The new owners of La Dune — the grand Southampton oceanfront estate that made waves for its staggering $150 million asking price before it crashed at auction this year — is Charles Kim, a young investor and philanthropist, and his wife Jean, Gimme Shelter can reveal exclusively.
Kim is a managing member and co-founder of Alpine Group, an investment management firm, who did not return requests for comment.
His lawyer Sarah Tadros Awad, a real estate lawyer with Romer Debbas LLP, also declined to comment.
Kim received a bachelor’s of science degree from Binghamton University in management and finance, and now generously donates to his alma mater.
On YS Kim Foundation, the Kim family foundation’s website, they are described as “dedicated philanthropists and proud parents of three young children,” and have established a scholarship for incoming Binghamton students from New York and the US Virgin Islands.
They also provided funds to establish the YS Kim Korean Student Center. The Kims’ foundation focuses on “arts-based” initiatives, as well as youth development and financial support to community and educational nonprofit organizations.
The 4-acre estate, which consists of 366 and 376 Gin Lane — two parcels on one of the swankiest oceanfront streets in the Hamptons — ultimately sold at an hours-long auction for $88.48 million in an all-cash deal in January. There was no minimum reserve bid.
The estate was sold as a pair to entities controlled by Kim, according to court documents.
The seller was Louise Blouin, a self-made French Canadian-born businesswoman, philanthropist and former art magazine publisher who entertained Prince Andrew, Calvin Klein and others at the estate over the years.
The compound includes an original cedar-shingled home from the 1880s and a 21st-century guest house built on the site of a 19th-century tear-down. Altogether, it comes with 19 bedrooms, two pools and a sunken tennis court.
The sale took place at Sotheby’s in Manhattan, run by Concierge Auctions in partnership with Sotheby’s co-brokers Harald Grant, Corcoran’s Tim Davis and Bespoke’s Cody Vichinsky.