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Billionaire Bruce Kovner
buys sites on Padaro Lane

MARIA ZATE, NEWS-PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
August 2, 2007 12:00 AM

Wall Street wizard and multibillionaire Bruce Kovner, through various partnerships, has purchased four separate oceanfront properties on Padaro Lane in Carpinteria, totaling more than $83 million.

Mr. Kovner heads what has been called the largest hedge fund in the world -- Caxton Associates in New York City -- and his estimated net worth of $3 billion ranks him at No. 85 on the Forbes list of the 100 richest people in America.Caxton's office on 500 Park Ave., with Mr. Kovner as the contact, is given as the ownership address for the four entities that purchased the Padaro Lane properties.

"This is probably the largest (residential) property purchase on the South Coast if you look at all four of them combined," said Dan Encell, director of the estates division for Prudential California Realty in Montecito.

"This would top the $50 million sale in Hope Ranch a few years ago and Oprah's house."

In 2005, an entity called Marsupial Properties Inc., managed by the owners of Rusack Vineyards in Solvang, purchased an oceanfront property in Hope Ranch for $50 million. That set a record for a home sale in the area and topped the $45 million that television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey paid in 2001 for her Montecito estate.

Entities headed by Mr. Kovner called CalProp I, CalProp II, CalProp III and CalProp IV each purchased four contiguous Padaro Lane properties between February and July.

CalProp I bought a 3-acre lot, with a 6,000-square-foot-plus single-family residence built in 2006, for $33.75 million at the end of February, according to county records. Dunn Family Trust was the seller.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Suzanne Perkins of Sotheby's International in Montecito had the listing, but the three subsequent properties purchased were not on the market. Mr. Kovner, who has been described as a very private person and avoids talking to the press, likely decided to buy out his neighbors, since the three adjacent lots shared a private, gated road and a water system, county records show.

Another 3-acre property next door with a large house was purchased at the same time for $19.525 million, by CalProp II. The seller was Baret C. Fink Family Trust.

In March, another adjacent property of mostly vacant land owned by Dunn Family Trust sold for $15 million to CalProp III. And in July, the fourth property with 3 acres of vacant land owned by the Fink Family Trust sold to CalProp IV for $15 million.

"This shows that the highest end of the (residential market) is doing extremely well right now," Mr. Encell at Prudential explained.He questioned whether the CalProp purchases were made for Mr. Kovner's personal use or as part of the hedge fund's investment portfolio."It's definitely not a bad place to invest money because beachfront properties here have done very well. They give a great return," Mr. Encell said, "and if you can get some personal use out of them then it's even better." 

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