Published on: December 22, 2025, 11:07h.
Revised on: December 22, 2025, 11:27h.
- Land previously associated with Big Easy Casino has been sold
- Florida real estate entrepreneur Jeffrey Soffer owns Hallandale Beach racino
Billionaire real estate mogul, Jeffrey Soffer, has recently increased his wealth by selling unused land near his Big Easy Casino in Hallandale Beach, Florida.
In 2018, the Florida real estate tycoon acquired the Mardi Gras Casino and Hollywood Greyhound Track for $12.5 million. Located in Broward County, one of only two Florida counties that allow slot machines, the racino can legally operate gaming machines.
Soffer quickly rebranded Mardi Gras to Big Easy after obtaining the 70,000-square-foot gaming venue from Hartman & Tyner, a family-run property management company in Michigan. Although greyhound racing was banned in Florida in 2020, Soffer had already halted live racing at the Hollywood Greyhound Track in 2018.
To comply with Broward County’s slot regulations, which stipulate that gaming can only occur at licensed parimutuel facilities, Big Easy continues to offer simulcast racing and off-track betting. Soffer is in the process of selling surplus portions of the Big Easy estate.
Big Easy Achieves a Major Sale
As reported by the South Florida Business Journal, Soffer has recently sold 12.3 acres of the Big Easy Casino land for $31.16 million through two deeds to a group of investors. They intend to transform the property into condominiums, retail spaces, and luxury good warehouses.
Big Easy Casino currently has around 800 slot machines. Financial statements from the Florida Gaming Commission indicate that the casino earned gross revenues of over $38.1 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. Gaming win taxes totaled $13.3 million.
Prior to the sale, the Big Easy Casino property encompassed more than 36 acres, conveniently located less than two miles from the Atlantic Ocean.
Building the Fontainebleau Legacy
Soffer is the son of the late Donald Soffer, a notable Florida real estate developer whose firm, Turnberry Associates, co-developed The Signature at MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2004. The following year, Turnberry acquired the famed Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach for $165 million.
In the same year, the younger Soffer launched Fontainebleau Resorts, aiming to imprint his legacy on the luxury hospitality scene. In 2005, he announced plans to introduce the Fontainebleau brand to the Las Vegas Strip by developing a completely new casino resort. Turnberry invested nearly $100 million in less than four acres of prime land on the Strip for the venture.
Construction commenced in early 2007 on the approximately $3 billion project. However, the Great Recession brought construction to a halt, even with the project being around 75% complete. In 2010, billionaire Carl Icahn acquired the resort through bankruptcy for $151 million.
Icahn ultimately did not resume development, selling it to Steve Witkoff in 2017 for $600 million, who is now the US special envoy to the Middle East during the Trump administration.
Witkoff stated that COVID-19 rendered his plans infeasible. He returned the unfinished tower to Soffer and Koch Real Estate Investments in early 2021 for an undisclosed amount.
The Koch family’s real estate investment vehicle secured $2.2 billion in financing to complete the Fontainebleau and officially open the Strip casino in December 2023.