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Citadel chief executive Ken Griffin owns a four acre development in Miami\u2019s financial district; on it are three parcels he reportedly spent $669.5 million to buy. On one parcel, he\u2019s building a 54-story glass tower that\u2019ll be headquarters<\/a> for his investment firm. It\u2019s supposed to combine offices, a hotel on the upper floors, restaurants, and maybe even a dock. When he first proposed the project two years ago, it was at an estimated cost of $1 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n But in the middle of the extraordinary site sits a 22-story condominium tower called the Solaris\u2014and someone is secretly buying individual units in the building, in all-cash purchases, according to<\/a> the Wall Street Journal<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Citadel isn\u2019t the only company to take the leap; it seems Wall Street South is catching on. J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs<\/a> recently doubled down on their office space<\/a> in Miami, fueling its potential to become a storied financial hub. And it so happens that the center<\/a> of American politics isn\u2019t all that far away.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mystery buyer, or buyers, per the Journal<\/em>, can only be identified via limited liability companies based in Delaware. So far, the LLCs have purchased about half of the units in the Solaris over the last two years, the publication reported. Once that reaches 80%, the buyer takes control of the property, per the Journal,<\/em> so anyone who still owns their place might be forced to sell and the landlord can knock it down.\u00a0<\/p>\n So the question is, who is the mystery buyer? Is it Griffin, attempting to complete his waterfront development? Or is it someone looking for a payday, buying up the one property the billionaire doesn\u2019t control in the vicinity, to sell to him? Bloomberg puts Griffin\u2019s net worth<\/a> at $42 billion; his hedgefund manages $64 billion in assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some of the remaining unit owners in the Solaris seem to think it is Griffin, according to the Journal<\/em>. But it isn\u2019t clear why he\u2019d be buying the units in secret since he owns the surrounding buildings, something everyone knows; although it is common practice for the wealthy to purchase real estate using an LLC.\u00a0<\/p>\n The LLCs have paid around $750,000 for some of the two-bedroom units, per the Journal<\/em>, which residents said wouldn\u2019t get them anything comparable. The LLCs that purchased Griffin\u2019s surrounding commercial properties list the same registered agent as the Delaware-based LLCs in question, they told the Journal. <\/em>Apparently, one unit owner said they noticed Citadel\u2019s global head of real estate looked at their LinkedIn<\/a> profile. Others think a $2 million repair assessment is an attempt to push them out.\u00a0But some think if it is Griffin buying the units and they hold out, he\u2019ll have to pay more\u2014maybe even a lot more, if he really wants to tear the tower down.<\/p>\n It supposedly isn\u2019t a first for Griffin, who according to the Journal<\/em>, often acquires the properties surrounding his purchase, having previously bought seven multimillion-dollar properties in Miami\u2019s Star Island. Not to mention, he has a portfolio<\/a> of properties across south Florida, New York, London, and St. Tropez.\u00a0<\/p>\n Citadel declined to comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nHow many degrees of separation are you from the globe’s most powerful business leaders? <\/b>Explore who made our brand-new list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Business<\/a>. Plus, learn about the metrics we used to make it.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n