Palm Beach real estate agents deal with coastal-road closure for security near Mar-a-Lago

The U.S. Secret Service’s unexpected long-term closure of South Ocean Boulevard near former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club caught real estate agents off guard, especially those who have houses listed for sale in the affected neighborhood, one of the priciest in Palm Beach.

A search this week of the multiple listing service showed seven properties — priced between $13.9 million and $48.85 million — for sale in the affected area. And that tally doesn’t include any properties that might be offered privately outside the MLS.

Seasoned agents and brokers have been through road closures in the neighborhood before when Trump was president, but there’s a key difference this time. Previous closings of the half-mile stretch of coastal road took place only when Trump or his immediate family members were in residence at his private club.

The new shutdown, which went into effect July 20, is expected to remain in place around the clock — regardless of whether Trump or his family is in residence at Mar-a-Lago — through at least the November presidential election. Trump is the Republican nominee.

The closure came in the wake of the July 13 failed assassination attempt on Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania during which a spectator was killed and two others were critically injured.

The road shutdown also arrived just in time for Trump’s unusual summertime visit to his home at Mar-a-Lago, which began July 21. Trump announced Tuesday that he would host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Palm Beach on Friday.

It’s unclear at this point when the road might reopen. Should Trump win re-election, the street closure would almost certainly extend beyond the election.

Because South Ocean Boulevard is a major artery between the South End of town and points north, its closure by Mar-a-Lago effectively splits Palm Beach in half. Through-traffic must accommodate the shutdown with major detours back and forth from the island over the Southern Boulevard Bridge near Mar-a-Lago and the Royal Park Bridge. Those detours into and out of West Palm Beach can total four miles or more.

As is typical during the summer, the club — housed in a landmarked mansion built by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post — is closed to members until October.

Residents who live in the affected area are allowed to enter the neighborhood, providing they show a government-issued I.D. with proof of their address, according to the Palm Beach Police Department, echoing the Secret Service’s longstanding policy.

During Trump’s White House years, authorized workers also were allowed into the area during the road closure.

The Secret Service limits the amount of information it discloses about its security procedures. But in the past, the checkpoint inspections for cars have included searches of the engine and trunk, a look at the vehicle’s undercarriage using mirrors and a sniff test by trained dogs, according to residents who live in the area.

Is it any wonder at this point that any house-hunter looking to purchase in the neighborhood might weigh their options carefully?

On the one hand, real estate observers say, the shutdown and its accompanying checkpoints certainly boost security for those who live there. And because flight paths from the Palm Beach International Airport are typically diverted when Trump is in residence at Mar-a-Lago, the neighborhood gets spared the usual roar of planes overhead.

But the road closure can also create traffic headaches for residents of the affected area, since they can enter and exit only through the checkpoint at the point where South County Road meets South Ocean Boulevard. That means that a neighborhood resident who lives in the neighborhood must drive north into Midtown to leave the island rather than exiting via the much-closer Southern Boulevard Bridge.

In any event, Palm Beach real estate agents have no reason as of yet to believe they will prohibited from entering the area to show properties.

“We expect it to be business as usual,” said Corcoran Group agent Dana Koch, who has two houses listed in the area.

Koch said there were no hassles Monday to when he encountered the South County Road checkpoint, which is staffed by Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies. He was visiting one of his listings, at 130 Algoma Road, for a showing.

“There were no problems at all,” he said,

He added that ensuring Trump’s security when the former president is in town is of paramount importance. But he also echoed the views of Palm Beach officials who have questioned whether around-the-clock road closures are critical when Trump isn’t at Mar-a-Lago.

Koch is co-listing the five-bedroom house, priced at $17.5 million, at 130 Algoma Road with his mother, Corcoran agent Paulette Koch. The house has 7,337 square feet of living space, inside and out.

His and his mother’s other listing in the area is an eight-bedroom property listed for $32.75 million at 120 Clarendon Ave. The main residence and its guesthouse have 12,773 total square feet.

Among other agents’ listings in the neighborhood is a mansion being developed on speculation at 1090 S. Ocean Blvd. Currently under construction, the house will have a front door facing Woodbridge Road, the street that borders the north side of Mar-a-Lago.

Priced at $45 million, the house might appeal to someone who wants to join Mar-a-Lago, because it will be sold with a perk negotiated years ago with Trump before he opened the club in the mid-1990s. The club waives its initiation fee for Woodbridge Road residents, although they still must pay monthly dues.

And that initiation fee isn’t for those with shallow wallets. It’s currently $700,000 — and could rise to $1 million in October, according to an article published July 16 by Bloomberg Businessweek. The article quoted Mar-a-Lago Manager Bernd Lembcke in a conversation with Trump while the former president was taking part in a lengthy interview with the media outlet.

Just four memberships are available for sale, “so we’re not desperate,” Lembcke reportedly said.

Agent Margit Brandt of Premier Estate Properties holds the listing for the house at No. 1090, which was designed with six bedrooms and 13,353 square feet of living space, inside and out. Brandt declined to comment about the property or the road closure.

The most expensive property listed in the area is 160 Clarendon Ave., a Mediterranean-style estate comprising two lots — totaling about 1.5 acres — near the Intracoastal Waterway. Priced at $48.85 million by broker Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates, the estate has a main house, an extensive garden parcel and a separate pool pavilion and guesthouse. In all, the estate has five bedrooms and 11,469 square feet.

The other properties listed in the neighborhood include the following:

◼ A five-bedroom house with 7,593 total square feet at 1048 S. Ocean Blvd. on the corner of Algoma Road is listed at $23.95 million by agent Elizabeth DeWoody of Compass Florida.

◼ A five-bedroom house with 6,789 total square feet at 153 Kings Road is being marketed at $15.75 million, co-listed by Bob Jackson Inc. agents Robert “Robbie” E. Jackson III and Spencer H. Berstein, whose parents own the property; and

◼ A five-bedroom house with 5,525 total square feet at 168 Kings Road is co-listed at $13.9 million by Brooke A. Murphy and Kyle Warner Blackmon, both of Compass Florida.

The road closure also affects agents with listings south of Mar-a-Lago. Although the coastal road is open south of Southern Boulevard, most of the offices of real estate agents lie north of the affected area. So do the Midtown hotels — including The Breakers and The Colony — where house-hunters may be staying as they shop for property in Palm Beach.

That means agents in Midtown who want to show clients properties on the South End — either along South Ocean Boulevard’s Billionaires Row or farther south on Condominium Row — will often have to take a detour of several miles. They’ll likely head to the mainland on the Royal Park Bridge, turn south on Flagler Drive and then travel back onto the island via Southern Boulevard.

“Time is money,” says Dana Koch. “It’s going to take an extra 30 minutes each way.”

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This is a developing story. Check back for any updates to security procedures in the area near The Mar-a-Lago Club.

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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. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Coastal-road security closure by Mar-a-Lago impacts pricey real estate