ziff estate - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T00:16:38Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/ziff+estateManalapan: Estate becomes Florida’s priciesthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/manalapan-estate-becomes-florida-s-priciest2022-06-29T16:39:01.000Z2022-06-29T16:39:01.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10605052272,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10605052272,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10605052272?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><span style="font-size:12pt;">Old Ziff property sold to Oracle co-founder for $173 million</span></p>
<p><strong>By Larry Barszewski</strong></p>
<p>Manalapan is no longer playing second fiddle to the town of Palm Beach — or any other Florida location, for that matter — when it comes to pricey residential properties.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10605078468,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10605078468,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="200" alt="10605078468?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></a>The town became home to Florida’s most expensive estate in June when Netscape co-founder James Clark sold his ocean-to-Intracoastal Waterway property to a fellow billionaire (one who has many, many more billions), Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, for $173 million.<br /> Clark ended up being a short-term resident. He owned the property at 2000 S. Ocean Blvd. for just 15 months, but he got his money’s worth when the final sale came through. <br /> Clark turned a $79 million profit — an increase of 84% — on the estate that cost him $94 million, the priciest sale in town until he decided to sell it in an off-market transaction. The sale was handled by Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates, who brokered both sides of the deal. Moens had also handled Clark’s earlier purchase.<br /> The buyer was listed as Florida Realty LLC, a Delaware corporation with a California address that is the same as the one for the Larry Ellison Foundation. Besides the 15.65-acre main property, Ellison took ownership of an approximately 7-acre wildlife sanctuary space on Bird Island.</p>
<p>Forbes ranks Ellison as No. 8 on this year’s list of the world’s wealthiest people. His reported net worth was hovering around $93 billion at the end of June, while Clark, ranked by Forbes around No. 950, was worth about $2.9 billion.<br /> Last year, Ellison paid $80 million for an oceanfront North Palm Beach estate. He also owns almost all of the Hawaiian island of Lanai, plunking down $300 million for it back in 2012. Other people still live on Lanai, and Ellison’s deal included a couple of Four Seasons resorts that attract the rich and famous to stay there.<br /> His foray into Manalapan — a small town known for its expensive homes and quietly wealthy residents — had eyes popping over the purchase price. <br /> “It’s an amazing number,” said Manalapan Vice Mayor Stewart Satter, a developer who recorded a $40 million sale of his own in March for a vacant ocean-to-Intracoastal lot. “It’s kind of hard for me to believe someone is spending that kind of money.”<br /> Some residents may be concerned about what plans Ellison has for the town’s premier property, but Satter doesn’t think Ellison is looking to develop what he calls a “very, very, special property.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10605052895,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10605052895,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10605052895?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>The main house is two stories and faces the ocean. <strong>Photos provided by Realtor.com</strong></em></p>
<p>It includes a 33-bedroom, 38-bathroom main house that sits on both sides of State Road A1A, with the larger portion on the ocean side.<br /> “He’s decided he wants some super-unique property,” Satter said. “No one is spending $200 million to develop it.”<br /> While Satter himself was interested in the property before Clark bought it last year, he said the value in redeveloping it is overstated. The town can allow construction east of A1A in the area, which is what developers want, but Satter said the “final say” goes to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.<br /> “They made the requirements so strict, you effectively can’t build on the east side of the road,” Satter said of state regulators. “The requirements are so strict, you can only build a small house.”<br /> In 2020, the town gave the previous owners, heirs of media pioneer William B. Ziff Jr., the ability to subdivide the property that they had been trying to sell since 2016, but those rights went away when Clark bought it in 2021. Clark’s purchase price was far below the $195 million the Ziffs originally sought.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10605053295,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10605053295,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10605053295?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>A seating area with cut-coral walls, pecky cypress ceilings and a wall of live orchids.</em></p>
<p>The Shutts & Bowen law firm, representing Ellison’s corporation, has requested town records of zoning and development approvals granted for 2000 S. Ocean Blvd., as well as any approvals for items such as variances, site plans or permits. The request is also for 3040 S. Ocean Blvd., which is part of the property.<br /> How unusual is the property? Descriptions mention three tunnels that go under A1A to connect the east and west portions of the property. <br /> One of those tunnels — “if you want to call it a tunnel,” Mayor Keith Waters says — connects the two portions of the house and includes works of art and other extravagant furnishings. “To say it’s magnificent would be an understatement,” Waters said of the underground connector.<br /> Previously known as the Ziff estate and before that as Gemini, the property has 1,200 linear feet of ocean frontage and another 1,300 feet along the Intracoastal. Besides the main house, it has a guest house, manager’s house, two ocean cottages, tennis courts, swimming pool, regulation golf practice area, a miniature golf course and a botanic garden with 1,500 species of tropical trees and plants.<br /> For a time decades ago, it was considered the most expensive residence in the country. It now at least holds the state title.<br /> The previous top sale in the state was $129.6 million for a four-parcel purchase on Blossom Way in the town of Palm Beach in 2012 by hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin, said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel Inc., a real estate appraisal and consultant firm. The most expensive single parcel before last month’s purchase was at 535 N. County Road in Palm Beach, which sold for $122.7 million last year, Miller said.<br /> “If you look at what’s available in the properties, it’s an age-old saying: There’s only so much dirt on the ocean like that,” Waters said. “Palm Beach is a big, shiny object, and Manalapan is a quiet, subtle, and in my opinion, better version.”</p></div>Manalapan: Town sees internet magnate Clark as Ziff estate rescuerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/manalapan-town-sees-internet-magnate-clark-as-ziff-estate-rescuer2021-04-01T14:01:25.000Z2021-04-01T14:01:25.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8744255674,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8744255674,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="8744255674?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>The lushly landscaped 15.65-acre Ziff estate and the sanctuary known as Bird Island are located just north of the Boynton Inlet. The mature landscaping is the result of decades of work in native plant restoration and conservation efforts. A golf practice area is on the east side of A1A.<strong> Google Map image</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong></p>
<p>Billionaire internet entrepreneur James Clark is on the verge of becoming the favorite son of Manalapan, where his stature has risen in recent days.<br /> “We will welcome him with open arms,” said Mayor Keith Waters. “We’re looking forward to getting to know the family. They will get a warm greeting from Manalapan, that’s for sure.”<br /> Why such an outpouring of affection?<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8744251499,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8744251499,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="102" alt="8744251499?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Clark, a founder of Netscape and a half-dozen other influential tech companies, is widely believed around Manalapan to be the mystery buyer who paid $94 million last month for the storied Ziff estate.<br />Waters and other town residents say they are delighted that Clark is taking over what many townspeople believe is Manalapan’s signature property.<br /> A lush, 15.65-acre estate that stretches from the Atlantic to the Intracoastal Waterway at Manalapan’s southern entrance, the Ziff land is an exceedingly rare remnant of Florida’s distant past.<br /> “I don’t know anything like it on the East Coast,” Waters said. “It is certainly unique.”<br /> Until recent weeks, Manalapan had resigned itself to losing the property to development. A year ago, Ziff family heirs petitioned the Town Commission to divide the estate into four lots to expedite sales. Commissioners grudgingly said yes.<br /> The family had tried for six years to sell the estate as a whole, first listing it for $195 million, then steadily dropping the price to $115 million last year with Sotheby’s International Realty. There were no takers.<br /> Then abruptly on March 8, an entity called The 2000 S. Ocean Trust appeared on Palm Beach County courthouse records, showing a deed transfer on the land for $94.17 million, along with a separate recording of a $200,000 sale for nearby, uninhabited Bird Island. Because commissions and other costs often are omitted from courthouse filings, it is likely the total sale price was over $100 million.<br />Someone like Clark is exactly what people in Manalapan were looking for — a single buyer who takes on the whole Ziff property, someone who appears intent on living there, and above all, someone who isn’t a developer.<br /> “The buyer doesn’t want his name disclosed right now,” said a person close to the Ziff family. “That’s what they’ve told us. But we understand the estate won’t be divided.”<br />Selling the land as a whole negates the agreement the commission made with the Ziffs last year to subdivide it, and anyone who makes that happen is going to be very popular in Manalapan.<br />“We were caught totally by surprise,” Town Manager Linda Stumpf said. “No one saw it coming. But commissioners are extremely pleased to have a sale like this — whoever the buyer is.”<br />Multiple sources in Manalapan identified Clark as the buyer but declined to comment until the deal goes public. Neighbors and officials say they’ll wait.<br /> West Palm Beach attorney Ronald Kochman is listed as the trustee for the sale. Kochman declined to discuss Waters’ comments about the buyer or other details of the sale: “We do not comment to the press,” he said in an email to The Coastal Star.<br />Waters said the town had heard from “a couple developers” in recent months who were interested in building separate projects. He says he believes Clark intends to maintain the property as a family residence.</p>
<p>The hope is the striking canopy of trees draping over State Road A1A will continue to grow there too.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8744256876,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8744256876,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="414" alt="8744256876?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></a>The view of the Ziff estate that most people see is of the tree canopy over State Road A1A. The estate straddles the highway. <strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p>“We are very, very happy to have this kept as a single property,” Waters said. “It is unique to the character of our community. As far back as I remember coming to Florida, I remember driving through that canopy.”<br />Clark, 77, is no stranger to big-ticket deals. He sold a 5-acre ocean-to-lake estate in Palm Beach for about $90 million in 2018 after originally listing it with Sotheby’s for $137 million two years before. A relatively quiet off-the-market transaction, it was — like the Ziff deal — minimally recorded in public records.<br /> Waters said he has “crossed paths with Clark” several times in the past and believes the new relationship between him and the town “will work out very well.” Manalapan, the mayor said, “is a little quieter option than Palm Beach.”<br /> Besides founding Netscape and helping to develop its web browser, Clark had a hand in the development of myCFO, WebMD and Silicon Graphics Inc. Forbes magazine lists his net worth as $3.4 billion. He is married to Kristy Hinze Clark and has four children.<br />The Ziff estate has 1,200 feet of ocean beach and another 1,300 feet along the Intracoastal. It has a main house, a guest house, manager’s house and two ocean cottages — totaling some 33 bedrooms, 34 bathrooms, 13 powder rooms — with a couple of golf holes. It was originally known as Gemini — Latin for “twins” — because its layout spans both sides of A1A.<br /> Publishing magnate William B. Ziff Jr. and family bought the estate in the 1980s and have preserved a botanic garden with 1,500 species of tropical trees and plants. For a time decades ago, it was considered the most expensive residence in the country.<br /> “No one is going to feel sorry for our family,” Dirk Ziff, heir to the estate and eldest of the three sons, told the Manalapan commission a year ago, lamenting the difficulty of finding a single buyer and requesting permission to divide the property. “We’ve tried really hard to sell it. “We’re uncomfortable coming forward. We want clarity. We want resolution,” said the 56-year-old scion. “There’s an economic reality here that I’m not ashamed of.” </p></div>Manalapan: Commission to listen further about development idea for Ziff propertyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/manalapan-commission-to-listen-further-about-development-idea-for2017-06-28T16:31:00.000Z2017-06-28T16:31:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960726067,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960726067,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960726067?profile=original" /></a><em>Mayor Keith Waters says a proposal to add a 60-room hotel and 70 condos to the 15-acre Ziff estate</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>would represent a seismic shift in the land use, planning and zoning of Manalapan. The lush vegetation</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>of the grounds conceals the 33-room mansion and other buildings.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>File photo/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Dan Moffett<br /><br /></strong> Think about the Ziff property, that 15-acre parcel of pristine undeveloped land at the southern tip of Manalapan — a natural preserve that offers a glimpse of the unspoiled Florida that Spanish explorers might have seen when they visited the hemisphere five centuries ago.<br /> Now think about the Ziff property with a 60-room hotel on the Intracoastal Waterway side, 70 condominiums rising on the oceanfront and parking for dozens of cars and delivery vehicles.<br /> That’s what Tony Imbesi asked Manalapan commissioners to consider when he told them about his idea for the iconic property, known as Gemini to the Ziff family.<br /> Imbesi, 26, is the son of real estate investor Joseph Imbesi, who lives on Lands End Road in the town. Five years ago, Joseph Imbesi sold the Bal Harbour Club in Miami-Dade County to an Argentine developer for $220 million. The deal made way for the Oceana Bal Harbour condo tower that stands there today.<br /> The Imbesis are seeing the same kind of potential for big things when they look at the Ziff property.<br /> “This would be a very special condo hotel,” Tony Imbesi told the commission on June 13. Rooms would go for between $2,000 and $5,000 a night, “a seven-star hotel,” he said.<br /> Manalapan’s existing luxury hotel, the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, would be unaffected by the Imbesis’ vision, they say.<br /> “This is something that wouldn’t compete with the Eau but complement it,” Tony Imbesi said.<br /> The condo building would have “a small footprint and tall height” to preserve more of the 1,500 tropical plant species around it. The existing 33-room mansion on the property also would be preserved.<br /> Tony Imbesi came to the commissioners with no plans, drawings, studies or even details about the proposal. He was looking only for feedback to gauge how realistic his ambitious venture might be.<br /> “If they go along with it,” he said of the commissioners, “it’s extremely realistic.”<br /> Mayor Keith Waters told Imbesi the project would represent a seismic shift in land use, planning and zoning for Manalapan, changing population density, traffic patterns and even political apportionment. <br /> Town Manager Linda Stumpf said the administrative work needed to move such a project through town regulatory reviews would take at least two years in itself.<br /> Waters advised Imbesi to continue to solicit opinions about the idea from Manalapan residents and reminded him that the town is determined to remain “a small enclave, a little jewel.” The mayor said the commission will listen to the responses from the community that are sure to be coming.<br /> One recent change has made the Imbesi plan more realistic. The Ziff family cut the selling price of their compound by $30 million to $165 million, hoping to attract more buyers.</p></div>Business Spotlight: Ziff estate officially hits the market at $195 millionhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/business-spotlight-ziff-estate-officially-hits-the-market-at-195-2016-02-04T14:13:19.000Z2016-02-04T14:13:19.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960629063,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960629063,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960629063?profile=original" /></a><em>The Ziff estate includes a 12-bedroom main residence, two four-bedroom beachside cottages,</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>the seven-bedroom Mango House and botanical gardens with 1,500 species.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Photo provided</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Christine Davis<br /><br /> </strong> Back in May <em>The Coastal Star</em> announced that Manalapan’s Gemini, the Ziff family’s 15.65-acre compound at 2000 S. Ocean, was on the market for $195 million.<br /> Update: On Jan. 28, the property hit the Multiple Listing Service. Premier Estate Properties agents Carmen D’Angelo, Gerald Liguori and Joseph Liguori have the listing. The price remains at $195 million. <br /> According to the listing, the walled compound and botanical oasis, with 1,200 feet on the ocean and 1,300 feet on the Intracoastal Waterway, comprises a 12-bedroom main residence, two four-bedroom beachside cottages, the seven-bedroom Mango House, the manager’s house with four apartments, and manager’s offices. <br /> This adds up to 84,988 square feet, 33 bedrooms, 34 baths and 13 powder rooms. <br /> The 62,220-square-foot main residence with loggias, open stairways and balconies, has wings on both sides of South Ocean, joined by a wide gallery under the road twinning the two sides, hence the estate’s name, “Gemini.” <br /> The original 1940s home was designed by architect Marion Sims Wyeth for the Lambert pharmaceutical family and later became the winter retreat of Loel and Gloria Guinness. <br /> Current owners, with architect Edson E. Dailey, completed a reconstruction and expansion in 2003. <br />Site details include botanical gardens with 1,500 species of tropical trees and plants, a golf practice area, dock and pier on the Intracoastal, freshwater pond and bird sanctuary, and sports complex with a regulation tennis court, half basketball court, playground, miniature golf course and butterfly garden with a large-scale model train.</p></div>