It’s not news that South Florida’s luxury real estate market is one of the hottest in the country. However, with its year-round sunny weather and spectacular ocean vistas continuing to attract a steady influx of affluent buyers, local real estate lawyers and luxury agents have been gently hinting at the inevitably of a scarcity of suitable properties. Not to worry—Florida also boasts some of the savviest real estate developers in the country and they appear to have spun the phenomenon into a floodgate of opportunity for luxury speculation home-building.
Recently, The Economic Times announced “Who needs a bubble when you have $100 million homes? South Florida’s mansions are turning heads and breaking banks.” And, last February Scottdale’s premier luxury custom home builder, Frattantoni, published an article that suggested high end custom homes are safer investments than mid-range housing, particularly in affluent neighborhoods.
Bigger picture—the results of burgeoning spec activity in the luxury niche market can positively affect land use by increasing property and land values. Moreover, with its substantial investment and discriminating choice of materials, high-end development can beautify the landscape of a community. Currently, two of the most exciting hot spots of ultra-luxury spec home building in Florida are the Miami and Palm Beach areas.
Seedbeds of Uber Luxe Homebuilding
More specifically, the South Florida seedbeds of high-end speculation building are the barrier reef island of Palm Beach and uber wealthy enclaves in or near Miami and Miami Beach. As you will see, the months of February and April produced a bumper crop in sales and listings in the niche, marking Q1 2025 as a milestone in luxury spec homebuilding activity for the Sunshine State.
Why are Luxury Spec Homes gaining traction?
Spec is short for speculation and identifies properties that are not built for a specific buyer but instead designed by a builder or developer to be sold once it is finished. Spec homes have not always enjoyed the best reputation and buyers often preferred to purchase the land themselves and choose their own architect to design and build their homes, choosing better quality materials and personalized floor plans.
However, this trend has shifted in recent years, especially in Florida where discriminating homebuyers are appreciating the superior craftmanship and innovative floor plans and designs that are often drawn by renowned architects. Here, not only are our resident athletes and movie stars in the news, even our developers achieve rock star status.
When future residents seek accessible investment properties in the Sunshine State they may find little or no vacant land available for custom builds along Florida’s sought-after coastline. In this market of limited inventory, a spec home can be a quick and easier way to purchase a new home, especially as opposed to waiting years for a commissioned home to be designed and built.
Palm Beach Homebuilders Investing in Ultra Luxury
Here are a few of the high-profile builder/developers that have made local and/or national news by designing and investing in uber-fancy homes on Palm Beach’s barrier reef island, without a prospect or buyer in sight. Quote marks designate a quote from the developer’s web site, unless otherwise indicated.
- Mark Albright: $14.25 million spec home sale
This just happened. Mark Albright and his company, Albright Construction had contracted a spec build that was built on the North End at 216 Southland Road. The April sale closed for almost $15 million.
Albright Construction is a family-owned business in Lantana whose credo is “Building the Future, Restoring the Past.” The company’s portfolio also includes a 5,735 square-foot at 130 Algoma Road located in the Estate Section of Palm beach that was sold in 2024 for $14.41 million, and a waterfront Dutch Colonial home that was listed in January for $19.2 million at 2315 Ibis Isle.
- Joe Farrell: $95 million spec home listing
Also last month, a multimillion dollar listing changed its status to Pending. Joe Farrell, a celebrity developer, whose clients have included Madonna and Justin Bieber, listed a newly-constructed speculation mansion in August for an incredible $95 million. The 19,490 square-foot ocean-to-intracoastal estate is situated on the southern end of the Palm Beach barrier reef in Manalapan. Constructed on a 1.6-acre razed lot, 1140 S. Ocean, it includes 150 feet of ocean frontage. Mr. Farrell is a Manalapan resident.
The Farrell Companies was founded in 1995 and has grown into a diversified real estate and building platform whose philosophy is reflected in their motto “For a Life Well Built.”
- Lee Fenterstock: $14.5 million spec home sale
In another April transaction, Palm Beach resident and real estate speculator, Lee Fenterstock, sold a North End estate that he developed on speculation with Lantana-based homebuilder, Mark Albright of Albright Construction. The closing of 216 Southland Road brought $44.5 million and was just one of a dozen Palm Beach properties the developer renovated, built and sold on Palm Beach Island.
Fensterstock Associates, of which Mr. Fenterstock is the CEO, has purchased, renovated, and sold or leased out residential properties in Brooklyn, Palm Beach, Newburgh, New York, and Cap d’Antibes, France.
- Susan Shulman: $14.5 million spec home sale
Susan Shulman is the wife of Ron Pertnoy, co-founder of Shapiro Pertnoy, a West Palm Beach firm that built several Palm Beach spec mansions including a 7,000 square-foot British Colonial-style house at 200 Eden Road that closed for $7.8 million. Another more recent project was completed on the North End at 1556 N. Ocean Boulevard and brought $14.5 million.
The 40-year-old Pertnoy family business includes a group of companies focused on “superlative luxury home construction and exemplary commercial development.” Some of their key projects include a 30,000 square-foot residential compound in Admirals Cove in Jupiter, equestrian communities in Wellington, and Palm Beach Island projects.
- Mark Pulte: $123 million spec home sale
Recently, Mark Pulte sold an estate that he developed as a spec home built on a property formerly owned by President Trump. At the time, the $140 million listing was the most expensive residential listing in South Florida. The estate at 535 North County Road was designed by Boyle of Boyle Architecture for the lot, which includes 150 feet of shoreline.
Mark Pulte is the son of the founder of the builder of national repute, Pulte Homes Corporation. Today Mark is the founder, president, and chief executive officer of Mark Timothy, Inc., a Florida-based luxury home building company. While the company’s homebuilding operations are concentrated in the Palm Beaches, Mark Timothy, Inc. specializes in properties situated along Florida’s oceanfront, gulf front, and intracoastal shorelines. His projects include two side-by-side speculation houses on Palm Beach’s Billionaires Row.
- Stewart Satter: $285 million spec home listing
Local developer and former mayor, Stewart Satter of Manalapan enlisted the firm Cheff Levy Fishman to create an ultra-modern mega-mansion at 1960 South Ocean Boulevard in Manalapan on the Palm Beach barrier island. The estate was designed by architect Choeff Levy Fishman and was listed in January for an unprecedented $285 million, making it one of the most expensive homes for sale in the country.
Miami’s Prolific Mega Mansion Speculators
Speculation developers in Miami’s robust high end market are not shy about flexing their collective muscle to meet the continuing demand for waterfront and ultra-luxury mansions. The Real Deal recently reported that luxury spec homes in Miami are selling at prices exceeding $5,000 per square foot.
- Todd Glaser: $40 million spec home sale
While Tod Glaser’s name is usually associated with Palm Beach’s Tarpon Island, which he and his partners developed and sold last May for $152 million in a deal that set a lakefront sales record, his more recent project is a spec home developed in Miami. Designed by architect Kobi Karp in the prestigious Bay Road area, the “meticulously curated” estate brought $40 million in January. The home was used to showcase the Jamie Salter family-owned-company, Authentic Brands Group’s new Barneys New York Home Collection. CEO, Corey Salter lives in Miami Beach.
According to the New York Post, North Bay Road, dubbed the “Park Avenue of Palm Beach,” has emerged as Miami-Dade County’s wealthiest residential strip where it’s 4-mile stretch of homes is worth more than $1.7 billion.
- Jean Madar: $55 million spec home listing
French billionaire Jean Madar, whose property holdings run from Paris to Ibiza, St. Barts and Monaco, now turns his attention to Florida, specifically, Fisher Island. His latest project, a new-construction waterfront home at 1007 Links Drive was presented in February for $55 million, and it’s the first of six mansions that he and his brother Alan are planning to put on the market.
The property was rendered by Architect Portuondo Perotti and it will be the largest home on the Island. It’s part of a group of around 12 new lots not yet on the market, which they are calling “The Mansions on Fisher Island.”
- Fred Carlton: $31.5 million spec home sale
In February, Miami Beach’s Allison Island set records with a $31.5 million spec manse sale. The property, located at 6494 Allison Road, sports six bedrooms and eight-and-a-half bathrooms in its eight-thousand-plus square-feet of living of refined space. The property was sold by the Karlton Companies, which bought the lot in 2018 for $4.8 million and then developed it. The investment group, headed by Fred Karlton and his son Aaron, are also developing a Sunset Islands waterfront spec-mansion. The buyer is financier Paul Casey and his wife, Viktorija.
The object of a recent headline “The Secret Island in Miami Beach Where the Ultra-Wealthy Hide Away,” Allison Island is an exclusive, gated community within the La Gorce neighborhood of North Beach. Celebrities that enjoyed residency include Lil Wayne, Louis Vuitton executive Michael Burke, Shakira, and Pitbull, among others.
- Richard Krelstein: $21 million spec home sale
Also in February, Richard Lee Krelstein sold the spec waterfront estate at 4445 Lake Road in Miami’s Bay Point to developers Ricardo Halfen of Treo Construction and Matthew Rosenblatt of 2151 Development Group for $23.5 million. It was the highest sale ever on Sabal Lake. The property spans 8,322 square feet and on approximately one acre of land fronting Biscayne Bay. It’s 2023 overhaul was conceived by architect Luigi Vitalini as “a modern design with waterfront lifestyle.”
The Bay Point Community is located in the Upper Eastside of Miami and its exclusive waterfront mansions run along Biscayne Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway. Not only is Bay Point one of Miami’s most intact historic neighborhoods, it’s one of Miami’s most prestigious.
- Pascal Nicolai: $29.5 million spec home sale
In February, a spec estate developed by Sabal Development closed for $29.5 million. Located at 1369 N. Venetian Way, the mansion is located on one of the Venetian Islands, a series of man-made islands located between Miami Beach and the Miami mainland. The luxury homebuilding company is led by CEO Pascal Nicolai whose portfolio includes several homes on Palm Island and the Venetian Islands as well as Miami Beach and Palm Beach.
Pascal Nicolai also made headlines as the developer behind the spec estate sale at 135 Palm Avenue on Miami Beach’s affluent Palm Island. The $28 million purchase included a guest house, six car garage and furnishings by the world renowned brand, Roch Bobois.
When your next closing is imminent, contact Florida Bar Board-Certified Attorneys David E. Klein, Esq. and Guy Rabideau, Esq. at Rabideauklein.com. They have the expertise and experience you need to ensure that your best interests are looked after during any real estate transaction on the oceanfront, and throughout Florida. Contact Rabideau Klein today to discuss the legal implications of your next Florida property purchase or sale.