By Darrell Hofheinz, Palm Beach Daily News
Perhaps no one should be surprised that Palm Beach saw sizable real estate sales during the season that began in October 2024 and ran through the start of May 2025. The wealthy town has always attracted buyers with the resources to drop big bucks on properties. And the island, after all, is home to at least 68 billionaires, according to an April analysis of new Forbes data by the Palm Beach Daily News.
Here’s a look at the eight residential real estate sales that closed on the island between Oct. 1 and May 2 at prices topping $30 million. The sales are listed in descending order of price.
The list also includes the most expensive condominium, townhouse and commercial sales of the year on the island.
The sales were previously reported by the Palm Beach Daily News, and most were reconfirmed in the monthly transaction reports issued by the Rabideau Klein law firm. The sale prices and dates presented here are those recorded with the deeds at the Palm Beach County Courthouse, unless otherwise noted.
In February, the Palm Beach Daily News confirmed this off-market sale of two side-by-side vacant beachfront lots. The exact amount that changed hands and the identity of the buyer were never recorded at the Palm Beach County Courthouse because of the way the deal was structured. The seller was Estée Lauder cosmetics heir and billionaire William P. Lauder who owned the properties through two limited liability companies — REIWA Holdings LLC and 1063 N Ocean Blvd LLC. Together, the North End lots measured 2.26 acres with about 363 feet of direct shoreline between them. Broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate acted for Lauder opposite broker Ryan Serhant of Serhant in the deal, which set a Palm Beach sales record for vacant land.
$81 million, 1446 N. Ocean Blvd.
Sold in November, this 1970s-era beachfront house was the longtime Palm Beach vacation retreat of Louise Riggio and her late husband, Leonard, the former chairman of the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain and co-founder of videogame retailer GameStop. The buyer was 1446-65 N Ocean Way LLC, which has a mailing address in care of real estate attorney David Klein. The North End estate measures 1.68 acres with about 205 feet of beachfront, according to property records. The house has seven bedrooms and 11,042 square feet of living space, inside and out. Broker Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens handled both sides of the sale.
$73 million, 530 S. Ocean Blvd.
In March, digital-media billionaire Ric Elias of Red Ventures and his wife, Brenda, transferred ownership of this oceanfront house they had bought new in 2020 — through 530 South Ocean Blvd LLC — to Mark Paley, co-founder of Harvest Investors, a Connecticut apartment-complex builder and manager. No deed has ever been recorded for the transaction, said to be valued at $73 million, apparently because of the structure of the ownership transfer. In the Estate Section, the eight-bedroom house has 14,908 total square feet, property records show. It stands on a lot measuring about three-quarters of an acre facing a beach parcel with 135 feet of oceanfront. Douglas Elliman Real Estate agent Jack Rooney confirmed the sale price and said he handled both sides of the private sale, although he declined to identify his clients or provide specifics of the deal.
$51.42 million, 516 S. Ocean Blvd.
The sale of this Estate Section residence closed in late April. On the seller’s side, property records show, was the 516SOB Trust, which the Palm Beach Daily News confirmed was affiliated with merchant banker and real estate investor Andrew Farkas, founder and CEO of Island Capital Group LLC. The buyer was a Colorado-registered limited liability company linked to businesswoman and real estate investor Bren Simon, who was married to the late shopping-mall magnate and Indiana Pacers co-owner Melvin Simon. Renovated and expanded since it previously sold in 2020 for $24.24 million, the seven-bedroom house with 11,489 total square feet stands on a lot measuring a little more than half an acre in the Estate Section. The property has 100 feet of shoreline on its beach parcel. Agents Dana Koch and Paulette Koch of the Corcoran Group held the listing. Moens acted on behalf of the buyer.
$40 million, 1230 S. Ocean Blvd.
In February, this recently renovated-and-rebuilt 1986 house changed hands in the Estate Section, just south of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club. The seller was 1230 LLC, a company linked in public records to a Wisconsin couple, financier David Herro and preservationist Jay Franke. The buyer was Julie Chrystyn Opperman, who acted as trustee of a marital trust under a trust agreement with a “special trust” in the name of her late husband, businessman Dwight D. Opperman. The five-bedroom house with 11,038 total square feet stands on a lot measuring just under an acre. Agent Chris Leavitt of Douglas Elliman Real Estate was the listing agent. Angle handled the buyer’s side.
$38 million, 305 Indian Road
Billionaire investor, philanthropist, inventor and optometrist Dr. Herbert “Herbie” A. Wertheim in November used the Indian Sands Coastline Trust to buy this North End house facing the inlet at the northern tip of the island. The seller was 305 Indian Road LLC, a company controlled by developer and Palm Beach resident Todd Michael Glaser. Glaser had remodeled the house and made exterior improvements before he and an unnamed investor sold it in an off-market deal. With 130 feet of water frontage, the house has six bedrooms and 6,814 total square feet. The lot measures about four-fifths of an acre, although some of that land is submerged, according to property records. No real estate agents were involved in the sale.
$31 million, 1160 N. Ocean Blvd.
In March, longtime real estate investor and Palm Beach resident Paul L. “Jay” Maddock Jr. and his wife, Cynthlen “Lynn” Maddock, sold their North End oceanfront house, which the couple built in the early 1990s as a custom home. The buyer was 1160 NOB LLC, for which the authorized representative in business records was real estate attorney Larry B. Alexander Jr. The house and its separate pool house together have seven bedrooms and nearly 8,000 total square feet on a property measuring about four-fifths of an acre with 150 feet of shoreline. The listing agents were Sotheby’s International Realty’s Judge Moss and John Dewing, whose mother is Lynn Maddock. On the buyer’s side were lead agent Marley Goodman Overman of Illustrated Properties and agent Gary Pohrer of Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
$30.795 million, 322 Clarke Ave.
In December, investments executive Jay C. Horgen and his wife, Katherine Battle Horgen sold their much-renovated landmarked house in Midtown to a company named 322 Clarke Ave LLC. The buyer behind that company was an as-yet-unidentified Cox family member of Cox Enterprises, the communications and automotive company that once owned the Palm Beach Daily News and The Palm Beach Post. Historically known as Villa Filipponi, the six-bedroom house was built in the 1920s and today has 7,979 square feet of total living space. The lot measures about two-fifths of an acre. Angle was the listing broker, while agent Vince Spadea of Douglas Elliman Real Estate acted on behalf of the buyer.
Priciest condo deal: $14.06 million, No. 2A, 101 Worth Ave.
In April, businessman Ronald J. Berk and his jewelry-designer wife, Judith Ripka Berk, sold their gut-renovated oceanfront condominium on the second floor of Kirkland House to community leader and philanthropist Paula L. Sidman, widow of Boston developer Edwin Sidman. The three-bedroom apartment has 4,529 total square feet, including about 800 square feet on its balconies. Based on the total square footage and the recorded price, the Midtown condo sold for $3,104 per square foot. The Corcoran Group’s Paulette Koch and Dana Koch were the listing agents. Agent Spencer Schlager of Douglas Elliman Real Estate handled the buyer’s side.
Priciest townhouse deal: $16.5 million, 220 Brazilian Ave.
In April, Canadian financier Steven K. Hudson sold this townhouse to Crystal Crosby Lahners, the widow of the late Sarasota eye surgeon Dr. William J. Lahners. Part of a duplex near the Town Hall historical district, the four-bedroom townhome has 5,435 square feet of living space, inside and out, and shares a wall with an identical unit next door. The listing agent was Chris Leavitt of Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Agent Ashley Copeland of Brown Harris Stevens acted on behalf of the buyer.
Priciest commercial sale: $28 million, 95 N. County Road
In an off-market deal recorded in December, a company affiliated with The Breakers expanded its sizable holdings in the Royal Poinciana Way commercial district with the purchase the landmarked Palm Beach Main Post Office Building. Billionaire real estate and energy businessman Jeff Greene sold the 1936 Mediterranean-style building, which stands next door to the resort, through one of his companies. On a half-acre lot, the building has 13,932 square feet of space, inside and out, property records show. It hasn’t served as a post office for more than a decade. The purchase came on the heels of one in September when a company linked to The Breakers paid Frisbie Group an undisclosed sum for several buildings immediately east of the mixed-use Via Flagler By The Breakers development, stretching to North County Road between Royal Poinciana Way and Sunset Avenue. In all, Breakers-related companies have paid more than $100 million for buildings in the district since 2010.