Zuckerberg splashes out $170M on just 1.84 acres in Miami as latest billionaire to flee Cal.

 Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his pediatrician wife Priscilla Chanhave bought a waterfront mansion in Miami that’s still under construction — sources told Gimme Shelter exclusively.

The property on ultra-exclusive Indian Creek Island, otherwise known as ‘Billionaire Bunker,’ was on the market for $200 million. The price that Zuckerberg and Chan agreed to pay: a colossal $170 million.

A message seeking comment from Zuckerberg was not returned by press time.

The couple’s move from California to Florida follows in the recent footsteps of fellow online billionaires Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who are the co-founders of Google. They’re fleeing the Golden State as California prepares to vote on a proposal to implement a one-time 5% tax on its billionaire residents, of whom there are currently around 246 in the state.

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Zuckerberg and Chan sat in the front row of a Prada runway presentation last week in Milan.REUTERS

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A rendering of the property, which is presently under construction.Ferris Rafauli Design

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It sits on prestigious Indian Creek Island.New York Post

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An aerial of the grounds.1 Oak Studios

Zuckerberg’s future home on Indian Creek Island, No. 7, had been on the market for 111 days. While it was slated for a late 2026 completion, it now may be 18 months away from a move-in date, sources added.

The property sits on 1.84 acres and comes with 200 feet on Biscayne Bay.

Design details include a sweeping staircase, a large chef’s kitchen and stunning water views. It’s currently set to be a nine-bedroom residence with 11 baths, four powder rooms, a den/library/home office, a media room and a recreation room.

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A rendering of the kitchen.Ferris Rafauli Design

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It’s set to be configured as a nine-bedroom spread.Ferris Rafauli Design

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A pool will face the water.Ferris Rafauli Design

The “classically designed” home, which is being built to maximize an “indoor/outdoor” Miami lifestyle, was planned with interiors designed by Ferris Rafauli. The dwelling features a limestone facade and a 38-foot skylight above the central staircase.

The estate will also likely have a place for kids to study, as Zuckerberg and Chan’s children are homeschooled, according to reports.

Last year in California, the couple came under fire for violating city code after they converted one of their Palo Alto homes into a private Montessori-style school staffed by full time teachers with a total of around 14 kids in attendance. The school only became public because it was operating without proper zoning permits in a residential area, which led to traffic and noise complaints, and it was later moved.

This Miami property last sold for $30 million in 2020. The current owners, according to reports, are cosmetic surgeon Aaron Rollins and Miami real estate broker Marine Rollins.

The listing brokers were Jill Hertzberg and Daniel Hertzberg of Coldwell Banker. Brett Harris of Bespoke represented the buyers.

https://nypost.com/2026/03/02/real-estate/mark-zuckerberg-in-contract-to-buy-a-200m-miami-mansion/

Pakistan’s Roosevelt Hotel took $146M in NYC taxpayer cash for migrants — and owes over $13M

 The Pakistani government is screwing New York City taxpayers – again.

After pocketing $146.6 million to run the Roosevelt Hotel as a migrant shelter for two years, Pakistan’s state-owned property is now stiffing the city for $13.6 million in overdue property taxes and nearly $1 million in unpaid water bills, The Post has learned.

Even worse: A sweetheart deal with the feds to redevelop the Midtown landmark into a supertall skyscraper could let Pakistan dodge all future taxes — potentially costing the city tens of millions per year.

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The Roosevelt Hotel housed tens of thousands of migrants in NYC.Helayne Seidman for the NY Post

The Pakistani-owned hotel at 45 East 45th St. signed a payment agreement with the city’s Department of Finance in September 2023, when it already owed $11.6 million. 

But despite getting paid millions by taxpayers to house migrants, Pakistan blew off a $573,361 payment due Jan. 2 and skipped a $3.9 million half-year payment.

“This property is currently in default on its payment plan,” a DOF spokesman confirmed.

The hotel’s annual property tax bill hits $7.7 million this July.

A joint venture between Pakistan and the US government to demolish the Roosevelt and build an office tower could trigger a federal tax exemption, since the State Department typically asks the DOF to grant one when a foreign government buys US property.

“We have not received a letter in this case,” the DOF spokesman said. “However, any charges that accrued prior to government ownership must still be paid.”

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Migrants were often seen gathering outside the Roosevelt Hotel.James Keivom

The Roosevelt served as the primary intake center for migrants flooding the city starting in 2022, processing more than 173,000 of the 232,000 asylum seekers. The hotel often housed 2,600 migrants a night from May 2023 through June 2025, under a $220 million contract that paid about $202 per night per room.

What was supposed to be a safe refuge for asylum seekers became a hellhole. Migrants slept in retail spaces and on sidewalks as the hotel became overwhelmed.

The Roosevelt became a hub for the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua, which organized moped robbery crews out of the hotel, according to Homeland Security officials.

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Jose Ibarra stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel months before killing Laken Riley in Georgia.Getty Images

Another Venezuelan illegal housed at the Roosevelt, Jose Ibarra, departed the hotel in September 2023 and less than six months later, murdered University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. Ibarra is serving a life sentence without parole.

The city is still battling the Trump administration over $80.5 million in FEMA reimbursements clawed back on Feb. 11, 2025.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has been scrambling to unload the Roosevelt, which has been owned by state-run Pakistan International Airlines since 1999. It hired real estate giant JLL in late 2023 to solicit bids expected to top $1 billion. But JLL withdrew over conflicts of interest.

The potential joint venture with the US government is still in early stages, with only a Memorandum of Understanding signed.

The Pakistani Embassy, the GSA, the city Department of Environmental Protection, and the Mayor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

https://nypost.com/2026/02/28/us-news/pakistans-roosevelt-hotel-took-146m-in-migrant-cash-now-owes-13-6m-in-back-taxes/

Trump pledges to make housing affordable while keeping values up

 President Donald Trump said his administration plans to make housing more affordable for new homebuyers while keeping home values high for existing homeowners.

Trump delivered his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night and touted the lower cost of new mortgages since he took office in January 2025.

"Mortgage rates are the lowest in four years and falling fast, and the annual cost of a typical new mortgage is down almost $5,000 just since I took office. One year," Trump said.

"Low interest rates will solve the Biden-created housing problem while at the same time protecting the values of those people who already own a house that really feel rich for the first time in their lives. We want to protect those values; we want to keep those values up. We are going to do both. And we are going to keep it that way," the president added.

Data from Freddie Mac shows that the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage declined from 7.04% in January 2025, when Trump began his second term, to the current 6.01%.

While lower interest rates can help with the affordability of mortgages taken out by new homeowners, they have an inverse relationship with home prices, as lower rates stimulate demand among prospective buyers, which pushes home values higher.

That dynamic can counteract the affordability improvements from lower mortgage rates by increasing the size of the mortgage, as both elements factor into the owner's monthly payments.

Investors have noted that the most effective way to lower home prices would be to expand the supply of homes, though they cautioned that most of the laws and regulations are governed at the state and local level, which gives the federal government few options.

Trump also discussed his plan to ban institutional investors from buying large numbers of homes, citing the experience of a State of the Union guest who he said was outbid for 20 homes by "gigantic investment firms that bypassed inspection. Paid all cash and turned those houses into rentals, stealing away her American dream."

The president said that stories like those prompted his executive order banning large investment firms from buying homes and called on Congress to make the ban permanent, adding that, "We want homes for people, not for corporations."

Trump's order directs federal regulators to promote home sales to individuals and to issue guidance preventing federal programs from facilitating single-family home sales to Wall Street investors. The order also mandates antitrust scrutiny of institutional home purchases and calls on Congress to codify the changes into law.

Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com, said of the move that, "In particular, large institutional investors represent a relatively small share of the national housing stock, and because their activity is often highly localized, it remains an open question whether banning new purchases would meaningfully shift metro-level markets."

National Association of Home Builders CEO Jim Tobin said that his organization has been engaged with the administration to push policies that could help lower the cost of building new homes, adding that "corporate investment in housing has been a driver of new home construction."

Wall Street firms including Blackstone, American Homes 4 Rent and Progress Residential have bought thousands of homes since the 2008 financial crisis prompted a wave of foreclosures. Firms owned about 3% of all single-family rental homes by June 2022, government data showed.

Those firms dispute that their investments have stoked inflation in housing prices, with Blackstone noting it has been a net seller of homes for the last decade.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-pledges-make-housing-affordable-while-keeping-values-up