A 12-bathroom oceanfront Highland Beach mansion is selling for $30 million
The developer says the luxury market has little stock and people are “still coming here.” Florida gained 738,000 new residents between July 2021 and July 2022.
A newly built oceanfront home of shimmering glass and straight lines went under contract less than a week after debuting in Highland Beach, selling last month for a price tag of nearly $30 million.
The 9,000-square-foot home at 4005 South Ocean Boulevard is the first Palm Beach County property built by Miami-based Sabal Development, a builder of luxury spec homes that is working on another new home in Manalapan that it hopes will sell for… Between $50 million and $60 million.
The quick sale of a fully furnished four-story home in Highland Beach is evidence of the lack of new modern coastal construction in Palm Beach County, said Pascal Nicolai, the French-born founder of Sabal Development. The $30 million price was $1.5 million less than he initially wanted, but he said the small discount was worth closing the deal quickly.
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Although the home was posted on the Multiple Listing Service for sale during construction, it went under contract in May just days after a certificate of occupancy was issued and an open house was held. It closed on October 31 when the new owner returned for the winter season.
“The luxury market is amazing because there’s not a lot of inventory and people still come here,” Nikolai said, referring to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ recent announcement that he is leaving Seattle for Miami. “If you want a modern beach house, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to make that happen today.”
The price per square foot of about $3,300 is a record high in Highland Beach, Nicolai said.
“When you go down the stairs, you’re on the sand,” he added. “It has a Malibu vibe because you’re right on the beach.”
The house, called La Plage Villa (French for beach house), has seven bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a five-car garage, a rooftop deck and 100 feet of ocean frontage. Sabal Development purchased the property for $4.4 million in July 2016.
Nikolai did not reveal the identity of the buyer except to say that he was an American businessman. The buyer is listed on a deed filed in Palm Beach County official records as a trust bearing the title of the home.
Premier Estate Properties agent Carmen D’Angelo represented Sabal Development in the sale. Nadine Currie of City Real Estate Corp. represented the buyer. D’Angelo declined to comment on the sale. Corey did not return messages seeking comment.
Nicolai’s anecdotal observation about more people — and wealth — moving to Florida is reflected in recent census data.
Florida gained more than 738,000 new residents between July 2021 and July 2022, according to the bureau’s state-by-state migration report. This was the highest flow during that time period of any state, with Texas coming in second with 668,300 and California in third with 475,900.
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Census data also showed that median income in Palm Beach County rose by about $10,000 between 2019 and 2022 to about $76,600.
Miami-Dade County saw income increase by about $12,100 over the same time period. Broward County saw an average increase of about $9,500.
Most buyers are from the Northeast and, more recently, California, Nicolai said. Between 2021 and 2022, about 50,700 people moved to Florida from California, according to recent census data. Before the pandemic — between 2018 and 2019 — the number of organ transplants from California to Florida was 28,630.
“My last three sales in Miami were to Californians,” Nicolai said. “They save a lot of taxes, and if you had to choose between fire, earthquake and hurricane, I think I would choose the hurricane.”
Palm Beach Post staff writer Chris Persaud contributed to this story.
Kimberly Miller is a veteran journalist for the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today network in Florida. It covers real estate and how growth affects the environment of South Florida. Subscribe to The Dirt to get a weekly real estate report. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.
