South Florida report

Snapshots of real estate news from the Sunshine State

935 Hillsboro Mile
935 Hillsboro Mile

Priciest listing in the U.S.

A massive Broward County mansion modeled after the Palace of Versailles is believed to be the most expensive active residential listing in the nation.

The 60,500-square-foot, 11-bedroom house in Hillsboro Beach is on the market for a staggering $139 million. Once completed, the 935 Hillsboro Mile home will have 17 bathrooms, a 492-foot private dock that can accommodate a 185-foot mega-yacht and an underground garage with more than 30 parking spaces. The mansion could be finished by the end of 2015.

Other features include a 13-foot, 22-carat gold-leaf gate, a 26-foot entrance fountain and a $2 million marble staircase. An IMAX home theater with seating for 18 people is being built inside the house. The property will also have a 4,500-square-foot infinity edge pool with a 12-foot cascading waterfall.

Joseph Leone and Denio Madera Design collaborated on the home’s design. Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate has the listing.

Elliman’s Miami Push

New York real estate giant Douglas Elliman is boosting its South Florida agent roster and ramping up its preconstruction luxury condo sales activity in the region.

A decade into its Miami expansion, the brokerage hired about 300 new brokers in the past year, increasing its South Florida broker pool to 430. It now has eight offices in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The firm’s national network reached 5,000 brokers in July.

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Longtime Coldwell Banker broker Tom Bryan was recently tapped as managing broker for Elliman’s Miami operations.

Some of the major preconstruction assignments the firm picked up include Faena House in Miami, which is now sold out, and Terra Group and the Related Group’s Park Grove in Coconut Grove. Elliman is also exclusively marketing Don Peebles’ Bath Club Estates in Miami Beach. Peebles hopes to sell a triplex penthouse there for $50 million.

Hotel history

A Maryland hotel investor plunked down $460 million for Hollywood’s Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in one of the most expensive real estate deals in South Florida history.

Thayer Lodging Group acquired the 1,000-room oceanfront resort and spent another $75.5 million on adjacent land and a golf course. The company plans to invest an additional $100 million on improvements to the existing resort, which is being rebranded the Diplomat Resort & Spa under the Hilton flag Curio.

Hotel market insiders said Thayer’s purchase price is unprecedented for the Miami hotel sector. Theme-park-hub Orlando has had multiple resort sales exceeding $700 million.

The seller was United Association, a large union of plumbers and pipe fitters. The union acquired the site in 1997 and replaced the original structure in 2000.