Bankruptcy creditors want Rudy Giuliani to sell his Palm Beach condo, court filing shows
Will former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani be forced to sell his lakefront vacation condominium in Palm Beach across from the Town Marina to help satisfy the debts outlined in his federal bankruptcy case?
A filing on behalf of creditors in the New York-based case says the Palm Beach condo is one of the key assets amid his strikingly in-the-red balance sheet. Giuliani's own court filing has valued the apartment at $3.5 million.
Giuliani filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December after being slapped with a $148 judgment for defaming two Georgia election workers during the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, when he was working as a legal adviser to former President Donald Trump.
The Georgia judgment, which Giuliani has appealed, came amid mounting costs related to other legal actions against Giuliani.
The creditors’ March 15 filing in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case says Giuliani’s primary residence is his New York City apartment, so the Florida condo is fair game to be sold to help pay his debts.
Giuliani has not homesteaded the Palm Beach condo — No. 5D at The Southlake building at 315 S. Lake Drive — in the Palm Beach County tax rolls. Such a designation would indicate the apartment serves as his main residence.
“On several occasions, (Giuliani) has emphasized his limited assets available for distribution to creditors — according to the (Giuliani’s) counsel, ‘there’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,’” the March 15 motion said. “Of this purported limited pool of assets disclosed by the Debtor, the Florida Condo is a key asset, and the proceeds thereof will be available to satisfy the claims of his creditors.”
On Friday, Giuliani attorney Heath Berger described the request to sell the condo in Palm Beach as “extremely premature,” according to reporting by CNBC.
“The case is still in its infancy,” Berger, a partner at Berger, Fischoff, Shumer, Wexler & Goodman, LLP, told CNBC.
Berger also told the outlet that Giuliani wants to move to Florida full time and is laying the groundwork to sell his New York apartment in Manhattan.
The New York apartment is valued at $5.6 million, according to Giuliani’s filing.
As of Monday morning, a response on behalf of Giuliani to the March 15 motion had not been filed with the court, an online search of records showed. The case is being overseen by Judge Sean H. Lane in the Southern District of New York.
There could be issues in selling the Florida condominium. A tax lien filed in August by the IRS for unpaid taxes remains attached to the Palm Beach condo, courthouse records show. The lien document shows Giuliani owes the IRS $549,435, the “unpaid value of assessment” for the tax period ending in December 2021. A spokesman for Giuilani said last fall that Giuliani had worked out a formal deal with the IRS to pay the taxes.
If Giuliani sold the condo, the IRS lien would have to be paid first for the buyer to obtain a clear title.
The March 15 motion also seeks to compel Giuliani to secure homeowners insurance for the apartments in Palm Beach and New York.
Rudy Giuliani took possession of Palm Beach condo after his bitter divorce was finalized
Giuliani’s two-bedroom condo is in a 1960s-era, serpentine-shaped building facing the Palm Beach Marina and offers views of West Palm Beach across the Intracoastal Waterway.
The apartment has an estimated “total market value” of $3.07 million in Palm Beach County’s latest tax rolls.
The real estate website Zillow, however, estimates the condo has a resale value of $5.402 million.
Giuliani’s condo is not listed for sale in the multiple listing service run by the Palm Beach Board of Realtors, an online search Monday showed.
At one point in 2019, Giuliani’s condo was listed for sale at $3.3 million, but it never found a buyer.
RUDY GIULIANI HAS DEEP PALM BEACH TIES: With legal woes mounting, Rudy Giuliani has been a familiar face in Palm Beach
Giuliani and his third wife, Judith Nathan Giuliani, paid $1.9 million for the two-bedroom apartment at The Southlake in February 2010.
The couple’s bitter divorce after 16 years of marriage was finalized in 2019, and Rudy Giuliani took sole possession of the condo — with its 2,280 square feet of living space, inside and out — in January 2020, property records show. That same month, his ex-wife was deeded the couple’s other Palm Beach condo, a smaller two-bedroom unit at Palm Beach Towers.
Rudy Giuliani's Palm Beach condo is in a full-service building
Giuliani’s apartment is on the next-to-the-top floor of the building. A previous sales listing mentioned the condo’s “spacious living area,” oversized balcony, kitchen equipped with top-of-the-line appliances and master suite with a spa-like marble bath, sitting area and walk-in closet.
The Giulianis’ renovation of the condo included the addition of custom millwork, crown moldings, recessed lighting, tray ceilings and built-in cabinetry.
With six floors and 31 units, The Southlake was designed by noted architect Howard Chilton in 1969. Chilton championed what has since become known as the Mid-Century Modern style and designed several multi-family buildings near The Southlake, including those at 445 Australian Ave. and at 369 and 389 S. Lake Drive.
The Southlake’s amenities include a swimming pool, an outdoor lounge area, changing rooms and a barbecue area. The building has a full-time manager, door staff and service personnel.
Several Palm Beach real estate agents previously contacted by the Palm Beach Daily News declined to comment about the building or Giuliani’s condo.
But one seasoned agent took note of The Southlake’s waterfront address in the heart of Midtown, five blocks from the shopping and dining destinations on Worth Avenue. The condo is also near the Society of the Four Arts cultural center and library, and a few blocks from the South County Road commercial district and Midtown Beach.
“It’s a low-key condo in an A-plus location," said the agent, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
MAR-A-LAGO MISTAKE: Oops! Eric Trump denies Mar-a-Lago sold for $422 million; Zillow admits listing error
Giuliani is facing plenty of legal trouble stemming from the role he played during Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign and its aftermath.
Giuliani surrendered Aug. 23 at Georgia’s Fulton County Courthouse and was booked on 13 conspiracy-related charges related to interfering in the 2020 election On March 13, the judge overseeing the case tossed out six of those charges against Giuliani, Trump and four other defendants, all of whom had pleaded not guilty in the case.
In an Aug. 30 civil-suit ruling, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found Giuliani liable for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Before the final judgment, Howell already ordered Giuliani to pay Freeman nearly $90,000 in legal fees and his businesses to pay nearly $44,000 in legal fees.
Giuliani once said he could be a walking advertisement for Palm Beach
In the years before they split, the Giulianis were frequently seen visiting Palm Beach, often attending events at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club which is about 2½ miles north of The Southlake building, Rudy Giuliani also has occasionally been the guest speaker at local events.
Giuliani said in 2018 he could be a walking “commercial for Palm Beach” and enjoyed playing golf on Trump’s two Palm Beach County courses, including the Trump International Golf Club near West Palm Beach, where he said he was a member, according to a story published by Politico.
dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com
HOW DO YOU VALUE MAR-A-LAGO? How does Palm Beach County value Mar-a-Lago, other local Trump properties for taxes?
MORE PALM BEACH NEWS: Estate priced at $59.5 million is in an area of Palm Beach where lakeside listings are rare
*
Portions of this story appeared previously at PalmBeachDailyNews.com.
This story was updated from a previous version. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.To see photos of Rudy Giuliani in Palm Beach, click on the gallery near the top of this page.
*
Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Creditors seek sale of Giuliani's Palm Beach condo in bankruptcy case
