Will Saudi billionaire make Hibiscus Island Miami Beach’s new ‘Star?’
Miami Beach wealth haven Star Island is getting competition from its neighbor.
Ibrahim Al-Rashid, son of Saudi billionaire Nasser Ibrahim Al-Rashid and Lebanese-French socialite Mouna Ayoub, bought yet another house on Hibiscus Island — paving the way for the island’s largest residence, set on five lots.
Al-Rashid told the Miami Herald that he paid $6 million for a 5,427-square-foot single-family home on a 10,500-square-foot waterfront lot in early February. It is two doors down from his primary residence, which sits on three combined lots.
The purchase is his second in the last six months; Al-Rashid bought the house adjacent to his current home for $6.3 million in September. Al-Rashid now owns 1.25 continuous acres with 300 feet of bayfront views.
Al-Rashid is the chairperson of the Orion Real Estate Group affiliate Limestone Asset Management.
Al-Rashid is planning to demolish the two houses and replace them with three buildings, inter-connected through breezeways to his residence, he said via email. The buildings will house a gym and spa in a $6 million to $8 million project. He hired CMA Design Studio Inc. to design the project. Currently in the design phase, Al-Rashid anticipates starting construction in 2022 and completing the project in 2024.
The plans provide more space for Al-Rashid’s growing family, he said. He and his wife welcomed their second child in late 2020. If another neighbor is willing to sell, Al-Rashid said, he may be willing to buy.
“Maximizing too much square footage on single lots spoils the beauty of Miami waterfront homes. What we are trying to do is maximize green space rather than concrete,” Al-Rashid said. “By assembling five lots, our home has a relatively small footprint with plenty of yard. I hope neighbors follow suit.”
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The estate could inspire others on the island to buy out their neighbors and follow in Al-Rashid’s footsteps, said Jeffrey Fields, a Realtor with ONE Sotheby’s International Realty. Fields represented Al-Rashid in the off-market transaction.
“Hibiscus in the past was a value compared to Star Island but that will no longer be the case,” Fields said. “Hibiscus and Palm Island are coming up. It’s about demand.”
A University of Miami alumnus, Al-Rashid and his family continue to donate to The U. In 2012, the family donated $10 million to UM’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute; its Dr. Nasser Ibrahim Al-Rashid Orbital Vision Research Center is named after Al-Rashid’s father.
This story was originally published February 23, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
