Edited by: Fern Sidman

Now that first daughter Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner have decided to bow out of the 2024 presidential race in terms of taking active roles in helping former President Donald Trump get re-elected, it appears that the couple is spending their time renovating a $32 million mansion that they purchased on chic Indian Creek Island near Miami, Florida.

Jared and Ivanka purchased the white 5-bedroom home after leaving the Washington, DC area is early 2021. While renovations are being conducted, Jared and Ivanka have been living in temporary housing about one mile away from the Indian Creek mansion, according to a recent report in the New York Post.

After leaving the White House for green pastures, Kushner and Trump lived in the Surfside section of Miami Beach. Their domicile of choice was a condominium at the Arte tower.

The Arte was built in a unique pyramid shape, and is an exclusive oceanfront building housing just sixteen units but packed with tons of resort-like amenities, according to the report on the Architectural Digest web site. Residents enjoy a wellness center complete with a sauna, steam room, gym, and dedicated yoga studio; children’s playroom; residents’ lounge with catering kitchen; a tennis court located on the rooftop of an adjacent building; a seventy-five-foot indoor lap pool with travertine decking and onyx accents; an outdoor pool; and even a serene “meditation pond” the length of a lap pool with a floor covered in flat, black river rocks, and a wooden pergola with automatic shutters set on a floating deck, the report added.

The Arte, designed by the Italian architect Antonio Citterio  boasts ocean views — including from the main bedroom on the upper level — along with a chef’s kitchen on each floor and a private entertainment area on the lower level, as was reported by the Post. The building has 16 units and the couple’s apartment was a 7,000 square foot duplex, according to the Post report. It also had more than 1,480 square feet of wraparound terraces.

Design details include white oak floors and a floor-to-ceiling glass wall system, the Post added.  There’s also a dramatic private staircase that leads directly to the beach, a pool, a meditation pond and a spa.

The new home that Jared and Ivanka and family are moving into on Indian Creek Island is often referred to as “Billionaire Bunker” as the exclusive island is the home of wildly wealthy celebrities, sports figures, internationally recognized entrepreneurs, and politicians.

The power couple’s lease had been set to expire in March at the Arte and earlier this year, the unit hit the market at $18.8 million and before long it sold for $17 million through the Douglas Elliman firm, the Post reported. The new owner was expected to take over the lease and was represented by Ohad Fisherman of Societe Real Estate, as was reported by the Post.

The Post spoke with sources in the real estate world that told them that Kushner and Trump extended their lease for a brief period under the new ownership, but that they aren’t living there any longer. The location of their temporary housing is not known.

While residing in the Arte tower in Surfside was indeed luxury living, the mansion that the couple is renovating will be done to their own specifications and customized to their own needs, the Post said.

In December 2020 it was reported that Jared and Ivanka purchased the undeveloped 1.8-acre waterfront plot of land on the ultra-exclusive private island from Latin crooner Julio Iglesias, according to a report on the Celebrity Net Worth web site. Iglesias put the plot of land together in two transactions. First he had owned a mansion on one plot for decades. He demolished that mansion and then in 2008 paid $15.2 million for the property next door to create the combined nearly 2-acre empty ocean-front lot.

Business Insider reports that Indian Creek is a village of just 42 people on a tiny private island in Miami’s Biscayne Bay.

Among those who call Indian Creek home besides Iglesias are billionaire investor Carl Icahn, the supermodel Adriana Lima, Beyonce & Jay-Z, billionaire hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert, car-dealership tycoon Norman Braman and Miami Dolphins former coach Don Shula. The singer and actor Ricky Martin also lived on the island at one point, but it’s unclear whether he still does, as was reported by Business Insider.

According to Forbes, Icahn paid $7.5 million for his 14,000-square-foot Indian Creek vacation home in 1997. Shula and his wife have lived in a sprawling white house on the island for more than 20 years, as was reported by Business Insider.

Michael Light, the founder of Miami Luxury Homes and senior director of luxury sales at Douglas Elliman, wrote on his website that “Indian Creek is an exclusive 300-acre island located on the beautiful waters of Biscayne Bay and recognized as one of the wealthiest, private, most secure communities in Miami Beach, and the world.”

The floor plans for Jared and Ivanka’s new home that were recently released by Miami-Dade County show proposals that include a sprawling master wing on the second floor, with a hallway leading to his-and-hers closets and a spa-like ensuite bath, the Post reported.  That suite, along with other bedrooms on the other end of this floor, leads outside to a large terrace.

The diagrams for the first floor show the main house aims to open into a large foyer with a dome-shaped cupola  as well as curbed staircases on either side. The Post reported that a Florida Room will have floor-to-ceiling windows opening to a large deck and a pool. The proposal for this floor also shows a chef’s kitchen next to a dining room, a family room with a wet bar and a movie room.

The  library/office on the first floor will have a balcony of its own  and, outside, a cabana will sit on the water’s edge in front of the pool, according to the documents, as was reported by the Post,  The cabana itself will have a steam room and a sauna, a cold plunge, a gym and a free-standing outdoor shower, the  report indicated.

Indian Creek Island has also been home to other A-list residents, including the model Adriana Lima who sold her home there in 2022 for $40 million. Tom Brady has been building a home there, too.

The island has only 34 homes.