Realtor Senada Adžem represented the buyers in the purchase of a $10.4 million condo.
Photo by Tim Stepien
By Christine Davis
The One Thousand Ocean penthouse with 4,000 square feet of terraces and miles of ocean views that sold this June set three records: In addition to being the first penthouse to sell in the building, it also fetched the highest sale price for a condo in Palm Beach County for 2011 ($10.4 million), plus the highest price ever per square foot in Boca Raton ($1,500 per square foot, and its interiors are unfinished). Its new owners, a European couple with young children, just fell in love with it, said Corcoran Group Realtor Senada Adžem, who represented the buyers. “Two years ago they looked at properties from Boca Raton to Palm Beach and this April, they were ready.”
Because of a confidentiality agreement, Adžem couldn’t release the names of the buyers.
“For five days, they looked at all the luxury condos in Boca and when we walked in here, she and her husband were enthralled,” Adžem said.
The penthouse has ocean vistas to the east and overlooks the Boca Inlet, and also it offers views to the south all the way to Lighthouse Point. Western views are also water views of the Inlet as well as views that go past Boca Raton.
Following her clients’ decision to buy came a week of negotiations. The unit was listed for $11.75 million, Adžem said.
The owners have three other homes outside the United States, and this unit with 6,900 square feet of interior space will be their holiday getaway, she said.
“They are attracted to the Boca lifestyle, Adzem said. “It’s high end, but casual. Boca is more kid friendly; it’s safe and less formal. The penthouse is private and has a wide exposure to the ocean and the city. It just spoke to them.”
The 52-unit condominium on the premises of the Boca Raton Resort and Club is on the beach and just north of the Inlet. It has lots going for it, Adžem said, noting the sales to prove it. The actual dates that the units sold are confidential, Adzem said, but she was a member of the building’s original sales team for pre-development units for Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group through August 2010, and estimates the following timetable: Pre-construction sales were launched in December 2006, with 40 percent sold in 2007. Sales slowed in 2008 and 2009, but picked up in 2010.
“My team closed on 32 units through the end of August 2010,” she said. “The cheapest unit was $2.75 million. The most expensive was a sale that included three units totaling $12 million.”
The location, amenities and design have been hugely attractive to all One Thousand Ocean residents, she said. “Also, people are tired of (competing condominiums’) heavy Mediterranean design because those units tend to be darker and have lower ceilings — the maximum is nine feet.”
In contrast, the penthouse unit has 14-foot ceilings; it is wide open, sunny and bright.
“No other building has terraces like these. Most other condominium units have terraces that are, at most, 100 square feet. At One Thousand Ocean, the average terrace is 1,000 square feet.”
Since the One Thousand Ocean penthouse unit is raw, the new owners are working with Boca Raton-based Peter Stromberg, the architect of One Thousand Ocean, to complete the interiors.
Although penthouses in general are attractive, the fact that they are often unfinished can overwhelm prospective owners, Adzem said. But that does not appear to be a problem at One Thousand Ocean. “I have two great prospects for the $15 million (neighboring) Sky penthouse. I’m working on it!”
Resold units on lower floors are holding their values, too, she said. “I did three resales in the building and they all came out higher than what their owners originally paid for them. Presently, there are no resales and I get many calls for them.”
(A down payment of $1.3 million on a $6.5 million unit was a forfeiture, a unit connected to a Bernard Madoff employee, Annette Bongiorno.)
Jamie Telchin, president of development for Luxury Resorts & Hotels, said that in 2004, the Boca resort implemented a major overhaul, with $100 million put into the main campus. The beach club was also a major project — a $115 million investment.
Although the real estate boom was coming to an end at that time, and his company put on hold a dozen or so other projects, it was decided to proceed with One Thousand Ocean. “It was the right decision. Since March, we’ve closed on seven units for more than $35 million, with approximately $3 million to close soon — they all closed very quickly and with the exception of one, they were all cash sales.”
Seventy-five percent of the 52 residences are sold and closed as of June, he adds.
“There’s a lot of pent-up demand. It’s a great building in a great location, just adjacent to the beautifully renovated beach club, with services that have allowed us to be the success that we are.”
The project was more than $200 million including the land. A $137 million construction loan on One Thousand Ocean with Wells Fargo was paid off last August. “It was a big loan with enough sales to pay it off,” Telchin said.
The seven-story One Thousand Ocean condominium includes the penthouses, a collection of residences, and one- and two-story beach villas. The residences and beach villas average 4,000 square feet under air; the penthouse collection provides an average of approximately 7,220 air-conditioned square feet. Prices range from about $3 million to $15 million.
Another of his company’s projects, which will be across the street on Ocean, includes a 36-unit condominium with boat slips averaging $2 million. “People who didn’t buy at One Thousand Ocean will open up potential buyers already in our database,” Telchin said.
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