Broker sues ex John Jansheski over sale of Star Island home for $57 million

Broker Alyssa Morgan spent a year and a half trying to sell her ex-husband’s waterfront Star Island mansion in Miami Beach, coordinating showings and negotiating offers.

Morgan, who lived in the house at 27 East Star Island Drive when the couple married, even arranged showings for the buyer who ultimately purchased the property, CrossCountry Mortgage CEO Ron Leonhardt. Initially, that buyer offered $70 million, but Jansheski declined what he called a “lower sourcing figure,” according to a lawsuit. Leonhardt then purchased the house for $57 million in September 2023.

Morgan and her Side-backed brokerage firm, Inside Network, were cut out of the deal, she claims in her newly amended complaint filed in September in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Morgan and Inside Network are suing Jansheski and Starboard Florida IV, his company that sold the property, alleging breach of written and oral contract, unjust enrichment and other counts.

Compass agent Chad Charroll represented the buyer and Dina Goldentayer of Douglas Elliman represented Jansheski, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

The amended complaint was filed nearly a year after Morgan first sued Jansheski, according to court documents. In August of this year, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Joseph Perkins dismissed the original lawsuit.

The amended lawsuit adds the allegation of breach of oral contract. Jansheski’s lawyers, from the firm Waserstein & Nuñez, did not respond to requests for comment. In their motion to dismiss the second complaint, filed last week, Jansheski’s lawyers argued that Morgan did not have the right to seek a commission from Jansheski and that there was no verbal contractual exception to the law from Florida.

“At a deeper level, this case involves more than a simple commission dispute between two companies that are parties to an arm’s-length listing agreement,” the amended complaint states. “Rather, these are broken promises made by a former husband…to his ex-wife.” »

The timeline

Morgan and Jansheski divorced in May 2020, but were on good terms while she listed the property. Jansheski, who founded dental products company DenTek, had owned the nearly one-acre estate since 2011.

Morgan, then an agent at One Sotheby’s International Realty, presented Jansheski’s Starboard with the $70 million offer in early 2022, according to the complaint. Jansheski was not interested and “refused to present a counteroffer,” according to the lawsuit.
In August of that year, Morgan launched Inside Network. It entered into an exclusive sales agreement with Jansheski in October 2022, and in late December 2022, Inside Network and Starwood amended their listing agreement to increase the commission amount from 3% to 4.5%. Morgan’s company would receive 2 percent of the purchase price.

Learn more

Residential

South Florida

How Goldentayer’s game landed him a top spot in Miami luxury real estate

Residential

South Florida

Investigation: How regulators are failing to prevent bad behavior from resi brokers

Residential

South Florida

John Jansheski sells Star Island estate for $57 million

As of January 2023, the asking price had been reduced to approximately $74.7 million, from $77 million previously. The names of potential buyers submitted by Inside Network included Equities Property Holdings, the Leonhard LLC that ultimately purchased the home, according to the lawsuit. Leonhardt’s name is on a notice of commencement submitted earlier this year for the pool renovation. The identity of the buyer has not been previously disclosed.

In February 2023, Jansheski’s Starboard ended the exclusive listing but allowed brokerage firm Morgan to continue marketing the property, according to the lawsuit. She conducted “elaborate guided tours attended by house staff” and continued to conduct negotiations with the ultimate buyer and others.

In May 2023, Morgan coordinated the walkthrough with the buyer, text messages included in the escrow package. But on August 1 of last year, Jansheski handed over the list to Goldentayer.

Morgan had scheduled a broadcast for Aug. 6 of last year, and Jansheski “specifically wrote that The Inside Network was protected for its broadcast” that day, the complaint says.

“I told you you were protected under this agreement. Are you concerned about this particular deal? » Jansheski texted Morgan on August 5, 2023, according to an attachment to the complaint.

The buyer presented the last officer two days later, which was accepted.

Morgan “worked very, very hard for a long time … and he didn’t pay him anything,” said his lawyer, Alexander Almazan. “The contract even reached her, and the plaintiff had received from this same buyer an offer of more than 10 million dollars more than that rejected by the seller.”

The property, which includes a restored 1924 house designed by Walter D. Garmo and a new waterfront mansion designed by South African firm SAOTA, once asked $90 million. Together, the homes span 19,800 square feet, with seven bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and four half-bathrooms.

Potential buyers included billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who owns other properties on Star Island, according to court documents.

Morgan’s commission on the $57 million sale would have been $1.14 million. Goldentayer is not named as a defendant, although she and Elliman received the commission Morgan sought.

Goldentayer’s brokerage firm, Douglas Elliman, was sued earlier this year over the $79 million sale of an Indian Creek waterfront estate to Jeff Bezos. Goldentayer is also not named as a defendant in this lawsuit, although she negotiated the deal with another Elliman agent. In a statement provided to The real dealMorgan said Star Island’s lawsuit is about “maintaining high standards in our industry, giving credit where credit is due and all working together.”