The Weeknd has purchased a waterfront mansion in the gated Gables Estates community for $50 million, setting a new record for the most expensive home ever sold in Coral Gables. Brokers confirmed the sale of the property at 41 Arvida Parkway, though the deed has not yet appeared in public records. Earlier this month, The Real Deal reported that The Weeknd, whose legal name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, was under contract for the property, which had been listed at $54.9 million.
Eddy Martinez and Roland Ortiz of One Sotheby’s International Realty handled the listing, with Ortiz representing the buyer. Both declined to comment on the identities of those involved in the transaction.
The Weeknd is a Canadian musician who has won four Grammy Awards and performed at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2021. He also created and starred in HBO’s “The Idol” alongside Lily-Rose Depp in 2023. In 2021, he bought a mansion in Los Angeles’ Bel Air neighborhood for $70 million.
The seller of the Gables Estates mansion is Steven Lempera, an oil recycling executive who acquired it at auction in 2019 for $25.5 million. The nearly 19,000-square-foot house was built in 2018 and features eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms, two half-bathrooms, a pool, and a dock.
Lempera first listed the property for $49.9 million in 2020 and adjusted its price several times over five years before relisting it for $54.9 million this June. According to Redfin data, the estate went under contract in September.
This transaction surpasses Coral Gables’ previous price record set by the sale of 650 Casuarina Concourse for $45.3 million in 2022. That property was bought by an entity linked to Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel.
High-value real estate deals have become common across South Florida since the pandemic led to significant migration of wealth into the region. For example, earlier this month Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, purchased a waterfront mansion in Islamorada for $27.8 million.
