“It's my home in the sky:” Ezra Katz buys Grove at Grand Bay condo for $5M

Rendering of Grove at Grand Bay and Ezra Katz

Ezra Katz's commute to his Coconut Grove office is about to get a lot shorter.

County records show the Aztec Group founder and CEO just closed on his $5.34 million purchase of a house-sized condo in Terra Group's freshly opened Grove at Grand Bay towers.

Katz told The Real Deal that his new 18th-floor condo has more than 5,000 square feet of living space and boasts views of Biscayne Bay, the Grove and even parts of South Beach.

He won't be moving in immediately: the unit still needs to be built out, and Katz said he has big plans for a contemporary, open design.

At roughly 5,000 square feet, Katz's purchase breaks down to $1,068 per foot. The deal roughly falls in line with the $1,153 per foot that hotel developer Bernard Wolfson paid for his similarly sized unit on the 16th floor.

Katz and his wife Tati are self-described empty nesters who wanted to downsize from their six-bedroom, six-bathroom Coral Gables mansion. He said they fell in love with the twisting towers' architecture, and more importantly, the project is within walking distance to the Aztec Group's offices. Katz could actually watch the buildings take shape from his real estate investment banking firm's penthouse suite.

“I've been watching this project since the day they demolished the Grand Bay Hotel, and the day that they dug the hole,” he said.

No financing was recorded with the purchase. Katz and his wife are now selling their 9,113-square-foot home at 10100 Lakeside Drive in Coral Gables, which is asking $5.399 million, or about $592 per foot.

Terra launched sales for Grove at Grand Bay, a pair of twin 20-story towers that house a combined 98 units, in 2012. Cervera Real Estate handled sales for the now-sold out project, excluding a $28 million penthouse that's still up for grabs.

The developer built its towers over the former Grand Bay Hotel, which Terra bought out of foreclosure in 2011 for $28 million.

Residences at the project are sized from 1,300 square feet to the 10,000-square-foot, full-floor penthouse. Asking prices originally ranged from about $1 million to $14 million.