CAT president James Alban IV pays $10M for waterfront Palm Beach pad

Looks like James Alban IV can leave his bulldozer at the office.

The president of heavy equipment company Alban CAT just picked up a sprawling mansion in Palm Beach as is for $10.5 million.

Located at 177 Clarendon Avenue, the U-shaped compound features seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and two half-baths. It has views of the Intracoastal Waterway and 9,769 square feet of living space, meaning its purchase price breaks down to just under $1,075 per square foot.

Alban told The Real Deal that he’d been vacationing in Palm Beach since he was a kid and recently decided with his wife that it was a good time to buy a home there.

The two had already scoped out 177 Clarendon Avenue when it first came on the market several years ago, but Alban said the 1920s-era house needed some TLC, so they decided to pass.

“We had our eye on it for a little while but weren’t quite ready to pull the trigger,” he said. “We loved the bones of it and knew it needed a ton of work.”

It was sold in 2013 for $7.29 million to Lisa Bair, who set to work on completely renovating its living spaces. She modernized much of the home while also keeping in some of the original features — Cuban tiles, stone fireplaces and cypress ceilings.

Then, in February 2016, Bair listed her newly upgraded mansion for just under $13 million with Heidi Wicky of Linda A. Gary Real Estate. Not long after, Alban Said, Ashley McIntosh of Douglas Elliman gave him a call to let him know the house was again up for grabs.

The Albans plan on using 177 Clarendon Avenue as a second home away from their residence in Baltimore, where Alban CAT is headquartered — at least until James retires. The family also owns a home at 256 Cordova Road in West Palm Beach’s El Cid neighborhood, which is on the market for $3.495 million.