Construction of a “speculative house” in Florida near Palm Beach estimated at $95 million
The home at 1140 S. Ocean Blvd. is being built by luxury homebuilder and Manalapan resident Joseph Farrell of Farrell Cos.
In Manalapan, the affluent city south of Palm Beach, a property under construction has come onto the market with the staggering price of $95 million.
The ocean-to-lake property at 1140 S. Ocean Blvd. is one of the most expensive ever offered for sale in the city.
The developer Joseph Farrell of Farrell Building Co. and Farrell Cos. is completely rebuilding a 1990s mansion and the associated guest house on the 1.6-hectare site between the sea and the lake. According to the sales list, the speculative project is to be completed by fall 2025.
The plans call for the main house to be 1,700 square meters and a guest house of 370 square meters. There will be 13 bedrooms in total. The project changes the architectural style from Mediterranean to contemporary.
Farrell owns his own home in Manalapan and is known for building luxury homes in the Hamptons on Long Island in New York. He has also completed real estate projects in South Florida.
The Manalpan property has 150 feet of oceanfront and about the same length on a narrow strip of land fronting the Intracoastal Waterway and is separated from the beachfront property by the coastal road.
The property is located about a mile north of the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, the luxury hotel that just sold to billionaire and Manalapan homeowner Larry Ellison for about $277.4 million.
In January, a company affiliated with Farrell paid $32.5 million for the property, which had already been undergoing an extensive renovation and expansion project for several years. By the time the deed for the sale was issued in January, Farrell Building Co. had already filed a notice of construction with Palm Beach County, saying the work would include interior and exterior renovations to the property.
Farrell could not be reached for comment for this story.
Agent Margit Brandt of Premier Estate Properties represented Farrell’s interests in his January purchase and has now relisted the property for sale. “This masterfully designed residence offers the most breathtaking ocean and Intracoastal Waterway views at the highest elevation in Manalapan,” reads Brandt’s listing, which was added to the Multiple Listing Service on August 13.
Plans for the property include two swimming pools with hot tubs, a pool cabana with summer kitchen, a pickleball court and an eight-car garage.
Improvements on the west side of the property include a new dock and lakefront seawall. The mansion floor plan includes a great room, media room and den with office.
Farrell’s limited liability company bought the property from businessman Mark Sherman, who with his ex-wife Isabella Sherman paid $8 million for the original home in December 2000 before their divorce. He had been the sole owner since 2012 and had begun the first renovation project after receiving a building permit in 2017, land records show. But the project dragged on for years, to the annoyance of city councilors, meeting minutes show.
In the sale earlier this year, Mark Sherman’s interests were represented by brokers Pier Paolo Visconti and Claudia Llanes of Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Although sales in Manalapan have declined over the past year, asking prices for premium properties remain much higher than they were before the coronavirus pandemic-fueled housing boom that began in the area in early 2021, real estate observers say.
The boom – and rising prices – came in part because some homebuyers bought in Manalapan after being unable to find waterfront homes in Palm Beach, where housing inventory dropped dramatically in the early years of the pandemic. The real estate boom was also fueled by the work-from-home trend and Florida’s favorable tax climate.
The most expensive property ever for sale in Manalapan was a massive estate on the far south end of town that is now owned by Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle Software. That property at 2000 S. Ocean Blvd., along with part of a nearby island — about 22 acres in total — was initially offered for $165 million in 2017. But the price had dropped to $115 million when the property finally sold to Netscape billionaire Jim Clark for a record-breaking $94 million in 2021. In 2022, Ellison paid a record-breaking $173 million for the property in an off-market deal.
This story has been updated to correct the sale price of Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa. This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.
Darrell Hofheinz is a journalist with the USA TODAY Network of Florida who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly column, “Beyond the Hedges.” He welcomes tips on island real estate news. Email [email protected], call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
