Billy Joel relists estate near Palm Beach for $54.9 million, a $10M price drop

Piano man Billy Joel is no doubt hoping the new asking price — $54.9 million — for his ocean-to-lake estate in Manalapan near Palm Beach will be more in tune with conditions in the local real estate market.

The price tag is $10 million less than the $64.9 million the singer had sought when his estate at 1110 S. Ocean Blvd. last entered the market in late 2022. That listing expired in August 2023, the multiple listing service shows.

On 1.6 acres, the estate has 150 feet of frontage on the Atlantic Ocean and, to the west, the Intracoastal Waterway. The coastal road separates the bulk of the estate — with the oceanfront mansion — from the lakefront parcel, which has a dock.

Joel, who is expected to perform in Los Angeles Feb. 4 at the Grammy Awards, also has listed his estate in Oyster Bay on Long Island, New York, for $49 million.

The singer made headlines recently when he said during a concert in New York that he was planning to “spend a little more time in Florida like old Jewish guys from Long Island do.”

That may mean he’ll be hanging out in Palm Beach. Public records suggest he bought a Palm Beach townhouse in late 2021, a purchase confirmed to the Palm Beach Daily News by people familiar with the deal. Other artists with homes in Palm Beach include rockers Jon Bon Jovi and Rod Stewart. The town also was home for many years to the late Jimmy Buffett.

On Feb. 1, Joel released a new single, “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first release in 17 years. A six-time Grammy winner, his hits include “Piano Man,” “Just the Way You Are,” “Uptown Girl,” “Movin' Out” and “We Didn't Start the Fire.”

Joel is married to Alexis Roderick Joel, a former financial executive who also is an accomplished horsewoman. The couple reportedly owns property in Wellington in western Palm Beach County.

Billy Joel's Manalapan estate near Palm Beach was built in 2010

The singer has owned his estate in Manalapan since early 2015, when he used an ownership company to buy it for $22.1 million from Texas banking tycoon and philanthropist Donald A. Adam, property records show.

Developed in 2010, the estate — designed to recall an Italian palazzo — has nine bedrooms and about 20,838 square feet of living space, inside and out. The property includes a two-bedroom guest house and additional space for household staff. There’s also a 10-car garage.

Broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate holds the listing, which describes the estate as a bright, modern Mediterranean-style compound.

Angle could not be reached for comment. A representative for Joel declined to comment about his real estate holdings.

Angle’s latest listing for the Manalapan property entered the multiple listing service Jan. 17. The property is a “one-of-a-kind estate” with “rich details, intricate millwork and sophisticated finishes,” the listing says.

The house has a wine cellar, silverware closet and a theater room connected to a full bar. Photographs show a sweeping staircase with a grand piano positioned in front of it.

The primary bedroom suite on the second floor has a fireplace.

Outside are terraces designed for entertaining and, on the beachfront, a loggia with a fireplace, summer kitchen and dining area.

Angle had listed the property for sale in 2018 at $31.9 million but the listing later dropped out the MLS.

The estate was built on property sliced from the historic Harold S. Vanderbilt estate and sold by Veronica Hearst — widow of newspaper scion Randolph Hearst — to developer Robert Fessler, who sold the house new in 2011 to Adam for $15 million.

Billy Joel involved in other South Florida real estate deals

Billy Joel has owned and sold other properties in South Florida, according to courthouse records and published reports.

In January 2020, one of his ownership companies sold — at a price recorded at about $10.3 million — an eight-bedroom house with about 13,200 total square feet on an ocean-to-lake property at 1920 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan. Hehad extensively renovated that house, which was built in 2004, but he never lived in it, according to sources familiar with the sale.

In April 2018, an ownership company controlled by the singer sold another Manalapan property, an ocean-to-lake vacant lot of about 2 acres at 1940 S. Ocean Blvd., immediately south of the house that sold in 2020. The sale price for that lot was recorded at $7.5 million.

Among his real estate transactions in Miami-Dade County, the singer sold — for $13.75 million in 2013 — an 8,800-square-foot house on La Gorce Island in Miami Beach, according to published reports.

dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com

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This story was updated from a previous version. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Grammy performer Billy Joel relists estate near Palm Beach for $54.9M