Ken Griffin's $250 million superyacht wouldn't fit at his mansion, so he built a private marina

Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin has already gotten permission to build a private marina (Waterfront facility) for his 308-foot superyacht on Miami’s Terminal Island. Now he wants Miami Beach to go a step further by changing its zoning rules so he can add a private waterfront helipad and avoid the city’s traffc.If approved, the plan would create a private travel system by air, sea, and land for the Citadel founder. It would let him fly straight to his yacht instead of driving through Miami’s crowded streets.The new request involves a 30,000-square-foot piece of waterfront land at 120 MacArthur Causeway. The project, designed by BMA Architects, already includes a building for the owner, a separate building for the crew, maintenance facilities, security offices, and at least one rooftop pool.Now, Griffin wants to add a helipad to the property.

A zoning change is the only obstacle

According to the Miami Herald, Miami Beach commissioner Joseph Magazine put forward the proposal on June 24. This will decide whether to change the city’s zoning rules to allow a private helipad on the land.The request is very specific. Griffin is not asking to build helipads all over Miami Beach. Instead, he only wants the rules changed for Terminal Island’s industrial zone, where private helipads are currently banned.That specific location might help his case.The marina sits on industrial land surrounded by ferry ports, a Florida Power & Light facility, and the US Coast Guard, rather than homes. From a city planning view, this makes the request less controversial than putting a helipad near a residential neighborhood.Even if Miami Beach approves the zoning change, Griffin would still need separate permissions from the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before any helicopters could fly there.

M/Y DEFY ex. VIVA 94m Super Yacht by Feadship

Built around one of the world’s largest private yachts

The helipad plan also matches perfectly with Griffin’s newest superyacht.His boat is named Defy (previously called Viva) and costs an estimated $250 million. It is 308 feet long and has a small helipad on its front deck. Adding a helipad at the marina would let him fly directly from his other South Florida properties straight to his yacht without using the roads.The marina and helipad would work together as a private travel hub, connecting his helicopter, dock, and yacht in one spot.This kind of facility would be very rare. Miami-Dade County has very few helipads, and most of them are saved for hospitals and emergency services. Even in a city famous for luxury waterfront properties, a private marina with its own helipad would stand out.

The billionaire behind citadel

57-year-old Griffin started the massive hedge fund Citadel in 1990. He began his investing career while studying at Harvard University, but his interest in trading started even earlier. In 1987, while living in a Harvard dorm, he installed a satellite dish on the roof so he could get real-time stock market prices.Today, Citadel manages about $68 billion in investments and is considered the most profitable hedge fund in the world. According to LCH Investments, the firm has made $83 billion in clear profits since it started.Griffin also built Citadel Securities into one of Wall Street’s largest market makers. The company now handles about one out of every four stock trades made in the United States.The billionaire, who is worth about $51.7 billion, moved both himself and Citadel’s main offices from New York to Miami. Outside of finance, Griffin has given about $2.4 billion to charities. Some of his recent donations went to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and several hospital charities in Miami.

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Griffin has recently criticised the Trump Administration over ethics

Even though Griffin has been a major donor to the Republican party for a long time, he made headlines earlier this year by publicly criticising parts of US President Donald Trump’s administration.Speaking at a Wall Street Journal event in February, Griffin said the administration had “definitely made mistakes by making decisions or choices that have brought a lot of wealth to the families of people inside the administration.”He added that he was worried about what he saw as conflicts of interest.“I think our society really needs to go back to the basic ideas of ethics in public service,” Griffin said.He also questioned whether public officials were truly working for the people. He said he wanted to believe that politicians “have the public interest at heart in everything they do,” but argued that their actions make people ask, “Is the public interest actually being served?”Despite those criticisms, Griffin did praise some of Trump’s policies.“He has secured the border,” Griffin said, calling it “a huge win.” He also praised Trump’s choice of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve, saying it was a strong sign that the Fed would keep its needed independence when making financial policies.At the same time, Griffin criticized the government for getting too involved in business decisions.“When the US government starts getting involved in American businesses in a way that looks like favoritism, most CEOs I know find it highly unappealing,” he said.“I am close to this administration, but does that mean the next administration is going to give a favor to one of my competitors, or take something away from me because I don’t support them publicly? Most CEOs just don’t want to be in a position where they have to please one administration after another just to run their business successfully.”He also stated that he did not want the US government to act like private investors.