Palm Beach spec home at 1620 S. Ocean sells for $12.5 million

Proving Palm Beach property is still a rare and highly desired commodity, two prospective buyers' bids recently determined the sales price of a newly constructed waterfront home, agents said.

 

No. 1620 S. Ocean Blvd. sold for $12.5 million early last month, slightly down from the $13.9 million asking price, according to Multiple Listing Service records.

 

The 10,000-square-foot, two-story Mediterranean home - boasting six bedrooms and eight and a half baths - sits across South Ocean Boulevard from the beach and just north of Seagrape Circle.

 

Paulette Koch, of the Corcoran Group, represented builder and seller Grand Estates Building & Design of Boca Raton. Dana Koch, also of Corcoran, represented buyer Laurence Abramson of West Palm Beach.

 

When first offered last summer, the home was listed at $17.5 million, but when the price was lowered to $13.9 million in December, potential buyers began biting, the Kochs said.

 

"It shows that when something is priced correctly, the buyers come in," Paulette Koch said.

 

The project marks Grand Estates' first oceanfront spec home on the island. The company purchased the property in March 2003 for $3.7 million from the family of Sidney P. Kriser, who died that year, according to property records.

 

At that time No. 1620 contained a small 1960s-era home, and Grand Estates tore it down to begin the project in 2004, said Stuart Wexelman, a Grand Estates owner.

 

"Because it was a spec home instead of a custom, we got to spend a lot of time designing the home so it would be up to Palm Beach standards," Wexelman said.

 

The home features a pool and an outdoor loggia, a three-car garage and a wine room, but the Kochs said the new owners were especially impressed with the way Grand Estates completed the home's detailed finishes.

 

Among the loving touches are rich mahogany doors, wainscoting in the living room, pecky cypress ceilings and limestone floors. The two master baths also feature a good deal of onyx.

 

The new owners "fell in love with the property," Dana Koch said.