Spec mansion, listed for $28 million, sells
Coveted lakefront addresses along Billionaires' Row are dwindling this month. Listed for $28 million, a house being built on speculation by Palm Beach developer Dan Swanson closed a week ago.
Because of confidentiality agreements, Swanson and those who negotiated the deal declined to comment.
The buyers of 1275 S. Ocean Blvd., who took title through a corporation, are said to be Sandra and Bruce Hammonds of Wilmington, Del. The former chief executive of credit-card giant MBNA, Bruce Hammonds took the helm of Bank of America's credit card operations two years ago when it acquired MBNA for $35 billion. A one-time semi-pro quarterback after college, he was lauded a few years ago for trimming corporate perks at MBNA.
He and his wife, an educator, endowed a professorship in the University of Delaware's College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy.
The Hammonds' house covers 17,230 square feet and is about six months from completion. It sits on 1.88 acres across the road from Casa Apava and has 188 feet on the lake. The French-Revival style was a departure for Swanson, who more often builds Mediterranean-style mansions.
This house has a different design, layout and floorplan from the one which Swanson built at 1960 S. Ocean Blvd., which closed for $33.6 million. One new feature is a sunroom that can be all open or all closed via full-length French sliding windows.
Dan Swanson might have gotten close to what he bargained for at the outset. When he acquired the property in 2005 for $9.5 million, he said the site would be available for $16.9 million until he started construction, but the price for the new home would be $25.9 million.
Also off the market is the property next door, 1255 S. Ocean Blvd., one of the few large undeveloped parcels left in Palm Beach. The owners of the acreage decided against selling.
Reed Krakoff, creative director at Coach Inc., the American leather goods company, and his wife, Delphine, an interior designer, bought the property in 2004 for $9.4 million. However, they scrapped plans to build a contemporary-style family home, saying their careers in New York left too little time to devote to building a new house.
The 6-acre partial-wetlands tract with protected natural vegetation has 180 feet of unobstructed water view and a buildable area of about 2 acres.
They listed the land in August for $19.99 million with broker Paulette Koch of The Corcoran Group, later raising the price to $22.5 million. The Krakoffs have now reversed their reversal and plan to proceed with construction, Koch said.
"They took it off the market a few weeks ago. They loved it too much. For now, they're moving ahead with their plans and hope to break ground soon," Koch said.