$21 million home sale breaks all records in West Palm Beach
A gilded $21 million sale of a single-family home in West Palm Beach’s historic Prospect Park left even seasoned Realtors gobsmacked this month as it shattered city records in an evolving landscape of rollicking high-end deals.
The property at 3140 Washington Road is part of a redrawing of several waterfront lots orchestrated by the home’s seller, Sean Heyniger, who until the Jan. 31 transaction lived in the home as his primary residence. It’s one of four lots south of George Petty Park that were replatted in a plan that includes Heyniger’s promise to relocate two historic homes closer to the street. Heyniger bought the home with his wife, Ashly Heyniger, in 2014 for $1.5 million.
Heyniger said he couldn’t comment on the deal or the buyer, which is listed in official Palm Beach County records as the limited liability company 3140 Washington managed by Palm Beach real estate attorney Guy Rabideau.
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But his son, Briggs Heyniger, a Realtor who worked on the replat, said he’s not surprised by the increased interest in the area and the willingness to pay big for land on the Intracoastal Waterway.
“Several new homes and renovated historic homes are underway currently in historic neighborhoods, and we see no slowdown in the demand or softening of prices,” he said.
A search of sales on the multiple listing service shows the $21 million purchase tops the next highest price for a single-family property of $16 million. Two homes on North Flagler Drive, Nos. 3240 and 4906, sold for $16 million last year. The home at 3200 Washington Road in West Palm Beach sold for $15.9 million in 2021. Another Flagler Drive home at 6717 sold for $15.07 million last year.
Sabra Kirkpatrick, a Realtor and sales director for Brown Harris Stevens in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, noted the pricey sales are likely tied to West Palm Beach’s newfound reputation of being Wall Street South with firms such as Goldman Sachs and the hedge fund Elliot Management putting down roots in the city.
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Also, the prolific builder Related Cos. has finished and filled its 360 Rosemary office building downtown and started construction on the One Flagler office tower. It has several more commercial buildings in the planning stages. More top-paid employees are expected to trickle into Palm Beach County as those buildings open.
“The sale of 3140 Washington Road is proof positive that the residential market in West Palm remains healthy, despite the rapid increase in interest rates,” Kirkpatrick said. “There are lots of reasons why; the weather, the business climate, low taxes, the rise of remote work, and the emergence of the area as Wall Street South.”
The home at 3140 Washington is on more than an acre of land, according to property appraiser records. Built in 1940, it has about 4,300 square feet of indoor space, five bedrooms, a pool and expansive frontage on the Lake Worth Lagoon. It was unknown Friday if the new owner plans to keep the home or build new. Because the house is in a historic district, changes or a new home design would need to be approved by the West Palm Beach Historic Preservation Board.
The board did agree to moving two historic homes that are in the replatted area to make room for at least one new house to be on the water.
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A 1939 home, buried deep on a shady lot off Washington Road, and a 1940 home designed by celebrated architect Belford Shoumate, who died in 1991, will both be moved closer to the road under Heyniger’s plan.
Not everyone in the historic neighborhood is excited about the mini-subdivision that the lot changes are creating.
Washington Road neighbor Neil Stegall called the plan "nothing more than a classic example of madness and greed” during a 2021 historic preservation board meeting.
Friederike Mittner, West Palm Beach's historic preservation planner, said in the same 2021 meeting that considering the threat of sea-level rise on the historic homes and the burgeoning real estate market, the home moves were warranted.
"It's definitely out of the box. It's extreme," Mittner said. "I can appreciate that this might be jarring. It’s a unique circumstance that lends itself to this kind of creative solution."
Kimberly Miller is a veteran journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate and how growth affects South Florida's environment. Subscribe to The Dirt newsletter for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm Beach home sale's $21 million price still shocks market
