T
he sale of a waterfront estate to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has sparked a lawsuit against Douglas Elliman. Brazilian mogul Leo Kryss sold his Indian Creek mansion to a hidden trust controlled by Bezos for $79 million last year. He enlisted Douglas Elliman to list the property as a transaction broker for $85 million. After news got out that Bezos bought the home next door, Kryss asked the agents listing his home if Bezos was also tied to the entity that made a below-asking price offer for Kryss’ home. They said they didn't know. Then, Elliman Florida CEO Jay Parker called Kryss and insisted that Bezos was not the buyer. The buyer, Parker claimed, was Indian Creek Mayor Benny Klepach. An email included in the filings shows that Parker admitted to telling Kryss that Bezos was not the buyer. But Bezos was. And the seller's attorneys are arguing that Elliman violated Florida law and the listing agreement, breaching their duties to "deal honestly and fairly" with Kryss' company, Tendencia Asset Management, in the sale of the property. Bezos later purchased a third estate on the island. His acquisitions totaled $234 million. His net worth is close to $200 billion. Some sources say that Kryss' lawsuit won't go anywhere, that even if Elliman knew, the firm couldn't divulge that information if Parker and the agents involved signed NDAs.

    Elliman's pending motion to dismiss states that the brokerage did not have a duty to investigate the purchasing trust, and "even if the Douglas Elliman agents and its Florida CEO did have such knowledge, it did not materially affect the value of the property." Bezos hid his identity in that first purchase ($68 million) as well. So what made the home next door worth $11 million more, just months later? A property is worth however much the highest bidder is willing to pay. Elliman earned about $3.2 million in commissions from the sale, the majority of which likely went to Goldentayer and Tavares. Oh, and remember the mayor? His daughter, who had recently joined Elliman and is no longer with the firm, also earned a commission on the deal, according to the complaint. Was that the family's fee?

    Integra Investments sold the St. Regis Residences, Miami development site for $100 million to a joint venture it formed with the Related Group. How are these partnerships usually structured? Did they really sell the land for $100 million, or is it a formality?

    Residential: The chairman and CEO of Fibra Una, Mexico's largest real estate investment trust, paid $20 million for a unit in the south tower at Estates at Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach. Jules and Eddie Trump's Trump Group sold the luxury condo to a company led by Moises and Andre El-Mann Arazi.

    Commercial: Miami-Dade County paid $182 million for the 26-acre, two-building office complex at 9250 West Flagler Street. New York-based Bushburg Properties sold the property.

    An oceanfront compound in Manalapan hit the market for $85 million with Equestrian Sotheby's International Realty agent Casey Flannery. The 16,748-square-foot, 11-bedroom and 13-and-a-half-bathroom estate at 640 South Ocean Boulevard stretches from the lake to the ocean and includes a guest house and a guard house. A land trust paid $36 million for the 1.9-acre property in 2020.

    Dezer Development sued Best Buy over a $4,063.94 laptop. The Sunny Isles Beach developer filed a complaint in small claims court, alleging that instead of receiving a 16-inch MacBook Pro in the mail, Dezer "received a package which contained only clothing unrelated to plaintiff's purchase," according to the filing.

    Miami Beach terminated its agreement with the Poseidon Ferry, a water taxi that was plagued with issues in the two months since it launched a pilot program. It took passengers from Maurice Gibb Memorial Park in South Beach to Sea Isle Marina in downtown Miami, allowing them to bypass sitting in traffic.

    Martin County, which is north of Palm Beach County, is hoping to save a deal that would bring Brightline to the area. County commissioners passed a resolution for their staff to try to work out a deal with Stuart's city manager, just hours after Stuart canceled its proposed agreement with the commuter rail service.

    Miami's historic preservation board deferred a vote on Related Group's plan to store, display and preserve artifacts the developer recovered while excavating a Brickell development site. Some of the artifacts date back 3,000 years. The city found that Related's recently filed "action plan" is light on key details. Related will return to the board in January, the Herald reports.