By Katherine Clarke and E.B. Solomont
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Billionaire William Lauder has struck a deal to sell two oceanfront lots in Palm Beach, Fla., for close to his original $200 million asking price, according to people familiar with the situation.
If the deal records for more than $170 million, it would set a record for Palm Beach. The previous record was set in 2023 when luxury car dealership owner Michael Cantanucci and his wife, Kimberly Cantanucci, paid about that amount for a roughly 1.6-acre oceanfront property with 150 feet of ocean frontage.
Lauder, the former executive chairman of the beauty giant Estée Lauder Companies, listed the vacant parcels for $200 million in 2023. Shortly after that, he paid $155 million for the late Rush Limbaugh's longtime Palm Beach estate. He later lowered the asking price for the vacant lots to a combined $177.8 million.
In total, the parcels span about 2.8 acres with 360 feet of direct beach frontage.
Lauder bought one of the properties, a roughly 1-acre parcel, for just under $25.4 million in 2020, property records show. He bought a second, roughly 1.8-acre property for an undisclosed sum in 2021. He demolished homes on both lots.
Luxury prices in Palm Beach have skyrocketed since Covid. The median single-family home price in Palm Beach was $10.9 million in the fourth quarter, up 24.3% year-over-year. The median luxury sale price in the fourth quarter was $34.4 million, more than double the median luxury sale price in 2023's fourth quarter. In 2022, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison paid $173 million for a home in nearby Manalapan.
Lauder owns trophy properties around the country. In 2019, he listed a unit at 778 Park Avenue in Manhattan for $45 million, then dropped the price to $39 million before pulling it off the market. Now, he is listing another unit in the building for $26.95 million, just above the $25 million he paid in 2023.
Write to Katherine Clarke at Katherine.Clarke@wsj.com and E.B. Solomont at eb.solomont@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 06, 2025 11:26 ET (16:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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