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| December 14, 2009 |
By: Eric Kalis |
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t’s the largest residential deal of the year in the town of Palm Beach, but the transaction is a reminder that even the rich haven’t dodged the sharp decline in property values.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer sold a landmark mansion for $24 million to billionaire Los Angeles developer Jeffrey Greene, according to Paulette Koch, the listing agent.
Although Glazer, 81, got close to his asking price, the value was far off the top deals of 2008, which saw sales of $95 million, $77.5 million and $68.5 million.
Koch, along with son and Corcoran Group partner Dana Koch, handled the sale for Glazer.
The deal, which was first reported by the Palm Beach Daily News, was recorded by Palm Beach County on Friday afternoon. It closed Dec. 3, according to Paulette Koch.
Glazer owned the 11,796-square-foot mansion, known as La Bellucia, through First Allied Jax, according to public records. Glazer is president of First Allied, a Palm Beach-based holding company involved in food processing, real estate and broadcasting.
Glazer paid $14 million for the property in July 2000.
The two-story house on a 3.8-acre oceanfront site was built in 1924. The home, which was designed by famed architect Addison Mizner, has nine bedrooms and nine bathrooms, according to the Corcoran Group.
Messages left for Glazer at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ headquarters were not immediately returned. Glazer also owns a majority stake in the storied British soccer club Manchester United.
Despite a sluggish year for Palm Beach’s residential market, the brokers had little trouble finding a buyer for La Bellucia, Paulette Koch said.
Koch originally asked for $27.5 million for the property that went on the market Nov. 1. Three potential buyers, including Greene, made offers.
Koch said the quick deal highlights the benefits of putting a realistic price on a property during a decline in luxury sales.
“There really is an art to pricing,” Koch said. “Proper pricing is the only way a property is going to sell in today’s environment. The other bids were extraordinarily close to” Greene’s.
Greene, whose primary residence is in Beverly Hills, Calif., could not be reached for comment. Greene also owns a condominium at Murano Grande at Portofino in Miami Beach, according to Miami-Dade County records.
Greene did not obtain financing for the La Bellucia purchase, Koch said.
Glazer and his wife, Linda, also own a 13,766-square-foot mansion at 1482 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach.
Both Glazer and Greene appeared in Forbes magazine’s 400 Richest Americans list this year. Glazer and his family, with an estimated worth of $2.2 billion, were ranked 139th. Greene, with an estimated worth of $1.3 billion, was ranked 317th.
Before the economy faltered and Wall Street executives retrenched, the sale of a residential property in Palm Beach for $24 million would not have gained much attention.
Deals at the $95 million, $77.5 million and $68.5 million level have dried up, but Paulette Koch predicts things will pick up.
“There is now serious interest, and buyers are coming forth and trying to make decisions,” she said.
In the year’s second priciest home deal, author James Patterson paid $17.5 million for a 21,353-square-foot mansion at 710 S. Ocean Blvd. in July. The seller was Atlanta developer Charles Roberts.
The pace of home sales in the town of Palm Beach has picked up considerably in the last three months, said Leslie Robert Evans, a Palm Beach attorney. Evans tracks the Palm Beach housing market as part of the Evans Report, a quarterly analysis of the town’s home sales compiled by his law firm, Leslie Robert Evans & Associates.
In the first half of 2009, 38 homes were sold in the town, Evans said. With 23 recorded sales in the third quarter, the town is on pace to top the first six months by year’s end.
“The market is coming back here, but not by leaps and bounds,” Evans said. “We are starting to see people looking at [homes] as commodities, not just houses.”
The town of Palm Beach lists La Bellucia as a landmark property. The house is in “livable” condition, Koch said.
If Green wants to make significant changes to the building, he’ll have to win the approval of the town’s Historic Preservation Commission.
“People shouldn’t be intimidated by landmark homes,” Koch said. “The commission is very user-friendly and wants new owners to come in and update properties. They just want the owner to stay in the framework of the original architecture.”
Eric Kalis can be reached at (305) 347-6651.
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