A unique piece of western Broward real estate is headed to the market: a former women’s prison that once housed serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
The Broward County Correctional Institution opened in the late 1970s. It was originally a male prison, but was later used to house women who needed closer supervision, including death row inmates. It shuttered its doors in May 2012 due to a declining inmate population and budget cuts, but its 66 acres will be for sale soon.
The major real estate company CBRE Inc. is handling the marketing for the property, which is just east of U.S. 27 and Sheridan Street.
It is definitely spacious – as it sleeps at least 600 – and it has top-notch built-in security.
The only two women who have been executed in Florida both did time there – including Wuornos, a prostitute believed to have killed seven men. She granted documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield several interviews from inside the prison. Wuornos even filed a complaint, claiming she was being mistreated at the facility.
How do you sell a former women's prison? Neighbors from the nearby Southwest Ranches and Pembroke Pines areas have suggestions for how to market it.
"If you've got a large fleet of cars, maybe you're a collector or something, that would be a very good thing for you," said Sammy Gonzalez.
Local
Howard Minor says it’s simple: location, location, location.
"Southwest Ranches is right there!" he said.
Its history might be a selling point in and of itself. Another infamous resident did hard time here before becoming the first woman to die in the electric chair in Florida. Judi Buenoano, a.k.a. "The Black Widow," was convicted of killing her husband. Her weapon of choice: arsenic.
"Glad they're not there anymore!" laughed Martinez.
Potential buyers will no longer have to worry about the unruly neighbors.
"The counterpoint is it’s next to a trash dump," Minor said.
