Fox Information Digital will get a tour of Indian Creek Village from the Corcoran Group’s Julian Johnston, who reveals why the world’s wealthiest are selecting to maneuver into the ultra-exclusive neighborhood.
For a South Florida native, the silence and serenity are what hits you first.
Only a stone’s throw from the relentless horn-honking of Surfside and the designer-clad crowds of Bal Harbour Retailers, Indian Creek Village exists in a vacuum of enforced peace. There are not any sirens or vacationers, and positively no uninvited friends — solely the whistle of the Atlantic wind and the rhythmic clap of waves towards non-public piers.
Behind huge entry gates and dense tropical foliage lies a 300-acre fiscal protected haven the place America’s billionaires aren’t simply shopping for properties, however investing in a sovereign-level of safety that Julian Johnston, certainly one of Miami’s prime luxurious brokers, says is now the last word commodity.
“It’s a political sanctuary. I might say, additionally, the safety itself is extraordinarily tight. I imply, whenever you drive up, if you do not have permission to get on, [the police] are literally fairly impolite, they usually let you know to go away,” the Corcoran Group agent — who has greater than $10 billion in gross sales underneath his belt within the space — instructed Fox Information Digital throughout a non-public tour of Indian Creek.
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“I believe Indian Creek is an island unto itself,” he continued. “As a neighborhood… you have obtained the marina close by, you may stroll to the 4 Seasons and go to the seashore, and it is a lower-density building. So there’s not as a lot site visitors, and it is only a lovely place to reside.”
An aerial view of the doorway of Indian Creek Village in Miami, Florida. (Getty Pictures)
Generally generally known as the “Billionaire Bunker,” profitable enterprise leaders and celebrities together with Jeff Bezos, Carl Icahn, Tom Brady, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Julio Iglesias, Adriana Lima, David Guetta, Don Shula and others have lengthy known as Indian Creek residence. The ultra-exclusive neighborhood made current headlines for its latest resident, Mark Zuckerberg, who paid a file $170 million for an under-construction property.
The migration is fueled by extra than simply sunshine; it’s a tactical retreat from a wave of tax-the-rich proposals sweeping via blue-state legislatures like California, Washington and New York. Whereas lawmakers and unions transfer to enact aggressive new levies on capital positive factors and unrealized wealth, the “Billionaire Bunker” supplies a predictable fiscal fortress.
“Even beginning with South Seaside and Miami Seaside, there’s solely a thousand properties on the water, roughly… There’s solely 4 actual islands on this location that the house owners personal the roads, so you can’t get on with out permission,” Johnston mentioned. “Individuals covet privateness, safety … and so with such restricted stock, costs have risen very quick within the final couple of years.”
The grand yard of a hundred-million-dollar residence in Indian Creek Village, Miami. (Fox Information Digital)
Zuckerberg’s new property at present sits as a skeleton of contemporary concrete bones, nonetheless absolutely uncovered to the coastal Miami components. Parked exterior his unfinished residence seemed to be an unmarked, blacked-out SUV retaining watch over the lot.
It’s a stark distinction to the completed, bougainvillea-covered Mediterranean arches of the mansion Johnston confirmed to Fox Information Digital. Although that accomplished residence just isn’t formally on the market, its market worth is estimated to be greater than double what Zuckerberg paid, attributable to its particular location and views.
“Fifty % of the gross sales on Indian Creek are off-market. There are some which are simply fascinated with promoting, and it turns into recognized in the neighborhood, they usually’ll begin getting presents,” he mentioned. “They do not actually need to promote, as a result of that may draw loads of tire kickers and other people which are to see the house.”
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The agent famous that it usually takes one yr for plans and permits, and three years to construct a major residence on the island. He additionally defined how Bezos purchased a 20-year-old Indian Creek property “in lovely situation” for $75 million “only for someplace to sleep” whereas his different two adjoining tons are being developed for his bigger property.
A house in Indian Creek Village, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. (Getty Pictures)
Driving by their residences, Bezos’ properties had lengthy and winding driveways with iron gates and punctiliously tailor-made landscaping; Brady’s residence seemed to be an nearly completely glass, gray-toned home from the entrance, with trendy but stylish furnishings and artwork seen via the window panes.
“When Tom Brady began constructing, he was fascinated with promoting the home for $80 to $100 million. Now he is turning down presents 4 or 5 years later of $200 million,” Johnston mentioned as one other instance.
“Some builders are doing very high-end properties now, however these end-users, they haven’t any funds. So then they’re going to elevate these finishes even additional, they usually’ll construct their dream residence,” he continued. “I believe this neighborhood just isn’t attainable for a few of us, together with me. I believe even among the house owners themselves are shocked.”
Each property on Indian Creek has direct water entry. | Getty Pictures
Socializing on and across the man-made island has seemingly changed New York Metropolis and Silicon Valley boardrooms, as the highest agent identified adjustments in the way in which enterprise offers and enterprise capital selections are being made exterior of their conventional workplaces.
“One among my shoppers . . . he’s a VC, he’s price about $14 billion, and he would stroll out in Manhattan, he’d go, ‘I placed on my bulletproof vest, I am going to struggle. . . Down right here, I am going out in shorts and a T-shirt, I stroll on my convention name to a espresso store, I end that, I do one other assembly… I discovered extra peace with my life, I am simply as environment friendly,’” Johnston recalled.
With greater than half of $1 trillion in mixed internet price residing on Indian Creek, it’s solidifying itself because the epicenter of a everlasting wealth migration. Nonetheless, the juxtaposition of the billionaires’ playground and an exceedingly dangerous marketplace for common consumers is vast — UBS’ World Actual Property Bubble Index for 2025 not too long ago put Miami within the No. 1 spot for the actual property market with the very best bubble danger on Earth, surpassing the height of the 2006 housing bubble.
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Miami’s breathtaking skyline may be seen from many Indian Creek properties. (Getty Pictures)
However Johnston argues that the trickle-down impact is funding huge public works, like high-speed transit and close by inexpensive housing for the island’s huge assist employees.
“I believe it’s solely going to profit Miami vastly,” he mentioned. “It has turn into costlier, and there is been some push away from that. However the metropolis is doing one thing about it, builders are reacting to it, and there are peripheral areas now which are getting constructed out with lovely retail and bus providers and public transport, and I believe it is solely going to make the town higher and higher.”
