six-story, ziggurat-inspired building in 2016 and is reapplying again, the Miami Herald reported.

Celorio’s attorney Jeffrey Bercow told the publication he and his client are fans of Arquitectonica’s work, “but not every work of a master deserves to be designated.”

Babylon Apartments, at 240 Southeast 14th Street, was Arquitectonica’s first commercial project. Preservationists say the building served as a template for other Arquitectonica buildings in Miami’s Brickell area, including the Atlantis, the high-rise with a square hole made famous by the television series Miami Vice.

Arquitectonica has designed projects in cities all over the world, including buildings in Paris and Shanghai. [Miami Herald] – Amanda Rabines

Rosendo Caveiro and Sean Schiefler (Credit: Avison Young and Engel & Völkers Florida, MaxPixel)

After 13 years, Rosendo Caveiro jumped from Cushman & Wakefield to Avison Young. Caveiro, a former senior director of capital markets and multifamily, joined Avison Young’s Miami office as a senior vice president. He’ll lead the brokerage’s multifamily investment sales throughout Florida.

Engel & Völkers Florida brought on Sean Schiefler as senior vice president of business development. The brokerage plans to open at least six new locations this quarter, according to a release. Schiefler was previously with Realogy’s Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate division, and before that with Wyndham Hotel Group, where he focused on site selection for new hotel construction and rebranding and renovation of older hotels.

Fort Partners tapped Elliman’s Richard Goihman of the Goihman Group as the new executive vice president of sales for Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale. Goihman is part of the Gold Coast Team representing the development in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach.

Christopher Adeleke, a former top producer at Cervera Real Estate, joined Douglas Elliman to work on sales of 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach. He was previously a sales agent for Le Parc at Brickell and The Bond on Brickell.

David Carrion-Levy left One Sotheby’s International Realty to join Compass. Carrion-Levy is partnering with Compass’ Ben Moss, also previously of One Sotheby’s.

Friends of The Underline hired Amy Rosenberg as chief development officer, focusing on private fundraising and development of the linear park and trail. Rosenberg was previously director of annual giving at National YoungArts Foundation.

Carlton Fields hired land use attorney Aaron C. Dunlap. Dunlop, a former assistant attorney for the village of Wellington, is joining the law firm’s West Palm Beach office.

Benworth Capital, a lender focusing on alternative short-term, first-position residential and commercial mortgages, named Jose Monte as the company’s vice president. Before joining Bentworth, he was previously a senior vice president of commercial lending at Sunstate Bank.

1245 Lands End Road (Credit: Realtor.com)

Just a couple of months after landing a new job at the UK investment bank Barclays, Michael Lublinsky bought a new waterfront home in Manalapan.

Property records show Lublinsky paid $5.5 million for a recently built 7,240-square-foot house at 1245 Lands End Road. The trade breaks down to about $760 per square foot.

The seller is a company led by Howard Werner. Records show Werner bought the 15,250-square-foot property in 2014 for $1.94 million. The five-bedroom, six-bathroom home was built in 2016, records show.

Lublinsky formerly headed the Jersey-based hedge fund Brevan Howard. He started his new position at Barclays in November and will oversee the bank’s macro trading in UK, according to published reports. Before Brevan Howard, Lublinsky headed Royal Bank of Scotland’s global trading department.

His new home hit the market for about $6.5 million with the Fite Group’s Jack Elkins in 2014, according to Realtor.com. After more than three years on and off the market with a series of asking prices, the home sold at a 15 percent discount off its original asking price.

Steven Presson with The Corcoran Group had the most recent listing, according to online marketing material. Michelle Cutler of Miami Beach-based Concierge Real Estate Service brought the buyer.

In December, hedge fund manager William Powers paid $13.5 million for an oceanfront lot about eight miles north of Lublinsky’s new home. Nearby, a vacant oceanfront property at 1460 South Ocean Boulevard sold last year for $12.45 million, or about $210 per square foot, to a company managed by Nigerian business executive Onajite Okoloko.