The Dirt: Mystery real estate deals in Palm Beach this week, and the Nora guys do townhomes

Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post
·4 min read
149 E. Inlet Drive, Palm Beach
149 E. Inlet Drive, Palm Beach

Welcome to The Dirt! I’m real estate reporter Kimberly Miller with the latest developments in the sizzling market.

The stories this week read like something out of a "Mission Impossible" movie with mystery buyers, clandestine deals and security screenings that are likely more intense than those at the West Wing of the White (powder) House.

In Palm Beach, an estate south of the inlet was purchased by an unknown person but sources told luxury real estate reporter Darrell Hofheinz that at least one government agency had to ensure it could be properly secured. Where's Ethan Hunt when you need him?

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Next up, the Frisbie Group unloaded an eyesore iconic building on the world-renowned Worth Avenue, but the buyer and the sale price was a secret until Monday when a deed was filed and the mystery was solved.

There's still no proper public record on the estimated $170 million sale for a Palm Beach mansion, but at least we think we know the buyers, and they are in the news again.

All this undercover stuff, running around, jumping and fighting, it's exhausting. So sip your shaken not stirred and let's just get to it because there is stuff on the other side of the lake that we need to talk about also.

Nora, Nora, Nora

A rendering of a proposed new multi-family development on the south side of Nottingham Boulevard and south of Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach by NDT Development.
A rendering of a proposed new multi-family development on the south side of Nottingham Boulevard and south of Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach by NDT Development.

Everybody's all about the Nora brouhaha of too-cool-for-school shops, restaurants and whatnot in West Palm Beach but the guys at NDT Development are also doing a residential side project closer to the south end of the city. It's in the coveted SoSo community but maybe just a teeny bit on the border near the railroad tracks and El Bonche Bar so it's got all these "Rebel Without a Cause" vibes but you're still in a good school zone.

At least one neighbor is concerned about an uptick in traffic and parking problems, but, pish-posh, when has that ever stopped the city?

Classified sale by top-secret buyer who may or may not need government protection

The front doors at 149 E. Inlet Drive in Palm Beach open onto a pergola-covered breezeway facing the pool.
The front doors at 149 E. Inlet Drive in Palm Beach open onto a pergola-covered breezeway facing the pool.

It's almost more fun not knowing who the buyer is of the oceanfront estate at 149 E. Inlet Drive in Palm Beach. Obscured by a trust, someone paid $68.15 million for the home, which allegedly needed the approval by at least one government security agency.

Look, we've already got one guy who gets extra special attention, how many more can one little island handle? First person who fesses up to being the buyer gets a free membership to The Dirt for the low price of a digital Palm Beach Post subscription.

Palm Beach County golfers are so big and strong they shut down the driving range at The Park

Jim Verrillo of Highland Beach observes the path of his ball on a Toptracer Range system at the driving range at The Park West Palm Beach during the grand opening of the new public golf course.
Jim Verrillo of Highland Beach observes the path of his ball on a Toptracer Range system at the driving range at The Park West Palm Beach during the grand opening of the new public golf course.

So many golf balls were sailing over the safety fences at The Park golf course in West Palm Beach it was like a tempest of resin-coated hailstones, which is actually an exaggeration but there were a lot escaping the driving range and raining down terror on the neighborhood. Too much? A girl's got to have some fun. Anyway, there was conjecture that people were doing it on purpose but no one would do that, right?

In reality, the nets, at 75-feet high, may have just been a wee bit low and now they need to double in size, and for that they need city permission but they couldn't get a quorum at the last meeting and ... yadda, yadda, find out the next step for the driving range in the story.

Did Citadel billionaire Ken Griffin buy this building? Yes! Yes, he did

These images provided by Frisbie Group show the building at 125 Worth Ave. as it now looks, and an artist rendering of the new look based on the company's plans for the building.
These images provided by Frisbie Group show the building at 125 Worth Ave. as it now looks, and an artist rendering of the new look based on the company's plans for the building.

Another hush-hush deal in Palm Beach involved the building at 125 Worth Ave., which the Frisbie Group wanted to fix up but instead got walloped by townies who didn't like their makeover proposal. The Town of Palm Beach is a tough place for new designs. It's like trying to sell 50 spf sunscreen to George Hamilton.

So, now the building has traded hands and the Ken Griffin is the buyer. So what does Mr. Griffin have planned? No one at The Dirt is a billionaire or millionaire or will ever be able to retire comfortably so we can't say what's behind the move, but we'll be watching like Rockwell.

Live lightly.

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 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: The Park golf course in West Palm Beach underestimated the strength of players