Palm Beach mansion sells for nearly $29M

A Palm Beach mansion has traded for $28.5 million in one of the town’s most expensive residential transactions of 2013, The Real Deal has learned.

Retired financial services executive Bruce Hammonds and wife Sandra sold the 1275 South Ocean Boulevard home for about $1,675 per square foot, according to Palm Beach County records. The transaction closed on Monday and was recorded by the county the following day.

The true buyer of the six-bedroom mansion is unclear, as a New York company managed by law firm Goulston & Storrs was created for the acquisition.

Bruce Hammonds was a founding member of financing firm MBNA, which was acquired by Bank of America in 2006. He retired in 2008.

The couple previously listed the mansion two years ago with an asking price of about $35 million. Built in 2008 on 1.8 acres, the 17,000-square-foot home includes an elevator, swimming pool and boat dockage.

Palm Beach is known for high-end homes that sell for eye-popping prices. But the town’s luxury residential market has been relatively quiet in 2013.

The 1275 South Ocean sale is the town’s most expensive since a pair of notable transactions in May. That month, a company reportedly tied to shock jock Howard Stern paid $52 million for a compound at 601 North County Road. Around the same time, a mansion at 1220 South Ocean Boulevard was sold for $42 million to resolve a bankruptcy case. — Eric Kalis