A new $55 million Fort Lauderdale waterfront estate dubbed Ember House is lighting up Broward County’s luxury market with a record-setting asking price.
The 15,000-square-foot home at 513 Middle River Drive in the Sunrise Intracoastal neighborhood was designed, developed and listed by Prestige Homes Development founder and CEO Dov Stark. It’s the highest-priced residential listing in Broward County, according to a Prestige Construction release.
The estate spans 5,000 square feet of outdoor living space and includes six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, 145 feet of waterfrontage, a rooftop pickleball court, an eight-car garage, a theater and a gym, the release said.
Stark, who lives two doors down from the property, acquired it in 2024 for $5.5 million, according to property records. He spent 15 months building the new home. While he could not provide a total development cost, Stark told The Real Deal that construction expenses alone exceeded $35 million.
He said Ember House is his most ambitious project yet.
“Everyone tells me, ‘this is expensive … maybe instead of doing a big house you should do two or three smaller ones.’ But I don’t want that,” he said. “I want to be different. I want to be the best at what I do, and I want to build the best home and leave a mark in the city I live in.”
Stark has lived in Fort Lauderdale for over 25 years, seven of which he’s spent in the Sunrise Intracoastal neighborhood, where he’s developed five homes.
In 2023, medical center mogul Anthony DeGradi and his wife paid $29.5 million for the Stark-developed mansion at 733 Middle River Drive. At the time, the sales price was just $3 million short of breaking Broward County’s residential price record, The Real Deal previously reported.
Often called the “Venice of America” for its canals and boating culture, Fort Lauderdale’s luxury market has historically lagged behind Miami and Palm Beach, but recent sales reflect what Stark says is an evolution.
“If you look at all the development infrastructure going on in Fort Lauderdale, it’s crazy,” he said. “Fort Lauderdale didn’t just become more expensive — it became better. There’s more amenities, and there’s more of a luxury lifestyle ecosystem.”
Stark said rising demand for higher-quality homes and trophy estates could allow Fort Lauderdale to soon catch up with its neighbors.
Prime waterfront properties are driving the market’s explosion in Fort Lauderdale and the rest of South Florida, he said.
While Fort Lauderdale’s luxury market has experienced a cooling after several years of rapid growth, prime waterfront land is being quickly snapped up, fetching record prices and pushing land values to unprecedented levels, according to the David Siddons Group.
The city is also attracting an influx of out-of-state buyers, primarily from New York, New Jersey, California, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, the report said.
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