Investors with Palm Beach ties pay nearly $19M for penthouse at new W. Palm Beach condo
An investment group led by Palm Beach developer Todd Michael Glaser has paid at least $18.75 million for a penthouse — with a private swimming pool — on the top floor of La Clara, the sold-out condominium tower on the Flagler Drive Waterfront in West Palm Beach.
The sale price for Penthouse 26 was reported Tuesday in the multiple listing service.
Glaser confirmed his group bought the penthouse with plans to resell it. The group includes Manalapan resident Jim Randall of Randall Realty Group, a family business that in January bought an office building on the South End of Palm Beach. Glaser and Randall have worked together on other projects.
Glaser plans to furnish the never-lived-in penthouse with his interior decorator wife, Kim Glaser, and re-list it for sale at an as-yet-unspecified price, he said. He did not give a timeframe for that listing.
The four-bedroom penthouse encompasses the entire floor and has about 8,020 square feet of interior space and another 3,000 square feet on its wraparound balcony.
It is the only full-floor residential unit in the building, which recently finished construction at 200 Arkona Court, previously addressed as 1515 S. Flagler Blvd. The penthouse deal set a sales record for the building, according to records in the multiple listing service.
A deed for the sale had not been recorded as of late Tuesday morning, so it's unclear if the sale price reported in the MLS will match the one expected to be documented at the Palm Beach County courthouse.
MORE PALM BEACH REAL ESTATE NEWS: Upped value of Mar-a-Lago, other Palm Beach County property boosts Trump's tax bills
Among its distinctions, the penthouse has high ceilings, a private gym and 360-degree views that include the Intracoastal Waterway, Palm Beach, the Atlantic Ocean and the city of West Palm Beach.
The views from the apartment are dramatic, Glaser said
“You can't believe it. It’s amazing. You can see planes taking off and yachts coming in,” Glaser said, referencing the Palm Beach International Airport to the south and the Intracoastal Waterway on the opposite side of Flagler Drive.
Listing agent Chris Leavitt of Douglas Elliman Real Estate described the apartment as “your own private universe.”
He added that the unit was sold with three garage parking spaces.
“You can park your car collection and take the elevator up. You have your own gym, your own spa and your own pool,” said Leavitt. “You’re towering over everything around you.”
La Clara broke ground in March 2019 and finished construction this spring. It was developed by Great Gulf of Toronto as the company's first residential tower in Florida, although it has developed other projects in the United States.
La Clara broke ground in March 2019 and finished construction this spring. It was developed by Great Gulf of Toronto as the company's first residential tower in Florida, although it has developed other projects in the United States.
The MLS shows the condo Leavitt co-listed the penthouse with Elliman agent Alison Newton.
Agent Carol Sollak of Engel & Volkers represented the buyers’ interests in the sale, the MLS shows.
Glaser's company, Todd Michael Glaser, has offices in Miami Beach, where he established his real estate career, and Palm Beach, where he has bought, renovated, built and sold homes over the past several years.
Real estate investor and industrialist Randall heads Randall Realty Group. With deep ties to Los Angeles, Randall has invested in other residential real estate in West Palm Beach, courthouse records show. Randall's son, Jordan Randall, is co-founder and managing director of Randall Real Estate Group.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: La Clara condo sales get boost from pandemic-weary buyers and finance execs moving to West Palm
Sales of condos at La Clara condo tower in West Palm Beach were brisk, agent says
La Clara has 25 stories but, like may other residential towers, it has no designated 13th floor. The first three floors are devoted to common areas and amenities.
As is customary with new condominiums, the 83 units in the building were listed several years ago, with pre-construction pricing starting at about $1.6 million. Most of the original condo prices topped out at $5 million.
Many of the units landed under contract soon after they entered the market, Leavitt said.
Glaser confirmed he had had the penthouse under contract for about two years with a locked-in price.
Once construction was completed, closings of sales in the building began this summer, Leavitt said.
Almost all of the original sales contracts have been closed out, Leavitt said — and there already have been re-sales in the building. A handful of units are back on the market, priced at $5 million and up, he added.
The interiors of the penthouse that just sold have high-end finishes, including stone flooring and a custom-designed Snaidero kitchen with Miele appliances, the sales listing said.
La Clara stands on the west side of Flagler Drive, less than a half-mile south of Okeechobee Boulevard on a site that was once home to the 1515 Tower.
The name La Clara translates from the Spanish to “clear,” a reference to the sleek tower’s walls of glass and stepped-back design that give it a transparent feel. It was designed by architect Siamak Hariri, co-founder of Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects.
La Clara is one of several new and planned condominium towers that have transformed the residential scene along South Flagler Drive near downtown. Among those is The Bristol Palm Beach directly on the Intracoastal Waterway and just down the street.
Glaser, Randall have worked together on at at least one other investment project
In May, one of Glaser's investment groups, which included Randall, sold a 2-acre lakeside estate at 854 S. County Road in the Estate Section for a land-value price of $63.43 million, courthouse records show. The buyer was a limited liability company named after the property's address and managed by West Palm Beach attorney Paul Krasker. The Corcoran Group handled both sides, with agent Suzanne Frisbie representing the sellers and Corcoran Group agents Dana Koch and Paulette Koch acting for the buyer.
Among Glaser's Palm Beach projects is a renovated-and-expanded home on private Tarpon Island that was listed in the MLS last season at $218 million. The Tarpon Island listing dropped out of the MLS with the arrival of the summer off-season, Glaser told the Palm Beach Daily News in June. But the estate remains for sale, according to sources familiar with the property. Investors for that project included Miami-area developers Jonathan Fryd and Scott Robins, who have participated in several of Glaser's real estate projects in Palm Beach.
BIG PROJECT IN PALM BEACH: Take a look at Palm Beach's only private island and its mansion priced at — wow! — $218 million
Glaser also developed on speculation an ocean-view house at 1080 S. Ocean Blvd. near former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club. Agents Dana Koch and Paulette Koch of the Corcoran Group have that home listed $28.85 million.
Glaser's Miami projects include restoring the 1927 Carl Fisher estate, building lavish contemporary-style custom homes, and developing on speculation houses and condominiums, including the 1000 Museum Tower downtown.
*
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
*
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: Penthouse sale at new W. Palm Beach condo tower scrapes $19 million
