The Real Estate Market is Heating Back Up

We are predicting that it is going to be a merry holiday after all, with signs that the recession is fading away bombarding us on a daily basis.

One demonstration of such good news is the recent sale of the exclusive Palm Beach property at 1200 S. Ocean Blvd. What is so remarkable about the sale of this historic property is not necessarily that it sold at all (which has often been welcomed news in 2009), but the fact that the sale of this South Florida estate was the largest record sale for the year in Palm Beach, clocking in at $24 million at the start of the December.

Addison Mizner originally designed the luxury oceanfront home, named La Bellucia, which was sold by the holding company owned by our own Palm Beacher, Malcolm Glazer. But perhaps even more newsworthy is the identity of La Bellucia’s new owner, which just so happens to be Los Angeles billionaire Jeffrey Greene, who is not only a Forbes-lister, but also claims stakes in the Manchester United soccer team and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

By all accounts, the property was one hot number this year, with local realtors reporting that it sold less than 30 days after appearing on the MLS. Considering that it sits on one of Palm Beach’s most picturesque cliffs with oceanfront vistas spanning 234 feet, that sounds about right.

The 12,000-square-foot estate, which enjoys 3.8 acres, carries quiet a legacy of Palm Beach A-list owners, including the original one, physician and capitalist Willey J. Kingsely who named the property after his wife Lucy Stevens Kingsley, as well as Ailsa Mellon Bruce, who Forbes magazine termed the richest woman in the United States in the 1950s.

Local Palm Beachers are wishing for some nice new neighbors this holiday season, and not demolition crews.