A devastating tragedy in Indian River County has brought renewed scrutiny to a long-abandoned riverfront development in Sebastian, revealing ownership ties to a prominent billionaire sports mogul.
Following the heartbreaking death of 16-year-old Vero Beach High School student Roylynn Scott, the local community and authorities are taking a hard look at the history of The River Preserve. The unfinished, three-tower condominium project, situated along the Indian River Lagoon, has sat in a severely deteriorating state for nearly two decades. On August 8, the weekend before the start of the new school year, the local teen was exploring the vacant site with friends when she fatally fell through a hole in the four-story roof. She tragically passed away the following day at a Melbourne hospital.
According to state incorporation records, the property is owned by Indian River Preserve LLC, a New Jersey-based business that purchased the site for $9.5 million in 2005. The manager-member of this LLC is Leonard Wilf, a billionaire real estate developer best known as a co-owner of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, as well as the Orlando City SC and Orlando Pride soccer teams. The Wilf family’s broader real estate portfolio includes Garden Homes—which manages tens of thousands of apartments nationwide—and New York-based Skyline Developers.
Despite occupying prime waterfront real estate on the Treasure Coast, the development has remained a half-finished hazard since construction abruptly halted during the 2005 housing market crash. Over the years, it has become a well-known magnet for urban explorers drawn to the site’s sweeping rooftop views.
The safety of the Sebastian site has been a matter of local law enforcement record for years. As far back as 2011, an Indian River County Sheriff’s Office investigation into vandalism at the property highlighted severe, unaddressed safety hazards. At that time, Deputy Kathy Gibson warned the property’s management of multiple violations, threatening to report them to Code Enforcement if the issues were not promptly resolved. The documented hazards at the site included:
- Only a partial fence securing the property perimeter.
- A complete absence of no-trespassing signs.
- Unlocked doors and shattered windows throughout the complex.
- Open, accessible stairways leading directly to each floor and the roof.
- Unbarricaded balconies and dangerous, exposed high ledges.
Despite these documented safety concerns, the developers have successfully requested extensions and reapprovals for The River Preserve‘s site plan at least four times over the past 15 years. Indian River County Planning and Services Director John Stoll noted that extension requests are a fairly common practice in local real estate when approvals near expiration. Unfortunately, each successful reapproval has legally allowed the waterfront structures to remain in their unfinished, precarious state.
During a 2011 reapproval request—which occurred roughly a month after the sheriff deputy’s stark safety warning—a representative for the developer, John Blum, stated that the company was not abandoning the project and possessed the necessary capital to wait out poor market conditions.
In the wake of the recent fatal fall, neither Leonard Wilf nor representatives for Garden Homes, Skyline Developers, or the property’s local manager have responded to media requests for comment regarding the site’s future or previous promises to demolish the structures. The tragic loss of a young Vero Beach resident has deeply shaken the Treasure Coast, raising urgent community questions about out-of-state real estate accountability, local code enforcement, and the ongoing dangers of stalled developments in Indian River County.
