By Darrell Hofheinz, The Palm Beach Post
The inventory of Palm Beach condominiums and townhouses for sale has plummeted to record lows during the two years since the coronavirus first made national headlines.
And — no surprise here — the number of multifamily transactions also was down sharply during the season that is just drawing to a close.
Just under 240 multi-family sales were recorded between Oct. 1 and the end of March, according to a consensus of quarterly sales reports issued by real estate agencies that do business on the island. For the same period last year, there were nearly 300 sales.
Even with fewer transactions, six sales of multifamily units this season recorded at about $9 million or higher to land at the top end of the price scale — and they included a new record for a condominium.
Top-dollar deals for townhouses and condominiums in Palm Beach
Confirmed by sales reports issued by the Palm Beach law firm Rabideau Klein, here’s the rundown of the top-dollar deals for townhouses and condominiums, according to the prices recorded at the Palm Beach County Courthouse. All of these sales closed between Oct. 1 and Wednesday, and all were in Midtown or the near North End.
- $27.75 million — In an off-market April sale, the Frisbie Group sold 460 S. Ocean Blvd., the third of the four oceanfront townhouses the company developed on a former restaurant site facing Midtown Beach. Represented by broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate, a trust named after the property’s address bought the three-level, five-bedroom unit with 10,110 total square feet. Attorney Paul R. Comeau of Hodgson Russ acted as trustee. Agent Suzanne Frisbie of the Corcoran Group acted on behalf of Frisbie Group, where she is a principal.
- $17.8 million — When a five-bedroom condominium that resembles a townhouse in the Palazzo Villas quadplex at 221 Brazilian Ave sold in March, it set a price record for a Palm Beach condo sale. With two stories and a basement level, the residence has 5,242 total square feet. The buyer was a Florida limited liability company linked to a Pennsylvania family office that oversees investments for longtime real estate investor Clay W. Hamlin III and his wife, Lynn B. Hamlin. The condo’s seller, businessman Paul E. Gallagher, had paid $7 million for the unit in 2020 and sold it with his wife, Valeria. Angle, as listing broker, negotiated opposite agent Alice D. Hodach of Keller Williams Palm Beach Island.
- $17.68 million — The November sale of Unit S4, a three-bedroom oceanfront penthouse at 2 N. Breakers Row, set what at the time was a sales price record. The buyers of the condo and a pool cabana were Deborah A. Turner, acting as trustee of a revocable trust in her name, and a family trust, for which the trustee was Pinnacle Bank of Nashville, Tennessee, where longtime banker M. Terry Turner heads Pinnacle Financial Partners. Agent Christopher Deitz of Compass Florida represented the seller, a trust overseen by trustee Shirley Fennell, widow of Massachusetts businessman and pharmaceutical entrepreneur J. Richard Fennell. Agent Alison Newton of Douglas Elliman Real Estate acted for the buyers. The apartment has 3,560 interior square feet with another 600 square feet on its balconies. Its cabana has 175 square feet of air-conditioned space.
- $10.63 million — In April, Stephen Diamond signed the deed to sell Unit E 3A in the east building of Leverett House, 110 Sunset Ave. The four-bedroom oceanfront condo and pool cabana had been in Diamond’s Toronto-based family since 1985, courthouse records show. The apartment has 5,600 square feet of living space, inside and on several covered balconies. Angle represented the seller and the buyer, Palm Beacher and commercial real estate specialist Ronald A. Rosenfeld, an attorney who, with his wife, Philo F. Liedquist, owns another condo in Palm Beach.
- $10.515 million — Lorraine Malasky, widow of the late Palm Beach developer Donald Malasky, in October bought oceanfront Unit No. N21 and a pool cabana at 2 N. Breakers Row. The three-bedroom condo has 4,086 total square feet. The seller was Sheila Fine, whose late husband was attorney Milton Fine, an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry. Agents Paulette Koch and Dana Koch of the Corcoran Group acted for the seller opposite Malaksy Homes real estate broker Stephen Malasky, who represented his stepmother.
- $9.05 million — In December, Palm Beach attorney Guy Rabideau acted as trustee of a land trust in the sale of a four-bedroom townhouse at 331 Australian Ave. to Dellrem LLC, a Florida limited liability company with a Wellington address. Part of a Midtown triplex, the five-bedroom townhome has 4,956 total square feet. Agents Chris Leavitt and Alison Newton of Douglas Elliman Real Estate were the listing agents, and Angle acted on behalf of the buyer.