Retired Walmart CEO buys Sarasota mansion for $11.25 million
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 8, 2023

The former CEO of Walmart Inc. has bought a waterfront home on Bird Key in Sarasota for $11.25 million.

The sale for the home, located at 626 S Owl Drive, closed on June 1, according to a deed filed in Sarasota County. The buyers were H. Lee Scott Jr. and Linda Scott, and the sellers were Dawn and Henry Duques. The home is 6,576 square feet, and the sale price breaks down to approximately $1,710 per square foot.

Scott was the CEO of Walmart (NYSE: WMT) from 2000 to 2009.

Susan Fox and Jonathan Fox of Compass Florida represented the sellers. Roger Pettingell of Coldwell Banker Realty represented the buyers. Susan Fox told the Tampa Bay Business Journal the deal set a record as the highest sale price for a home in Bird Key.

“It’s in one of the best neighborhoods; Bird Key is a very popular destination in Sarasota,” Fox said. “This buyer was particularly zeroed in on Bird Key, and it was an almost brand new house; it was completed in 2021. It’s built to very high standards.”

The home was on the market for 15 days, and Fox said they had a big turnout for showings from outside buyers and other residents of Bird Key wanting to move to a larger lot. She said they had another offer almost simultaneously due to a newer build not being on the market in the neighborhood in “quite some time.”

With the current market and rising insurance rates, many are prioritizing new builds, which she said is difficult in such a built-out area. Many have to buy a lot, tear down the existing structure and wait two years or more to build a new home. When new builds hit the market, she said they’re selling quickly.

The two-story home has five bedrooms and eight bathrooms. According to the listing, the house has water views from all main rooms with large, covered terraces on both levels.

The home has a full backup generator, elevator, two Tesla car chargers in the garage and a retractable pool cover. The estate is less than a mile from the Bird Key Yacht Club and is 4 miles from downtown Sarasota. Fox said an open layout with “full views spilling out to the terrace” set the home apart for buyers.

“Sarasota is drawing upper-end buyers from all over the world,” Fox said. “We’re still much less expensive — we’re a bargain compared to Naples or many places on the East Coast. And the city offers so much, people love it.”