By Darrell Hofheinz, Palm Beach Daily News
The off-market townhouse sale occurred at a new project developed by Frisbie Group facing Midtown Beach.
Frisbie Group has sold — for a recorded $26 million — the first of four oceanfront townhouses the company developed on the site of the old Charley’s Crab restaurant in midtown Palm Beach.
It’s by far the most expensive townhouse sale ever recorded in Palm Beach.
On the buyer’s side, Palm Beach real estate attorney Guy Rabideau acted as trustee of the South Ocean Boulevard Trust. Rabideau couldn’t be reached, and because of the rules governing trusts, no other information about the buyer was immediately available in public records.
Each of the townhouses in the new Mediterranean-style development affords views of the sea off Midtown Beach on the opposite side of South Ocean Boulevard.
On the north side of the development, the five-bedroom townhouse that just sold has 9,683 total square feet, including the ground level, the second floor and a finished basement, according to FrisbieGroup.com.
The unit’s pool area has an identical footprint as a private park that once occupied the same land at the corner of Hammon Road.
Oceanfront living room, library
The floor plan includes an oceanfront living room and library on the ground level with an oceanfront master suite on the second floor. The basement in each unit includes a game room, wine room, exercise room and laundry room.
Premier Estate Properties handled both sides of the sale. Agent Suzanne Frisbie confirmed she represented the seller but declined further comment, citing a confidentiality agreement. Frisbie also is a principal with Frisbie Group, a family-owned real estate investment and development company based in Palm Beach.
Agent Rosalind Clarke confirmed she acted on behalf of the buyer. She also declined to comment on the transaction.
In late 2018, Frisbie listed the townhouses in the local multiple listing service at prices of $24.95 million and $23.75 million. But the listings were canceled in July 2019, MLS records show.
Charley’s Crab building razed
A company controlled by Frisbie Group bought the Charley’s Crab building and land — measuring nearly an acre — for a recorded $26.3 million in April 2018. The sale included an adjacent vacant lot on Gulfstream Road, where Frisbie Group developed a house, which it sold for a recorded $13.525 million while still under construction last year.
A few days before the Frisbie Group entity bought the Charley’s Crab property, the restaurant abruptly closed after nearly 40 years in the building it had leased. Crews razed the building to make way for the townhouses.
The Architectural Commission approved the townhouse project in October 2018 after several months of review. After the board criticized the original British Colonial-style design as being out of character with the neighborhood, architect Roger Janssen of Dailey Janssen Architects in West Palm Beach re-designed the development in a Mediterranean style.
The architecture features stucco exteriors, cast-stone decorations, tapered chimneys, cypress balconies and red barrel-tile roofs. Each unit has a private pool.
The Frisbie Group sold the townhouse through a limited liability company named 456 South Ocean LLC.
Other Palm Beach projects
Over the past three decades, the Frisbie Group has developed and sold houses in Palm Beach. The company also developed the Via Flagler project completed last year on Royal Poinciana Way, which includes six condominiums. The Breakers owns the retail shops below those residences.
In addition to Frisbie, principals of Frisbie Group include her husband, David Frisbie, and two of his brothers, Robert Frisbie Sr. and Richard Frisbie.