Paul Cejas wants to flip his Faena House penthouse for $34M

Rendering of Faena House (Inset: Paul L. Cejas)

Miami investor and former U.S. ambassador Paul Cejas is jumping on the Faena House flipping bandwagon, and listing his penthouse for $33.9 million, or nearly $4,400 per square foot. 

Cejas and his wife Gertie, also known as Trudy, paid $20 million, or about $2,600 per square foot, for the 7,710-square-foot unit in May, and now a Realtor.com listing shows it's back on the market as of Wednesday.

Penthouse D, with four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms and an additional 2,911 square feet of exterior space that wrap around the unit, is among a handful that are back on the market at the exclusive building, at 3315 Collins Avenue in Mid-Miami Beach. Douglas Elliman agent Pablo Alfaro, who's listing the unit, told The Real Deal the asking price is based on comparable listings in the building. For Mid-Beach, Faena House and Beach House 8 are among the few new, luxury and waterfront buildings delivered this cycle.

“It's the only flow-through unit of that size with ocean and downtown city views,” Alfaro told TRD. Cejas plans to stay in the “transition home” he and his wife purchased, Alfaro said. Property records show he paid $14.3 million for the 10,159-square-foot mansion at 29 Star Island Drive in 2012. He bought the 10,159-square-foot waterfront home from Donald and Lisa Pliner.

Cejas, who heads PLC Investments, was the last buyer to close on his unit at Faena House, which opened in the fall of 2015. Alan Faena developed the 18-story tower with billionaire Len Blavatnik, and it marks the first residential tower in Faena's Mid-Beach complex.

The building, designed by Foster + Partners, is fully sold with few actual residents, brokers say. At least 10 units of 44 are back on the market a year after opening, which comes out to 22 percent. Included in those is billionaire hedge funder Ken Griffin's two penthouse units, which he paid $60 million for, back on the market for $55 million and $18 million.

Other owners who now want to sell include Leon Black, founder of Apollo Global Management, and Alex Blavatnik, brother of Len. Asking prices vary from under $5 million to $55 million.

In all, the “Faena district” includes Faena Hotel, Faena Forum, Faena Bazaar and a parking garage. As TRD reported earlier this month, Faena put his planned Versailles condo development on hold amid the market slowdown. The two-tower project could be replaced by another hotel.