Soccer Star Lionel Messi Buys Fort Lauderdale Waterfront Mansion
Lionel Messi and his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, purchased an eight-bedroom mansion in Fort Lauderdale’s Bay Colony through a business run by Messi’s money manager, Alfonso Nebot.
Messi has been sighted looking at homes from Fort Lauderdale to Boca Raton in South Florida. Messi and Roccuzzo paid $10.8 million for the house at 91 Compass Lane, which was sold by John and Stacy Dickerson. The Dickersons paid $9 million for the estate in May of last year, so when they decided to sell it, they received a 20% increase in price.
According to a 2022 listing for the house, the 0.4-acre property boasts 170 feet of waterfrontage, two docks, a waterfront pool, a gym/spa area, and an Italian kitchen. According to property records, the residence was constructed in 1988 and was expanded in 2000. The expansive primary suite covers 1,600 square feet.
Messi joined Inter Miami in July to much fanfare and has since helped the team to eight victories and four draws. The veteran Barcelona player brought home the World Cup trophy for his homeland Argentina last year. Messi will play in the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers this week, thus he will be flying to Bolivia.
Between $50 million and $60 million is invested in Messi’s contract with Inter Miami, in addition to club equity and revenue-sharing arrangements with Adidas, Apple, and other businesses.
Drive Pink Stadium and Inter Miami’s nearby training facility in Fort Lauderdale are both roughly 5 miles from Messi’s residence. The team anticipates moving to Miami someday, where its owners are planning Miami Freedom Park, a sizable mixed-use project that will feature a soccer stadium on the city-owned Melreese Country Club land just east of Miami International Airport. Jorge and José Mas, brothers and businessmen from Miami, as well as David Beckham and other partners, are the team’s owners.
Additionally, Messi has three condos in Sunny Isles Beach, one of which is a property at the Porsche Design Tower, which Gil Dezer’s Dezer Development finished in late 2016.
Miami Freedom Park Begins Construction- Set to Open in 2025
Miami Freedom Park development has officially started construction, with the groundbreaking ceremony scheduled to take place later this year. The Miami Freedom Park development will include the Inter Miami CF stadium, a 58-acre public park, and an entertainment zone spreading over 131 acres with a 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium at 1802 Northwest 37th Avenue in Grapeland Heights, Miami.
A 58-acre public park, the largest new park in Miami, youth athletic fields, a full range of entertainment and commercial offerings, including office space, a hotel, shops, restaurants, and additional experiences and attractions are all included in the privately funded recreational project.
A construction crew is currently working on-site in preparation for vertical construction. Miami Freedom Park’s first phase will advance quickly during this multi-phase project. Both the rehabilitation proposal for the former Melreese Country Club and the lease for Miami Freedom Park have previously received approval from the City of Miami Commission and the general public.
In order to improve this iconic new destination for Miami, leasing and commercial partnership efforts are being made to entice best-in-class partners, tenants, and retailers, including existing and developing brands and companies.
At the beginning of the year, Inter Miami CF ownership hired Devon McCorkle, a seasoned megaproject and sports-anchored real estate investment and development veteran, to head the initiative as President of Miami Freedom Park. For Miami Freedom Park to reach this milestone and advance the project into the execution phase once it has finished the planning and approvals phase, Devon has further assembled a team of best-in-class design, engineering, project management, and construction firms.
Miami Freedom Park will bring further retail, hotel, and commercial phases through 2030 when the stadium is delivered in 2025, along with the initial retail and entertainment services.
Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica, international arena and stadium design company Manica, and industry-leading large-scale stadium project managers CAA Icon make up the renowned Miami Freedom Park team.
Lionel Messi is Moving to Miami after Signing with Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami
Lionel Messi has made the decision to sign with Inter Miami, which might drastically change the path of Major League Soccer. The MLS and Miami won a three-horse race against Barcelona and Saudi Arabia to sign the finest player in the world after days of momentum and a years-long chase.
In an interview with Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday, Messi made the announcement, confirming past rumors. Although no contract has yet been signed and no specifics have been made public, it is said to be a complicated, two-and-a-half-year agreement with a total worth well over $100 million.
According to reports, the arrangement will include commercial agreements for a portion of the broadcast and product revenue that the Argentine superstar will produce with Apple and Adidas, two important MLS partners. Additionally, it might provide Messi the choice to invest in Inter Miami after his playing career is over.
This deal will unquestionably raise soccer’s profile in the United States over the long term. On Wednesday, demand for Inter Miami tickets increased as rival clubs made preparations to host the world’s most well-known athlete.
Messi can’t formally sign with Inter Miami until the MLS summer transfer window begins on July 5. His contract with Paris Saint-Germain legally expires at the end of June. He’ll probably make his debut in either July or August. A July 21 match versus Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup, a month-long competition that includes teams from North America and Mexico, is one suggested date. After that, the MLS season will resume, and Messi will have the difficult challenge of guiding a team that is currently in last place.
Although his American adventure should be less demanding than the European club circuit, Messi may be able to extend his successful career. He is anticipated to represent Argentina at the Copa America in 2024, which will take place in the United States. He might still aspire for the 2026 World Cup, which the United States will also co-host.
