The ultra-rich are voting with their feet, and Florida is winning big.
It’s no secret that billionaires aren’t happy with a 5% wealth tax on the California ballot — and one South Florida enclave is the newest landing pad for ultra-wealthy expats from the Golden State.
Manny Angelo Vargas — an ultra high-end builder for billionaires and celebrities — told The Post he is seeing an “enormous influx of inquiries, purchases and relocations” from the Golden State.
Vargas has built projects for stars like Lil Wayne and Rick Ross — as well as lower-profile billionaires who made their riches in California, especially the San Francisco Bay Area.
He’s actively working on projects with half a dozen billionaire families and there are many others on the way, Vargas said — as not just CEOs, but entire executive teams eye Miami as a friendlier alternative to California.
There are about a dozen total billionaires that are eyeing opportunities for land acquisitions or home remodels in South Florida, he added.
“The billionaire tax was the breaking point of California being anti-business and anti-billionaire,” Vargas added. “It reenergized South Florida to epic proportions.”
The billionaire tax, which proposes a 5% levy on the total wealth of billionaires to fund healthcare and education, is bound for the November ballot after organizers gathered more than 1.5 million signatures.
The plan triggered an exodus of billionaires starting late last year — as much as $1 trillion in total wealth has left the state, according to one estimate.
South Florida, where billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have bought mega-mansions, offers the right mix of weather, privacy, culture and low taxes, according to Vargas.
Bezos owns a mega-compound in the elite Indian Creek gated community, referred to as the “billionaire bunker,” and Zuckerberg reportedly purchased a mansion in the same area for $170 million.
Most-requested features from California expats include “biophilic” designs that combine indoor and outdoor elements — like massive walls of plants, koi ponds, garden terraces and even underwater art installations.
As opposed to the wine cellars and elaborate bars of years past, wellness-obsessed California billionaires see home saunas, cold plunges and carefully controlled humidity as a must.
“They want nature and organic materials …. and wellness and health, integrating tele-health monitors and systems into gyms,” Vargas said.
“In what used to be your home for yourself, we’re now seeing a lot of our owners wanting to invite their friends for integrated saunas, cold plunges, on-site padel courts. We’ve seen a shift from traditional design where entertainment was alcohol, cigar and billiard rooms,” he added.
Safety is “an enormous concern” for billionaire clients, he said.
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Security issues for the ultra-wealthy were thrown into stark relief last month when a molotov cocktail was hurled at billionaire OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s mansion in San Francisco.
Vargas said that his billionaire clients from the area— whom he couldn’t name due to nondisclosure agreements — are drawn to the privacy of South Florida, far removed from homelessness and street crime.
Futuristic security systems that use special lighting to detect movement around the home at any time of day are a popular request.
One high-end client even asked for a oxygen-controlled safe room where his family could isolate for up to three days.
Other popular features include custom lighting systems that change automatically according to the time of day and invisible speakers that can beam music and sound throughout the home.
Vargas expects more billionaires will see the appeal of the area that’s increasingly a hub of high-end restaurants like Carbone and Delilah, which started in Los Angeles.
The ultra-wealthy see the writing on the wall in California, Vargas claimed.
“Definitely it’s just the beginning — its not just whether this billionaire tax gets approved, its the sentiment of what the state wants,” he said. “Whereas in Florida you have a proposal of eliminating property taxes which is going to a vote in November.”
