Welcome to The Dirt! I’m real estate, weather and critter reporter Kimberly Miller with the latest developments in the sizzling market.
Who knew the stratospherically-wealthy Palm Beach enclave of Sloan’s Curve was really just “Melrose Place” with money and minus Heather Locklear (still hate you Amanda!)? This was demonstrated recently when a 2011 fuss over Sloan’s Curve tennis courts ended in the wife of former Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter getting $50 million.
There’s more, of course. DNA theft allegations, accusations of a hate letter campaign, and then Amanda started dating Alison’s roommate Billy and Kimberly blew up the whole place. Wait. That’s not right. Laura Perlmutter was accused of excluding the wife of Harold Peerenboom from social events including a country club card game. (I too was excluded from social events and the card game. I’m sure Laura just forgot to WhatsApp me? Right?)
In other real estate-related news, the beloved Lion Country Safari was sold to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Mark Wahlberg is getting a new high-profile neighbor in Stone Creek Ranch, West Palm Beach’s waterfront could be put on Ozempic, and billionaire Steve Wynn’s proposed beach cabana loses again at ARCOM.
Larry Ellison buys drive-thru zoo
Before we all lose our minds like Palm Beachers did over gas-powered leaf blowers, billionaire Larry Ellison is not evicting the lovable (man eating, man trampling, face munching) animals at Lion Country Safari. Instead, it’s expected that the decades old wildlife park will stay a wildlife park because apparently Ellison is a major conservationist.
I suppose that information gets missed in all the other billionaire buys he’s made like the $277.4 million he spent on Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa. Considering that, the $30 mil he spent for Lion Country Safari is a “drop in the bucket”, according to one local real estate expert.
Rockstar energy drink founder joins Mark Wahlberg in Stone Creek Ranch
Suddenly, Stone Creek Ranch is everywhere. The western Delray Beach uber-exclusive, highly-secured community has celebrity Mark Wahlberg as a resident and now Rockstar energy drink founder Russ Weiner is buying two homes there. That’s right, two homes, which if they sold at listing price would be a total purchase of $42.8 million.
Realtors said they are getting calls from all over the world about buying in Stone Creek Ranch but there are only 37 properties and as of late November, none were publicly for sale. Waa, waahhh.
Steve Wynn’s beach cabana a two-time loser
Casino-and-resort billionaire Steve Wynn’s proposed beach cabana got a second thumbs down at a recent Palm Beach Architectural Commission meeting. The rejection wasn’t as harsh as the first go-around where the design was likened to a double-wide trailer with French doors. True story.
The new model resembles a miniature Mediterranean mansion with pink stucco, a barrel-tile roof and quoins. You gotta love a good quoin, so delicate and buttery. I really have no idea what a quoin is. Remember before Google when we just didn’t know some things and that was OK?
This was a very billionaire heavy newsletter. Robin Leach would be proud.
Live lightly.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the 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.
