Arrington bought the house after it was finished, avoiding the construction process the previous owners went through. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons.
A Miami real-estate developer spent four years turning a waterfront lot into a custom-built family home, only to sell it for $60 million shortly after moving in. James Curnin, founder of Miami-based Clara Homes, and his wife, Jennifer Halegua, bought the roughly 0.4-acre parcel on La Gorce Island in Miami Beach for $7.525 million in 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal. They built a 9,600-square-foot residence for themselves and moved in during autumn 2024, but began receiving offers from prospective buyers soon afterwards. The property eventually sold for $60 million to Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch and Arrington Capital.
Building rather than buying an existing mansion also shows how valuable land is in high-end property development. Research published in the Journal of Housing Economics has examined how urban land values can be separated from the value contributed by structures, showing why the underlying site can remain an important component of a property’s overall worth.
He named $65 million to test how serious the buyer was. The client negotiated and bought the property for $60 million. Curnin and Halegua paid $7.525 million for the lot in 2020, while the completed home changed hands for $60 million four years later. It also reflects the cost of building the 9,600-square-foot residence and its amenities, plus the premium attached to a newly completed waterfront property in Miami Beach. The deal is an unusual example of a developer buying an empty waterfront lot, building a custom home, living there briefly and then accepting an unexpected $60 million offer. What began in 2020 as a family plan to build a home became a striking Miami Beach example of how much more a finished luxury house can be worth than the land alone.
A home that attracted buyers before it was listed Later, real estate agent Jordan Karp contacted Curnin with an offer. Curnin was ready to turn it down, but he was urged to name a price that might change his mind. The Wall Street Journal also notes that the transaction created a striking contrast between the property’s original land purchase and its eventual sale price.
