Trump house next to Mar-a-Lago leased after it was advertised at $149,000 a month

Darrell Hofheinz, Palm Beach Daily News
Updated ·3 min read
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A house owned by a company linked to former President Donald Trump at 1125 S. Ocean Blvd. stands directly on the shore next to Mar-a-Lago's beach club. The furnished house has just been rented for $149,000 a month for what is likely several months beginning in January.
A house owned by a company linked to former President Donald Trump at 1125 S. Ocean Blvd. stands directly on the shore next to Mar-a-Lago's beach club. The furnished house has just been rented for $149,000 a month for what is likely several months beginning in January.
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It looks like former President Donald Trump will have a new neighbor in Palm Beach later this season — and some new rental income, to boot.

A real estate agent has leased the beachfront house the Trump family owns at 1125 S. Ocean Blvd., adjacent to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago Club.

The house was listed for rent at $149,000 a month, although it’s unclear from its just-updated-for-rent listing how much the as-yet-unidentified tenant will actually pay.

The two-story house, which has been leased before, entered the multiple listing service’s annual rental offerings in April, with an asking price of $195,000 a month. The price was reduced some time this summer, according to people familiar with the property.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a commit to caucus rally, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, in Adel, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a commit to caucus rally, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, in Adel, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The exact length and actual dollar amount of the new lease were not mentioned in the MLS listing updated Friday. But a post about the transaction that appeared Thursday on listing agent Margit Brandt’s Instagram account carried the headline “Leased for the 2024 season.”

Brandt, who is affiliated with Premier Estate Properties, declined to discuss the lease or the property with the Palm Beach Daily News.

Her MLS listing says the house is still available for rent in November and December. That likely means the just-signed lease might cover a least some of the the prime rental months of the season — January through May.

The Instagram post and the MLS listing also did not say if any real estate agent represented the tenant.

Known as “The Beach House,” the West Indies-style residence has eight bedrooms and 10,455 square feet of living space, inside and out. It was built in 1956 on a lot that faces about 200 feet of beachfront.

Owned by a company linked to former President Donald Trump, an oceanfront house at 1125 S. Ocean Blvd. has just been leased after being marketed for rent, furnished, on an annual basis for $149,000 a month.
Owned by a company linked to former President Donald Trump, an oceanfront house at 1125 S. Ocean Blvd. has just been leased after being marketed for rent, furnished, on an annual basis for $149,000 a month.

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Brandt’s sales listing described the Trump house as a “trophy property.”

The listing added: “With owner approvals, residency can be pet-friendly and also will include coveted access to the exclusive Mar-a-Lago Beach Club next door.”

In Palm Beach, properties advertised for annual leases, such as the Trump house, are not necessarily available only for yearly rentals. Tenants often negotiate to rent for shorter periods — say four to nine months — at a higher monthly rate.

Short-term leases are common in Palm Beach to accommodate people who want to visit only during the popular winter and spring months.

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The island’s rental market has cooled considerably since the coronavirus pandemic kick-started it in early 2020, when people flocked to Palm Beach and snapped up anything available for lease. The situation today has returned to a far more typical level, real estate observers say.

But competition for better-quality rental properties can still be fierce, especially for waterfront homes available during prime months.

Mar-a-Lago’s Beach Club, with its oceanfront pool, is immediately south of the just-leased house and can be accessed through a connecting gate. The Beach Club also is directly across South Ocean Boulevard from the main grounds of Mar-a-Lago.

The rental house has been renovated since the Trump family bought it in 2018 for a recorded $18.25 million from one of Trump’s sisters, Maryanne Trump Barry, a retired federal appeals judge. It is owned through a limited liability company named after the property's address and administered by Trump's eldest sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., of The Trump Organization, business records show.

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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: Tenant rents Trump house by Mar-a-Lago advertised at $149,000 a month