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đ¸ Zeal of Fortune
Priciest home sale, housekeeper, fuel shed; Plus: J.P. Morgan South
Happy Friday Highest & Best! Today weâre talking uber-pricey Florida things:
𧚠Palm Beach housekeepers make $150K
đ° Most expensive U.S. home sale for 2024 is a âspecâ mansion
𫣠Costly insurance is shuttering Florida nursing homes
đ¤ A luxury fuel depot?
đ´ J.P. Morgan goes West Palm Beach
Letâs get to it!
Bidding Wars for Housekeepers
Bidding wars for Florida homes is one thing. But it appears thereâs a battle on for Florida housekeepers too. Thereâs a shortage of experienced cleaning staff for all those new residents living in Palm Beach mansions, CNBC reported this week.
Which means that house cleaning jobs in the area can command $150,000 annually âwith benefits. And thatâs if you can find someone to hire:
⪠Catch up on recent Highest & Best issues:
Broken Condo Blues, May 17, 2024
Top-Shelf Tear Downs, May 10, 2024
Blackstone Shops Florida, May 3, 2024
A âSpecâ Mansion Becomes Priciest U.S. Home Sale in 2024
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10 Tarpon Isle (Photo: Douglas Elliman and Corcoran Group)
The priciest home listing in Palm Beach County just became the most expensive home sale in the U.S. this year (so far).
The 21,000-square foot home, atop a 2.3 acre man-made island in Palm Beach, was sold last week to a buyer who paid $150 million, according to a deed filed with the county.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the buyer is Australian investor Michael Dorrell, CEO and co-founder of New York City-based Stonespeak, a firm that specializes in infrastructure investments.
Apparently heâs already moved in, according to the Palm Beach Post, which cited people in the neighborhood, and a sighting of the Australian flag atop a flagpole on the property
The 11-bedroom home was built on spec, without a buyer in mind, by developer Todd Michael Glaser, who bought the site in 2021 for $85 million. He tried listing the home, at 10 Tarpon Isle for as much as $218 million in 2022, according to Zillow.
Still, the sale price of $150 million is not too shabby. Itâs the third-most expensive home sale price ever in Floridaâ topped only by two other mansions that sold in Palm Beach last year, according to Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel.
If youâre wondering whatâs in a $150 million home on a man-made island these days, hereâs the rundown: a 98-foot pool, a lighted tennis court, two private docks and 1,300-feet of water frontage. Also: 11 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a wine room, waterside office, and a âwellness wingâ with a massage room and a hair salon, according to the property listing by Corcoran Group and Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
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10 Tarpon Isle (Photo: Douglas Elliman and Corcoran Group)
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Itâs Expensive to Get Older Florida
Floridaâs soaring property insurance costs are now claiming its nursing homes.
Hundreds of nursing homes in Florida have shut down because they couldnât afford the insurance required to stay open, Bloomberg reported this month.
In the five-year period through 2023, an average of 146 nursing homes or assisted-living facilities in Florida have closed annually, according to the stateâs Agency for Health Care Administration.
During that same five-years, commercial property insurance premiums in Florida spiked by 125%. Annual premiums climbed 27% last year alone.
Rob Greene, CEO of Palm Garden Healthcare, told Bloomberg that the insurance bill for his 14-nursing home chain more than doubled to $2.2 million in just two years, leading to the closure of one assisted living facility this year.
Itâs not a rosier picture for seniors living in their own homes. Floridaâs average annual home insurance rate was $10,996 last year. And those costs are expected to rise by another 7% in 2024 to an average of $11,759, according to rate tracker Insurify.
Which means the costs of staying put, on a fixed income, may become too high. Thatâs left many seniors in the state most famously associated with retirement, to consider leaving.
Florida has the second highest proportion of elderly in its population. Around 22% of Florida residents are over the age of 65 â compared to 17% for the entire country.
Nice Fuel Storage Depot You Got There!
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Fisher Island
Fisher Island, an enclave off of Miami, is one of the most expensive zip codes in America. Itâs tiny, exclusive (population: 681) and pretty much out of land to build anything else.
But hey! Whatâs that 10-acre fuel storage depot doing there?
TransMontaigne Partners, a Denver-based energy company that operates fossil fuel storage terminals, has listed its Fisher Island facility for sale this week, the Real Deal reported. The energy firmâ clearly tapping into the real estate energy of the regionâ is seeking $200 million for its site, located at 1 Fisher Island Drive.
The 9.6-acre property is being sold as is and âwith all faults,â according to the offering. âBidders are responsible for evaluating any zoning, environmental, land use, regulatory, title or other constraints relating to the use or operation of the property,â it said.
Oh and TransMontaigne probably wonât quit storing fuel there until 2027.
But if youâre game for the price and the risk, you win the chance to build on (probably) the last remaining development site on an island where celebrities like Oprah and Julia Roberts have homes.
The median price of a home on Fisher Island â accessible only by boat or helicopter âwas $6.1 million in the first quarter of this year, according to a report by Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Thatâs up 6.1% from a year earlier.
J.P. Morgan Lands in âWall Street Southâ
J.P. Morgan is coming to West Palmâs 360 Rosemary (Photo: Oshrat Carmiel)
Out-of-state companies are slowing their uptake of Florida office space. Contrary to the migration frenzy of the past two years, during which finance and legal firms grabbed any prime space they could find in Miami and West Palm Beach, most office leasing early this year was driven by companies already in the area.
So itâs an extra big headline when J.P. Morgan â the investment bank currently building a new 60-story headquarters on Manhattanâs Park Avenue â decides that, yeah, itâs gong to rent an office in West Palm Beach too.
JP Morgan signed a lease at 360 Rosemary, the West Palm office tower completed in 2021 by New Yorkâs Related Cos, Bloomberg reported. Its neighbors in the building are familiar fiance names from back home: Goldman Sachs and Point72, billionaire Steve Cohenâs hedge fund, each have offices there.
Related did not disclose how many square feet J.P. Morgan agreed to lease at the property, where Related itself has its Florida headquarters. But the developer did reveal that other out-of-town finance names have committed to West Palm Beach, which has drawn the nickname âWall Street Southâ since the pandemic.
Paulson Capital, run by New York billionaire John Paulson, signed a lease for office space at One Flagler, Relatedâs under-construction 25-story tower. HighPost Capital, an investment firm co-founded by Mark Bezos (brother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos) also signed a lease in the building. Related says the tower, which wonât be complete until later this year, has tenant commitments for 75% of its office space.
New York-based Related is wagering that the office migration into West Palm Beach will continue. Itâs got eight office buildings, including those planned or under construction, in downtown West Palmâ an outlier bet in the context of Americaâs larger office disaster, where daily stories abound of buildings struggling for tenants and selling at major losses.
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Entrance to 360 Rosemary in West Palm (Photo: Oshrat Carmiel)
Thatâs it for today!
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