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| April 01, 2008 |
By: Paola Iuspa-Abbott |
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t took condo converter Juan Puig little more than a decade to build his fortune. After a seven-hour auction, the developer’s expensive possessions were gone, gone, gone to the highest bidder.
Multimedia Auction of BMW M1
More than 150 people gathered Sunday at the Marriott Miami Dadeland as Michael Moecker & Associates sold more than 500 items once owned by the bankrupt developer and his wife.
The items ranged from a collection of Latin American art works to luxury autos to jewelry.
An early tally showed the auction raised nearly $800,000 to pay off Puig’s creditors, according to Miami attorney Rachel Rubio. Her firm, Markowitz Davis Ringel & Trusty, represents Puig in his personal bankruptcy case.
Not everyone in attendance was impressed with Puig’s taste.
“The quality sucks … no way he will get all the money he needs [to pay off creditors,]” said Marc Cooper of Miami. The legal assistant at a Miami law firm hoped to find some bargains to furnish his new home.
“[The furniture] is not as luxurious as I expected,” Cooper said.
Still, Cooper was high bidder for several jewelry items he plans to give his girlfriend. For $600 he purchased two small silver and gold earrings; silver chains, including one by noted designer David Yurman; and a silver, gold and pearl necklace.
With each item that went up for bid, attendees got a further glimpse into a swanky lifestyle cut short by the housing downturn.
In July, creditors claiming they’re owed nearly $7 million forced Puig and his wife, Diana, into involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Puig, once one of the state’s most prolific condo converters, is asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Mark to dismiss the petition.
In May, Puig’s company, Hialeah-based Puig Inc., filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors. The corporation owes $110 million, according to the filing.
At Sunday’s auction, people who probably never met the Puigs discovered how much the couple appreciated Latin American artists, especially Cuban painters. The Puigs owned 76 paintings, ranging from landscapes to portraits
An undisclosed bidder offered $325,000 for the entire collection. More bids were being accepted by the auction house Monday.
The bidders are competing against Tresart, a Coral Gables-based art dealer that submitted a stalking horse bid before the auction. Tresart will have a chance to increase its initial $193,000 bid on Wednesday, when the court will determine the highest bidder.
The art collection and an antique pool table were the only two items whose bids are subject to court approval.
Auction-goers got a taste of Diana Puig’s love for jewelry. Some 39 pieces were auctioned, including items made of white gold, yellow gold and silver and some with diamonds and other precious stones.
They also had some pricey entertainment. They owned an Adams Family pinball machine that sold for $2,850 and a Sopranos pinball machine that went for $2,500.
A hand-made billiard table built between 1875 and 1880, which the Puigs purchased last year for $80,000, brought a single bid — $25,000 from Carla and Ricardo Albarran of Mexico. The couple won’t have to move their prize. The table sits in the eight-bedroom house at 85 Arvida Parkway previously owned by the Puigs, which the Albarrans bought Feb. 28 for $11.25 million.
The Puigs bought the Coral Gables house for $7.36 million in August 2005, at the height of the housing boom. They were forced to sell the mansion to avoid foreclosure.
The developer also had pricey taste in furniture. Puig spent $27,000 for an 8-foot, wood-inlayed desk with a leather top. On Sunday, it sold for $10,500.
“I have no idea what I am going to do with the desk, but it was a good buy,” high bidder Alan Richardson said. “I understand quality, and it has solid wood.”
Richardson of North Miami operates estatebuyer.com and often attends estate sales looking for bargains. Since the collapse of the housing market, Richardson has been buying numerous items from developers and others in the real estate industry who’ve become desperate for money, he said.
“I just bought a $1 million painting and very important diamonds from a person in the real estate business,” he said. “They are selling their wives’ diamonds now.”
Ed Waterman was already familiar with Puig’s passion for high-end cars. The auto dealer sold three to Puig nearly two years ago for a little more than $200,000, he said.
On Sunday, Waterman hoped to buy back a 1965 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2, a 1969 DeTomaso Mangusta and a 1982 BMW.
Waterman successfully bid $125,000 for the BMW. Competing bidders snared the Ferrari for $88,000 and the DeTomaso for $61,000.
Waterman recalled the confidence that Puig exuded the day he walked into Waterman’s Motorcar Gallery Vintage Exotics in Fort Lauderdale.
“He had to tell me how successful he was and that if I treated him right, he would do more business with me because he had a lot of money,” Waterman said. “But I guess his fortune turned on him soon after.”
Paola Iuspa-Abbott can be reached at piuspa@alm.com or at (305) 347-6657.
Reader's comments
E Finley said:This is hilarious. “I have no idea what I am going to do with the desk, but it was a good buy,” high bidder Alan Richardson said. “I understand quality, and it has solid wood.” It's a friggin' desk. You work off of it (that is, if you call what real estate people do work.April 5, 2008 at 1:45 p.m.
The Sojourner: We are in a time the Bible calls the beginning of sorrows. All the wealthy people in this land of our's will soon be brought down to nothing, and I do mean all. It's God's wrath going for wholesale slaughter. Watch for the suicide rate to skyrocket due to the fact that rich people would rather be dead than poor. Terrible times ahead for the wealthy. April 6, 2008 at 8:36 p.m. |
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