The geodesic-dome complex in Manalapan was designed by Buckminster Fuller. No word on whether the new owners will keep it as is. Coastal Star file photo
A Coastal Star story last month provided details about the record-breaking $173 million sale of the 16-acre estate at 2000 S. Ocean, Manalapan. Tech billionaire Jim Clark, who paid the Ziff family $94 million for it in March 2021, sold it to billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison 15 months later.
Now another interesting property in Manalapan has sold. In the January issue, The Coastal Star reported that the ocean-to-lake 1960s-era geodesic-dome compound at 1860 S. Ocean Blvd. had gone under contract with a closing date scheduled for no later than July 8. And sure enough, that is the date on the deed that was recorded July 13.
Stephen and Jeanette Cohen, who bought the property for $620,000 in January 1978, sold it as trustees of the Cohen Family Irrevocable Trust for a recorded price of $26.775 million.
Shelly Newman, an agent with William Raveis South Florida, had listed the 2.5 acres with approximately 200 feet on the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway for sale in May 2021 for $29.9 million, but later dropped the price to reflect its land value, $27.5 million. The buyer, who was represented by Lawrence Moens, of Lawrence A. Moens Associates, is listed as 1860 South Ocean Boulevard Trust, with Ronald Kochman as the trustee.
The Cohens’ son, New Yorker Sean Cohen, shares his recollections of living on the property. He spent his teenage years there, he said.
“When I was 15 in 1978, my parents bought our home here. The police station was a trailer in the middle of a mangrove forest, where Plaza del Mar is now,” he recalls. “My parents had recently moved to the United States from South Africa, and they came to Florida because someone had sent them a prospectus for condos.
“But we are an outdoor family. My mother saw the geodesic domes listing and said to the Realtor, ‘Take us to this house.’ The Realtor said, ‘Well, it’s a little unusual.’ But my parents walked onto the property and they knew it was right, not just because of the architecture, but because of the whole feel of it.”
Coincidentally, the home’s multifaceted architecture offers a hint to his family’s business, Rand Diamonds, a diamond polishing company in Botswana that his grandfather started in 1947 and which Sean Cohen heads today.
His parents, who were permanent residents of the domed property, are now in their 80s and in June moved to an oceanfront condo in Palm Beach, Sean said.
So, what will become of the three domes? Sean Cohen didn’t know, and the town has not been approached regarding demolition or development, Manalapan Clerk Erika Petersen said last month. For either of those to occur, the new owners would have to approach the town’s Architectural Commission to get a permit.
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James and Kimberly Caccavo sold their oceanfront Gulf Stream estate at 3565 N. Ocean Blvd., to James and Estee Sausville for $27.5 million. The deal, recorded in public records June 6, is for nearly twice the previous sale price of $14.9 million in May 2021.
“It definitely set a record for Gulf Stream at $4,495 per square foot,” said Michelle Noga of William Raveis Real Estate. Noga co-listed the property with Paula Wittmann of William Raveis.
The 7,717-total-square-foot estate and guest house sit on a lot measuring .8 of an acre with 110 feet of ocean frontage. “It was a spec house designed by architect Randall Stofft and bought pre-construction,” Noga said, adding that she and Wittmann had represented the clients in that deal, too.
Mitch Frank, with Echo Fine Properties, represented the buyers in the current deal.
James Caccavo is the founder and managing general partner of the California-based Steelpoint Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Kimberly Caccavo is founder of Face Your Grace, a motivational e-learning platform. James Sausville is president and CEO of the New Jersey-based J&K Ingredients, a company that supplies bakery ingredients.
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Carl DeSantis’s CDS International Holdings purchased the properties at 551 SE Eighth St. and 551 SE Fifth Ave. in Delray Beach from an affiliate of Dallas-based Spirit Realty, for $25 million. Keith O’Donnell of Avison Young and Mark Rubin of Colliers represented CDS International. The sale was recorded on July 7. Leslie Maister and Chris Bosworth of CBRE represented the seller.
The buildings, totaling 54,765 square feet, were constructed in 1975 on almost 4 acres, and the property is fully occupied by the Bank of America. Spirit Realty, led by CEO Jackson Hsieh, paid $15 million for the property in 2008.
“We are thrilled to make this exciting acquisition and appreciate the leadership of Keith and Mark, who were instrumental in making this purchase happen,” said Jeff Perlman, executive vice president of CDS International Holdings. “We have been longtime investors in Delray Beach and have a strong belief in the market and its prospects. We are already creating a vision for the property.”
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Lang Realty is spearheading a school supply drive in August to benefit Plumosa School of the Arts in Delray Beach and Lincoln Elementary School in Riviera Beach. New supplies will be collected at each Lang Realty sales office from East Boca Raton to Jupiter. For a complete list of supplies needed and a list of Lang sales office locations, visit langcares.com.
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Following the departure of Executive Director Karen Ronald, who was with the Delray Beach Public Library for five years, the library’s board of directors announced three new appointments.
Mykal Banta is now the library’s executive director. Loanis Menendez-Cuesta is assistant director, and Alyson Walzer-Grammatico is head of reference.
Banta was hired by the library in September 1994 as the head of reference, and was promoted in 1998 to serve as the assistant director, a post he held for 24 years.
Banta is vice president of the board of directors of Family Promise and serves on the Interfaith Committee of Palm Beach County. He is a member of the Delray Initiative to End Homelessness.
The library’s community outreach includes assistance with the Interfaith Committee’s shower truck, and the library’s bimonthly “Wash and Read” program at the Laundry Stop, both of which serve homeless people. Banta holds a BA with a concentration in journalism from Wayne State University and a master’s in library science from State University of New York at Albany.
Menendez-Cuesta, formerly the reference and young adult librarian, has been with the library since 2009 and became head of reference in 2015.
She moved to Florida from Cuba in 1989. In 2011, she was elected president of the Florida chapter of Reforma, the national association to promote library services to Latinos and other Spanish speakers. She served a two-year term and then served two terms on the board of directors of Reforma National.
Since 2021, Menendez-Cuesta has been a member of the board of Family Promise. She is a graduate of the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute and holds a master’s in library science from Florida State University.
Walzer-Grammatico has been with the library since 2016. Her online technology classes, “Appy Hours,” were published in On the Go with Senior Services: Library Programs for Any Time and Any Place. She is also a graduate of the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute. She holds a master’s in library and information services from Wayne State University.
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Delray Beach residents Jennifer Jones and Angela Burns have relaunched Blackmer’s Market, where Black-owned businesses set up booths for commerce at the Spady Museum, 170 NW Fifth Avenue. It is held on the third Sunday of every month from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the next date Aug. 21.
Jones and Burns founded their company, JJABA LLC, in 2020 with a goal to support Black entrepreneurs and build a pathway toward launching more Black-owned businesses.
Toward those ends, they also have reinvigorated the Peach Umbrella Network, an initiative of the Set Neighborhood Alliance that offers information, socials, seminars and workshops focused on strengthening, educating and empowering businesses to thrive.
The name, Peach Umbrella, came from an earlier era when the peach-colored Clay Wideman Building in the 400 block of West Atlantic was home to the Peach Umbrella Plaza Association, a group of Black-owned businesses that supported each other.
“The Set Neighborhood Alliance started to get it going again in 2020, and we took it over January 2021,” Burns said.
At that time, it had 17 members, and under Jones and Burns, it now has 175 members.
“While running for City Commission, Jennifer and I had the opportunity to talk to people and find out what their concerns were. In certain communities, there was a lack of information. I am retired as an educator and Jennifer is a tax preparer with her own business. We thought we were resource-rich and could be a resource for people.
“We are proponents of small businesses, and we were thrilled that the alliance trusted us to manage and operate the Peach Umbrella.”
For more information, visit thesetdelray.org/peach-umbrella-network.
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Rick Christie, executive editor of The Palm Beach Post, received the Presidents Award during the Gold Coast PR Council’s 17th annual Bernays Award luncheon July 20 at the Delray Beach Golf Club.
Melissa Perlman, the council president, also announced the winner of the PR Star Award as Claudia Kirk Barto, executive director of Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches & Treasure Coast.
The Founders Award was given to Anne Dichele, executive director of the Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization. The new Tim Byrd Award went to T.A. Walker, Today at 5 reporter at WPTV, who emceed the Bernays luncheon.
Other awards presented: Best Campaign by a Large Company or Firm — Palm Tran; Best Campaign by a Small Company or Firm — Karen Galanaugh, Galanaugh & Company Marketing Public Relations, LLC; Best Project/Nonprofit/Large — The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum; Best Project/Nonprofit/Small — The Buzz Agency; Best Crisis Management — Food For The Poor; Best Social Media Campaign/For Profit — Boardroom Communications; Best Social Media Campaign/ Nonprofit — Anne M. Gannon, constitutional tax collector of Palm Beach County; Best Special Event — Kaye Communications; Best Marketing Material/Print — Palm Tran; Best Marketing Material/Video or Digital — City of Boynton Beach.
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A special fundraiser for Gary Schweikhart, known as the “Godfather” of South Florida’s PR community, will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach.
Performers for the “He DID Survive: A Benefit Concert for Gary Schweikhart” are Anthony Nunziata, Avery Sommers, Rich and Jill Switzer, and Deborah Berman Silver with accompaniment from Phil Hinton and a special pre-recorded message from Rob Russell.
Schweikhart is recovering from a July 11 accident. He was working at his desk when a speeding car slammed into his home office, leaving him with life-threatening injuries. After being extricated from underneath the car, he was rushed to Delray Medical Center for surgery, spent several days in intensive care and two weeks at Pinecrest Rehabilitation Hospital.
Besides the injuries, Schweikhart — a co-founder of the Gold Coast PR Council whose company is called PR-BS — is without a home for the next eight months.
The Arts Garage, at 94 NE Second Ave., is partnering with The Buzz Agency and Pollack Communications to put on the event. Tickets are $50 and proceeds will go toward Schweikhart’s recovery. For tickets, visit artsgarage.org.
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Check out Boca Chamber Festival Days, a series of food, drink and entertainment events taking place through Sept. 2. The Boca Chamber started Festival Days in 1977, aiming to create commerce for its business members and help its nonprofit members as well. For a list of events, go to web.bocaratonchamber.com/Advocacy/boca_chamber_festival_days.aspx.
Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.
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