Fox Information Digital will get a tour of Indian Creek Village from the Corcoran Group’s Julian Johnston, who exhibits 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 Outlets, Indian Creek Village exists in a vacuum of enforced peace. There are not any sirens or vacationers, and definitely no uninvited visitors — solely the whistle of the Atlantic wind and the rhythmic clap of waves in opposition to personal piers.
Behind large entry gates and dense tropical foliage lies a 300-acre fiscal protected haven the place America’s billionaires aren’t simply shopping for houses, however investing in a sovereign-level of safety that Julian Johnston, one among Miami’s high luxurious brokers, says is now the final word commodity.
“It’s a political sanctuary. I would say, additionally, the safety itself is extraordinarily tight. I imply, while 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 beneath his belt within the space — informed 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 possibly can stroll to the 4 Seasons and go to the seaside, and it is a lower-density development. So there’s not as a lot site visitors, and it is only a stunning place to stay.”
An aerial view of the doorway of Indian Creek Village in Miami, Florida. (Getty Photos)
Generally often called 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 document $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” offers a predictable fiscal fortress.
“Even beginning with South Seashore and Miami Seashore, there’s solely a thousand houses on the water, roughly… There’s solely 4 actual islands on this location that the house owners personal the roads, so you can not get on with out permission,” Johnston stated. “Folks 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 the moment sits as a skeleton of recent concrete bones, nonetheless absolutely uncovered to the coastal Miami parts. Parked exterior his unfinished residence gave the impression to be an unmarked, blacked-out SUV preserving 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 value is estimated to be greater than double what Zuckerberg paid, as a result of its particular location and views.
“Fifty p.c of the gross sales on Indian Creek are off-market. There are some which are simply interested by promoting, and it turns into identified locally, they usually’ll begin getting affords,” he stated. “They do not actually wish to promote, as a result of that may draw numerous tire kickers and other people which are to see the house.”
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The agent famous that it sometimes takes one yr for plans and permits, and three years to construct a big residence on the island. He additionally defined how Bezos purchased a 20-year-old Indian Creek property “in stunning situation” for $75 million “only for someplace to sleep” whereas his different two adjoining heaps are being developed for his bigger property.
A house in Indian Creek Village, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. (Getty Photos)
Driving by their residences, Bezos’ houses had lengthy and winding driveways with iron gates and thoroughly tailor-made landscaping; Brady’s residence gave the impression to be an virtually totally glass, gray-toned home from the entrance, with fashionable but stylish furnishings and artwork seen via the window panes.
“When Tom Brady began constructing, he was interested by promoting the home for $80 to $100 million. Now he is turning down affords 4 or 5 years later of $200 million,” Johnston stated as one other instance.
“Some builders are doing very high-end houses now, however these end-users, they don’t have any price range. So then they will 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 a few of the house owners themselves are shocked.”
Each property on Indian Creek has direct water entry. | Getty Photos
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 best way enterprise offers and enterprise capital choices are being made exterior of their conventional places of work.
“One in all my shoppers . . . he’s a VC, he’s value about $14 billion, and he would stroll out in Manhattan, he’d go, ‘I placed on my bulletproof vest, I’m going to battle. . . Down right here, I’m 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 web value 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 patrons is huge — UBS’ International Actual Property Bubble Index for 2025 not too long ago put Miami within the No. 1 spot for the true 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 houses. (Getty Photos)
However Johnston argues that the trickle-down impact is funding large public works, like high-speed transit and close by reasonably priced housing for the island’s huge help employees.
“I believe it’s solely going to profit Miami enormously,” he stated. “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 stunning retail and bus providers and public transport, and I believe it is solely going to make town higher and higher.”
