An entity tied to Lionel Messi has purchased the waterfront house right next door to his Fort Lauderdale mansion, paying $8 million for a 7,660-square-foot home on Compass Lane in the guard-gated Bay Colony neighborhood. Together, the adjoining properties have 330 feet of direct water frontage, according to public records.
As reported by Bloomberg, the LLC used in the purchase is registered in the name of Alfonso Nebot Armisen, described as Messi's longtime money manager. According to The Real Deal, the newly purchased home at 71 Compass Lane sold for $1,045 per square foot and comes with seven bedrooms, six-and-a-half bathrooms, a waterfront pool, and 160 feet of its own water frontage. The sellers, Michael and Michelle Nelson, had owned the 1977-built home since 2013, when they paid $2.7 million for it — a sale that nets them a profit of $5.3 million before fees and improvements, per the outlet's report.
A Compound Takes Shape Next to Messi's Original Bay Colony Buy
The newly acquired parcel sits directly beside 91 Compass Lane, the estate Messi purchased for $10.8 million in September 2023. Combined, the two properties create a contiguous 0.8-acre waterfront compound with 15 bedrooms and more than 18,100 square feet of interior living space, the same Real Deal report notes. Records reviewed by BizProfile show the purchasing entity, Sadani LLC, was incorporated in Florida on August 16, 2023, and is managed by Nebot Armisen, who has run Messi's private investment firm since 2009 and serves as secretary of the Leo Messi Foundation. The latest purchase was made through Sadani LLC.
Bay Colony is an exclusive community. The adjoining purchase places two Messi-linked properties side by side there.
Part of a Broader South Florida Real Estate Push
The Bay Colony expansion follows years of South Florida property acquisitions for Messi, who according to Forbes previously assembled a high-rise portfolio that includes a $5 million unit in the Porsche Design Tower, a $7.3 million full-floor residence at Regalia in Sunny Isles Beach, and investment units at Trump Royale. Beyond personal residences, Messi has also built out commercial real estate holdings; in December 2024 he listed his real estate investment trust, Edificio Rostower Socimi, on the Spanish stock exchange with a market valuation of €223 million, or roughly $232 million, per JamesEdition.
The Bay Colony compound remains about five miles from Inter Miami's Florida Blue Training Center, the club's training grounds, even after the team moved its home matches to the new 26,700-seat Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park in April. Messi signed an extension with the club through 2028.
Financial Backdrop for a Growing Fortune
It remains unclear whether the Messi family plans to combine the two Bay Colony structures into a single residence, demolish the older 1977 home for new amenities, or use the newly purchased property as a guest house, staff quarters, or security facility. For now, the two adjoining lots simply give one of soccer's biggest stars an even larger, more private slice of Fort Lauderdale's waterfront.
