On the market in Palm Beach: Ground-floor condo listed at about $4M gets a detailed redo

While visiting Palm Beach for a friend’s wedding 17 years ago, Richard Tunick and his late wife, Carole, took some time to look at properties on the island as a lark.

“We really had no interest in buying, and I told the agent we were here to kick tires,” Tunick recalls. “He told us to come back the next day, and he then showed us some places.”

His wife’s eyes opened wide when she saw unit 105N on the ground floor of the north building at Carlton Place, 3140 S. Ocean Blvd.

“We could sit out and have coffee by the ocean on the lawn. Carole loved it,” Tunick says.

He nonchalantly told his agent to make a noncontingent offer, which was good only for 24 hours. To the couple’s surprise, the offer was accepted, and the condo on the northeast corner of Carlton Place was theirs.

The layout on the ground floor especially suited his wife, who had suffered a serious spine injury, he says.

“She didn’t want an elevator, and she had her own private garden right on the ocean. It has a fabulous layout and was wonderful,” he explains.

But with his wife of 46 years gone — she died in 2022 after a long illness — the time has come to part with the South End condo.

The three-bedroom, three-bath apartment has been listed for sale by Douglas Elliman Real Estate agents Scott and Mindy Gordon. With 3,400 square feet of living space, inside and out, it is priced at $3.995 million, with the furniture available separately. The condo will be sold with assigned garage parking for two cars.

A few years ago, Tunick hired contractor Steve Doran to overhaul the interiors of the apartment.

“Steve had done a lot in the building and had very high standards. He’s now retired — I was his last job. I got lucky,” Tunick says.

“We did the living spaces and kitchen. We (chose) top of the line (products for) all the details, down to the cabinet pulls and plumbing,” he says. “The ceilings were dropped in the living and dining rooms, and LED lighting was installed.”

All the mechanical systems have been replaced, and the apartment’s sliding doors feature impact-resistant glass. Floors in the living areas and bathrooms are covered in porcelain tile with a subtle wood-grain pattern.

Other details include a bar with a wine cooler in the dining room, electric-powered window shades in the living areas, and plantation shutters at the bedroom windows.

Because Tunick likes to cook, the kitchen’s renovation was a priority.

“It’s now a highly functional kitchen,” he says, with features that include Shaker-style cabinetry, Thermador stainless-steel appliances and counters and a backsplash made of quartz.

Offering a peek at the ocean, the kitchen is adjacent to the living room, which affords wider sea views and accesses the covered wraparound terrace.

A bedroom suite is on the same side of the apartment as the living area.

Opening to the terrace and overlooking garden views on the north side are another guest bedroom suite and the main suite, which has two walk-in closets and a bathroom.

The bedroom on the east side of the floorplan is set up as an office with built-in cabinetry, but a buyer could easily use it for its original purpose, Tunick points out.

The renovation didn’t include the bathrooms, which had already been updated. The main bath was extensively redesigned, Tunick explains.

“It had a horrible large tub, which we removed and (replaced with) a massive shower with a bench. It has a natural-stone pebble floor and shower sprays at both ends. It works well and is pretty.”

The bathroom upgrades were handled by The Place for Kitchens and Baths in Boca Raton and included cabinets with a high-gloss finish and quartz counters.

Built in 1982, Carlton Place has undergone a major update to its common areas, including the lobby, club room, gatehouse and landscaping along with roof replacements. With deeded beach access, the development — about a half-mile south of the bridge to Lake Worth Beach — comprises 69 apartments in two buildings, each with five floors. The buildings have door personnel and a full-time manager.

Carlton Place also has a tennis-pickleball court and a reworked swimming pool and pool deck.

Tunick is proud to have helped establish Carlton Place’s long-range planning committee, which oversees maintenance projects and improvements.

“We instituted a master plan, and everything is done with consistency,” says Tunick, adding that the work is overseen by Palm Beach architect Jerome Baumoehl.

As Carlton Place enters a new era, Tunick, too, is starting a new chapter in the development.

“I met a lovely woman, Zoe Kron, and fell in love,” he says. “We looked to see if there would be better buildings, but concluded this is where we want to live.”

In November, he bought an apartment on the top floor of the same building.

“We have a good board, and Carlton Place is professionally managed with attention to detail and great services,” he says. “It’s a really nice place to live.”

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To see more photos of the No. 501N at 3140 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach, click on the photo gallery at the top of this page.

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For more than 20 years, Christine Davis has written about Palm Beach real estate in the "On the Market" feature in the Palm Beach Daily News.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach real estate: Detailed redo transforms condo listed at $4M