Busy two weeks: Breakers Row in Palm Beach sees another condo sale, this one at about $15M

Residents of the luxury condominiums at 2 N. Breakers Row in Palm Beach just saw three sizable deals there within two weeks, with latest sale also the largest — a $14.75 million transaction for a rare oceanfront penthouse in the northernmost of the development’s two buildings.

Combined, the three separate condo sales totaled $33.875 million, according to the prices recorded with the deeds.

In the latest sale, the three-bedroom penthouse known as N-PH 4 changed hands via a deed recorded Jan. 4. It is on the prime southeast corner of the fifth floor and was sold with a pool cabana.

One of four penthouses in the building, the apartment was sold by the estate of the late Diane Belfer, who died last January at 94. She was the widow of New York energy businessman Arthur Belfer, with whom she bought the condo new from its developer for $1.85 million in 1987, six years before her husband’s death, records show.

On the buyer’s side of the sale was the PBP Trust, with real estate attorney Maura Ziska acting as trustee. Ziska declined to comment. Because of privacy rules governing trusts, no other information about the identity of anyone else associated with the trust was immediately available in public records.

The sale closed Dec. 28, according to the updated sales listing in the mutliple listing service. Belfer’s two children, Kenneth M. Endelson and Kathi Belfer Cypres, sold the apartment as successor trustees of a trust in their mother’s name, the deed shows.

Palm Beach penthouse offers ocean, golf-course views

The condo has 4,095 square feet of living space, inside and on its private terrace. The buyer paid $3,601 per square foot, based on that measurement.

The condo offers views of the Atlantic Ocean over about 470 feet of shoreline at the development, which stands on land owned by The Breakers on the far north side of its property.

On the west side of the condo, the views include the resort’s golf course and the West Palm Beach skyline in the distance.

The private terrace on the south side runs nearly the length of the residence.

The white-glove-service development on Breakers Row is home to some of the most expensive apartments ever sold in Palm Beach.

Arthur Belfer founded Belco Petroleum Corp. in 1953 and grew it into one of the country’s largest oil companies before merging it in 1983 with a company that later became the now-defunct Enron Corp. of Houston.

His widow had the condo homesteaded as her primary residence in the latest Palm Beach County tax rolls.

Broker Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates had held the listing since the beginning of November, the MLS shows. With an asking price of $14.9 million, the condo landed under contract Dec. 8.

Moens could not be reached for comment.

Agent Jack Elkins of William Raveis South Florida negotiated for the buyers behind the trust in the sale.

Elkins would not discuss his clients or offer any specifics about the sale. But he said the buyers “loved the higher ceiling heights on the PH level and (the) ocean views, golf course views and cityscape views at night.”

The living room and dining area are among the rooms with views of the Atlantic. The layout also includes an expansive primary suite, a den and a staff bedroom. Other features of the condo include a lighting system and abundant wall space suitable for displaying art, according to sales listings. Floors in the main living areas are covered in marble tiles, and the bathrooms are finished in granite and marble. The condo was sold with two garage spaces.

Palm Beach penthouse has a layout suited for entertaining

The condominium was previously listed, separately, with two other Palm Beach agencies, beginning in February 2022 for $21.75 million, a price that set a record at the time as the most expensive condominium ever listed in Palm Beach, the MLS shows. The price tag was later dropped to $18.5 million before Moens acquired the listing in November.

On the sellers’ side, Endelson — a Palm Beach resident — told the Palm Beach Daily News in 2022 that his late mother and late stepfather owned another condo in town in the Sun & Surf building before they bought in nearby Breakers Row.

“Their Sun & Surf apartment had ocean views, and my mother said the view was always black at night. She wanted ocean, golf course and city views, so the Breakers Row penthouse was a perfect choice for them. It was also substantially larger,” Endelson said.

The Breakers Row condo also was well suited to the Belfers’ style of entertaining, Endelson said in 2022: “They had fairly large dinner parties using the living room, dining room and terrace, with guests having their cocktails on the terrace.”

ANOTHER BREAKERS ROW DEAL: Condo on Palm Beach's Breakers Row sells for $10.125 million; it was part of a 2012 swap

Two other sales closed recently at 2 N. Breakers Row in Palm Beach

The other noteworthy deals documented in December at 2 N. Breakers Row included a $10.125 million sale of oceanfront Unit N-43 in the North Building, which sold with a cabana in a deal that closed Dec. 14.  Moens represented the seller, the estate of the late Chris Marden, with broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate acting on behalf of the buyer, a Delaware-registered limited liability company named Capricorn Properties. Unit N-43 has 3,131 total square feet, records show, and the buyer paid $3,324 per square foot.

A week later, another beachfront condo, No. S-45 in the South Building, and its cabana were sold by the daughters of the late businessman and investor Carl J. Shapiro for a recorded $9 million to Michigan insurance executive Alan Jay Kaufman. Angle handled both sides of the sale of that condo, which has 3,728 total square feet. The apartment changed hands for $2,414 per square foot.

In addition to concierge-level service offered by the staff at 2 N. Breakers Row, residents can order meals from The Breakers, contract for housekeeping services and take advantage of the resort's facilities via a club membership.

CONDO SALE HAD LINK TO BERNIE MADOFF: Palm Beach condo of late Carl Shapiro, early investor in Bernie Madoff's firm, brings $9M

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This is a developing story. Check back for any updates.

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: A $14.75M condo sale was third in 2 weeks on Palm Beach's Breakers Row