Palm Beach seller lists lake lot at $59M after razing house he bought for $50M in July

Darrell Hofheinz, Palm Beach Daily News
·4 min read
A Palm Beach vacant lot fronting the Intracoastal Waterway at 940 N. Lake Way has entered the market at $59 million. The land sold with a since-razed house for a recorded $50 million in July.
A Palm Beach vacant lot fronting the Intracoastal Waterway at 940 N. Lake Way has entered the market at $59 million. The land sold with a since-razed house for a recorded $50 million in July.

There’s a real estate cliché that agents and brokers often use to describe built-out Palm Beach: No one is making any more land on this 16-mile-long island.

But there’s a way to circumvent that truth, as demonstrated by a new $59-million listing of a vacant lakeside lot at 940 N. Lake Way.

Until recently, that land was home to a 1970s-era house. But after the North End property sold in late July for a recorded $50 million, the buyer razed the residence and cleared the land. The lot entered the multiple listing service with its look-at-me price on Wednesday.

With wide views of the Intracoastal Waterway, the lot is being sold by Palm Beach entrepreneur and investor Harvey Cooper Jones Jr., who bought the property through a trust in his name in a sale that closed July 28. At the time, the house was listed at $55 million.

With a private dock and 128 feet of lakefront, the land measures four-fifths of an acre. It’s the fourth lot north of the Palm Beach Country Club and is separated from the waterway by the Lake Trail bicycle-and-pedestrian path.

The property has water deep enough to accommodate a 130-foot yacht, and the concrete dock has two boat lifts.

Just listed at $59 million, a vacant lot measuring four-fifths of an acre at 940 N. Lake Way in Palm Beach offers views of the Intracoastal Waterway and the mainland.
Just listed at $59 million, a vacant lot measuring four-fifths of an acre at 940 N. Lake Way in Palm Beach offers views of the Intracoastal Waterway and the mainland.

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The lot is a little less than a mile north of a house Jones’ trust has owned since 2018 at 300 Ridgeview Road. He has that home, which he shares with fiancee Robin Gillen, listed as his primary residence in the latest Palm Beach County tax rolls.

He also has a home in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and has been described in published reports as an avid sailor.

Jones is managing partner of Square Wave Ventures, a private venture investment firm with an office in West Palm Beach. He could not be reached for comment.

The property is the fourth most-expensive of the 19 residential land listings in the Palm Beach Board of Realtors MLS, an online search Thursday showed. It trails an oceanfront lot priced at $200 million; an ocean-to-lake property listed at $150 million; and a beachfront parcel asking $74.5 million. The least expensive land listing on the island is a lot with a house being marketed as a tear-down for $4.25 million.

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Jones bought the property on North Lake Way from the estate of the late wine-and-liquor distributor James “Jimmy” V. Tigani II, who had owned it since 2002 through a Delaware-registered company named Century Wines & Spirits Inc.

Tigani, who bought the now-razed house for $7.37 million, died in November 2022 at 85. He shared the renovated five-bedroom, Palm Beach Regency-style house — built in 1974 — with his partner of 26 years, Corcoran Group real estate agent Mark Bennett.

With a private dock in the Intracoastal Waterway, a Palm Beach house at 940 N. Lake Way, center, changed hands in July 2023 for a recorded $50 million. The house was later demolished and the land listed at $59 million.
With a private dock in the Intracoastal Waterway, a Palm Beach house at 940 N. Lake Way, center, changed hands in July 2023 for a recorded $50 million. The house was later demolished and the land listed at $59 million.

Bennett handled the seller’s side of the July transaction, with Sotheby’s International Realty Agents Todd and Frances Peter representing Jones’ interests.

The Peters also hold the listing for the vacant lot. Todd Peter declined to comment about the property.

But the new sales listing describes the property as being in a “prime location” that provides “the perfect haven for maritime enthusiasts” to build a “dream home,” thanks to its relatively deep water. Such properties are in short supply on the island, not just because of the topography but also owing to the tight inventory for waterfront homes.

“The dock is thoughtfully designed to accommodate larger vessels over 100 feet, along with multiple smaller vessels. The dock features a substantial 40,000-pound lift for larger boats, and an additional 15,000-pound lift for smaller boats,” the listing says.

The buyer would have immediate access to the Lake Trail from the property. Access to the ocean on the opposite side of the island is between Sandpiper and Eden roads.

dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com

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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: Palm Beach estate that fetched $50M in July lists at $59M as empty lot