Candace Friis and her son, Phil Friis, have been part of the five highest-priced home sales in Gulf Stream in 2024 and 2025, including a town-record $39 million deal. Photo provided
By Christine Davis
When it comes to knowing the Gulf Stream real estate market, Candace and Phil Friis are second to none.
The mother-son duo, agents with the Corcoran Group, have been involved in the top five residential transactions in the town over the past two years.
That includes the all-time top price for a home in Gulf Stream — the $39 million, June 2024 sale of the oceanfront home at 3223 N. Ocean Blvd., where they represented both the buyer and seller.
“We’re a great team,” Candace Friis said, grateful that the youngest of her three children had the same interest in the real estate market.
“It’s the best ever,” she said of their working relationship. “He’s got my back all the time. And I’ve got his back.”
The two in October were part of the $15.914 million sale of 8 Driftwood Landing, which was the fifth-highest sale in town during 2024 and 2025. Once again, they represented the buyer and the seller.
The other three top sales in the past two years:
• The second-highest purchase price was $22 million for 3435 N. Ocean Blvd. in September, with the Friises representing the seller, Bon Property LLC. The home actually makes the recent top-priced list twice — in fourth place as well — with the team also having brokered its April 2024 sale for $21 million.
• The $21.625 million sale of 1443 N. Ocean Blvd., better known as the Lila Vanderbilt Webb estate, in September ranks third. The Friises represented the buyer, Commodore Gulfstream LLC, which purchased the house from the family of the late Robert Ganger.
What’s it like holding the town’s priciest sale?
“It is an honor to have represented the highest sale ever for Gulf Stream, surpassing our previous record representations and continuing to solidify this exclusive enclave as one of South Florida’s most coveted locations,” Candace Friis said.
The home itself did have something to do with it.
Phil Friis credited “the exceptional location, substantial size and breathtaking views of the property” for helping it bring top dollar.
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Developer and former Manalapan Mayor Stewart Satter has rethought how to market his ocean-to-lake property in town at 1960 S. Ocean Blvd.
Last January, he listed it for $285 million, as a proposed new-construction mansion that buyers could customize.
Those plans were for a 54,570-total-square-foot estate with an eight-bedroom main house and guest house on the lakeside parcel, with a beach house on the ocean side. A tunnel under State Road A1A would connect the two parcels.
Satter is now also listing the property at $75 million as a land offering to go with the plans he had drawn up last year.
Douglas Elliman listing agent Nick Malinosky confirmed: “Based on the feedback from last season from interested buyers about acquiring the land as well as the from the brokerage community, we are offering it both ways.”
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Mark Pulte of homebuilder Mark Timothy Inc. sold his newly built, 14,000-square-foot mansion at 701 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach, for $59 million in October. The buyer was the 701 South Ocean Trust with BNY Mellon as trustee.
This beats the city record-setting sale this past July, a 12-bedroom, 19,055-square-foot residence at 2325 S. Ocean Blvd., which sold for $51.12 million.
On more than an acre with 120 feet on the ocean, the six-bedroom estate at 701 S. Oceanwas crafted by Mark Timothy Luxury Homes with interiors by Jeffrey Strasser. Pulte acquired the site in 2020 for $11.05 million and completed the home in 2023.
It was listed by Pascal J. Liguori and Carmen N. D’Angelo of Premier Estate Properties. Pascal J. Liguori and Antonio G. Liguori of Premier Estate Properties represented the buyer.
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Saily Perkins sold her Delray Beach oceanfront seven-bedroom, 9,761-square-foot mansion at 1171 S. Ocean Blvd., for $29.625 million. Perkins is the widow of AshBritt Environmental founder Randy Perkins.
The new owner is Sunset Pine Trust, with attorney Elana Bronson as trustee. The home last traded for $18 million in 2021.
Built on the 0.9-acre site in 1994, the home was recently renovated by builder Mouw Associates with interiors designed by Marc Michaels Interiors. Agents Nick Malinosky and Michael O’Connor of Douglas Elliman represented the seller in the deal, while the Matt Moser and Nick Gonzalez team at Serhant worked with the buyer.
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Florida Atlantic University’s Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education recently hosted its annual Educator Awards Dinner at the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center. The dinner celebrated the work of K-12 teachers supported by the Gutterman center and honored the 2024 Gutterman Family Outstanding Holocaust Educators.
One of the honorees was from the Palm Beach County School District, Lisa Brown of Lake Worth High School.
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American Heritage Schools announced “Niche” rankings for the Delray Beach campus, which rated No. 1 in four Palm Beach County categories: Best Private K-12, Best College Prep Private High Schools, Best High Schools for STEM, and Best Boarding High Schools.
Niche’s ranking factors include SAT/ACT scores, the quality of colleges students consider, and student-to-teacher ratio, among other criteria.
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Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science received a $1.5 million donation from the Aaron Family Foundation and technology company Ubicquia to create the Ubicquia Innovation Center for Intelligent Infrastructure.
The center will help design and utilize technologies, like industrial sensors and artificial intelligence, that aim to improve how utilities, cities and businesses manage their infrastructure through digital tools.
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Rick Maharajh, CEO and founder of the Boynton Beach Chamber of Industry & Commerce, announced an effort to support the relief in Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.
“The BBCIC has a proud member, Playa Paraiso Jamaica Bed and Breakfast, located in Hanover, Jamaica. I have personally been in touch with the owners and will continue to do so and to reassure them that they have our support,” Maharajh said.
“We have partnered with Car Accident Referral Services, a BBCIC member, along with Dutch Pot Jamaican Restaurant, to provide this joint relief effort. Please join us in supporting all our friends in Jamaica.”
They are looking for tarps, work gloves, generators, flashlights (including solar-powered flashlights), large trash bags, tents, canned/nonperishable foods, industrial sponges, water, first-aid kits, batteries, sleeping bags, new clothing and toiletries.
Boynton Beach resident Samantha Ramnarine, owner of Car Accident Referral Services, is heading up the collection efforts. To donate, call her at 954-249-5858 to make arrangements.
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The nonprofit Institute for Regional Conservation has launched a new initiative, “Reviving Urban Nature.” As part of this effort, the institute partnered with Boca Raton’s Office of Sustainability to restore scrub habitat at Gopher Tortoise Preserve in Boca Raton.
At two recent events, volunteers planted scrub species that included gopher apple, narrow-leaf silkgrass and large-flower false rosemary. These plants provide habitat for endangered gopher tortoises and other species that depend on Florida’s scrub ecosystem.
The preserve is not open to the public yet, so look for future announcements from the city of Boca Raton to see these planting areas.
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Boynton Beach Vice Mayor Woodrow Hay was recently awarded an honorary lifetime membership to the Boynton Beach Chamber of Industry & Commerce. Hay was first elected to the City Commission representing District 2 in November 2007. He also served as mayor in 2012-2013 after being appointed to fill a vacancy in that office, and he has served on the planning and development board for the last eight years.
Hay has been involved with community organizations that include the Committed Citizens Concerned About Our Children, the Boynton Beach Housing Authority, the United Way Palm Beach County and the Jean Cobbs Sickle Cell Center in Delray Beach.
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Among Michelin Key distinctions, two area hotels won “keys” in 2025. The Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach won two keys and the Tower at The Boca Raton won one key.
The Michelin Key awards, introduced in 2024, recognize “the most outstanding hotels in our selection,” similar to how Michelin stars denote restaurants. The selection process involves anonymous inspections by Michelin Guide experts, who choose from a list of more than 5,000 properties. One key signifies a “very special stay with high comfort and great personality.” Two keys denote “an exceptional stay with premier service and design.”
Christine Davis writes business news and can be reached at cdavis9797@gmail.com.
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