Developer Alex Pirez just shelled out $24.3 million for a waterfront home in Coral Gables' ultra‑exclusive Gables Estates, and the 1999 house on site is not expected to stick around for long. The property at 665 Leucadendra Drive spans roughly an acre along the canals, with a pool, private dock and about 400 feet of water frontage. Pirez's development firm, Mocca Group, is expected to clear the existing structure and replace it with a new luxury mansion.
The home, listed by Judy Zeder and Patricia Praca, shows five bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms across roughly 7,700 square feet, according to Realtor.com. MLS details also spotlight two boat lifts and substantial canal frontage, pitching the site as a candidate for either a major renovation or a full teardown. Before Pirez came in with his offer, the property had been marketed at around $27.5–27.6 million.
Property records and industry reporting show that Pirez's Mocca Group bought the site from Yrma Palenzuela for roughly $24.3 million, with plans leaning toward new construction, as reported by The Real Deal. The acquisition adds one more high‑priced teardown to an already short list of developable waterfront parcels inside the gated community.
Spec Builders Are Reshaping the Street
Pirez's latest buy fits neatly into a broader run of eye‑popping deals in Gables Estates, where spec builds and quick flips have been nudging prices higher. Local coverage last winter surfaced a previously unreported roughly $55 million closing for a Pirez‑built mansion on the same street, a blockbuster sale that reset the neighborhood's top end, according to the Coral Gables Gazette. That deal, and a handful of others, has highlighted just how rare ready‑to‑build waterfront lots have become.
Recent trades keep underscoring the market's speed. Attorney Anthony Lopez and former “Real Housewives of Miami” star Dr. Nicole Martin flipped a waterfront estate in April, reportedly walking away with about $55 million after buying it only months earlier, according to deal trackers at Traded. MasTec CEO José Mas, meanwhile, paid about $14.9 million for a roughly one‑acre lot at 9175 Arvida Parkway and plans to build a new mansion there, local reporting shows. Coverage of that waterfront prize put the Mas purchase in the context of the broader run on Gables Estates waterfront.
What Comes Next for 665 Leucadendra
Pirez has been a steady presence in Coral Gables as a buyer, builder and seller, and projects like this typically progress from closing to design work, then permitting and demolition once plans are in place. The Real Deal reports that Mocca Group is expected to tear down the current home and move ahead with a new spec mansion, a familiar play as developers chase modern waterfront product in a market with very few raw lots left.
For neighbors, the sale is one more sign that Gables Estates' shoreline is being reshaped by larger, newer homes, and that construction schedules and city approvals will dictate how quickly the block evolves. Expect architectural plans and demolition permits to start appearing in public records in the coming months as older houses give way to turnkey waterfront estates.
