DON PEEBLES LISTS HIS GABLES HOME
Real estate magnate Don Peebles and his wife, Katrina, want to downsize. Hoping to benefit from the single-family home craze, he believes it’s the right time to sell their $14.9 million Coral Gables estate.
The founder, chairman, and CEO of the New Yorkbased real estate development firm Peebles Corp. put the two-story house back on the market on Thursday, according to Peebles. The couple tried to sell their house in 2017 for $12.9 million.
The former chairman of Miami-Dade’s tourism bureau relaunched South Beach’s Royal Palm
Crowne Plaza Resort in a subsidized redevelopment deal with Miami Beach two decades ago. The deal ended a three-year black tourist boycott of MiamiDade County.
The 18,670-square-foot estate, dubbed Casa Ar
boles, or the House of
Trees, is surrounded by 88 oak trees on a 2.87-acre lot. It has 10 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and two halfbathrooms. Casa Arboles has a limestone pool deck, pool, two tennis courts, a basketball court, movie theater and his-and-hers home offices.
The couple are also offering a two-year membership to The Bath Club in Miami Beach to offer the new owners “the ocean, cabanas and restaurants” the private club has to offer. Don developed The Bath Club Residences in 2005 and owns the club.
Jill Eber, Judy Zeder, and
Jill Hertzberg of The Jills Zeder Group are representing the seller.
“We feel it’s the best time we’ve seen to sell real estate in South Florida in the last decade,” Don Peebles said. “We have resisted selling the house, but now we feel it’s a great time to sell. We are seeing a lot of people relocating to South Florida for a better quality of life.”
Buyers from the Midwest and the Northeast are driving sales for luxury, singlefamily homes, he said. “New York is having some difficulties in the high-end market. South Florida is actually benefiting. It’s not just because of COVID. People have figured out that they can work efficiently remotely,” he said. “And there’s no state income tax.”
Built in 2003, the couple bought the house in 2004 for $5.45 million and raised their son and daughter at
Since moving to New York for business in 2011 and buying a residence in Wellington in
Palm Beach County, the family rarely, if ever, visited their Coral Gables home. A staff maintained the estate year round.
Wanting to appeal to buyers, Katrina led a sixmonth, approximately million-dollar renovation in November. She brought in her own Coral Gables-firm KLP Interiors to renovate the kitchen, family room and bathrooms.
The size will appeal to buyers relocating from the Midwest and Northeast, Eber said. She sees many buyers coming from Boston, Chicago and California. “The property is ideal for the buyers that are moving here right now. Everyone wants those big properties that they can use to entertain and enjoy.”
The ultra-luxury market — homes listed for above $10 million — is shrinking, Eber said. “I’d like more listings.”
The house is listed for $798 per square foot, 49.78% less than a comparable listing. A 16,989square-foot, waterfront mansion in Cocoplum is selling for $1,589 per square foot, or a total of $27 million.
The NBCUniversal Spanish network Telemundo filmed its telenovela series
“Santa Diabla” from 2013 through 2014 at the house.
Peebles, who sat on President Bill Clinton’s national finance committee, welcomed Clinton to
in 2008 for a fundraiser for the Democratic congressional races.