SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. – The South Florida housing market is still heating up after a wild boom beginning in the fall of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and it seems more celebrities more than ever before are taking notice.
According to a report from The Real Deal, Lionel Messi, the 33-year-old forward and captain for FC Barcelona and Argentina’s national team, has purchased the entire ninth floor of a luxury apartment in Sunny Isles Beach.
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Messi’s family paid $7.3 million for the entire ninth floor at Regalia, a condo tower at 19575 Collins Avenue, sources told The Real Deal.
The ninth-floor unit has four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms, an additional 2,100 square feet of terrace space, and a 1,000-bottle wine cooler, according to the listing.
It was sold fully furnished.
Regalia has 39 stories, six pools, a spa, cabanas, a fitness center, a yoga studio, a children’s playhouse, a chef’s kitchen, and a champagne bar and wine cellar.
The luxurious condo purchase comes nearly two and a half years after the soccer star paid $5 million for a unit at Porsche Design Tower about 10 blocks south in Sunny Isles Beach.
Just in 2020, Forbes ranked Messi as the third highest-paid athlete in the world. According to the report, he earned $104 million in salary, winnings, and endorsements in 2020.