Canadian banker buys portion of former Kluge estate in Palm Beach

Canadian banker Adrian Tauro just paid $7.35 million for a piece of the 4.3-acre estate previously owned by the late billionaire John Kluge.

Esure insurance founder Peter Wood subdivided the property into five lots, and just sold the third to Tauro, a director at Scotia Private Client Group, according to property records.

The half-acre lot at 95 Middle Road traded hands for about $350 per square foot. Kluge left the property to Columbia University, which then sold it to Wood in 2016 for $39 million. In July, Wood won town approval to subdivide the estate.

The first 20,360-square-foot lot sold in October for nearly $7 million to longtime oil-industry consolidator Thomas O’Malley. Larry Morassutti of the Toronto-based real estate firm Morassutti Group dropped $18.25 million for the second parcel at 89 Middle Road, which came with a 5,435-square-foot home.

Christian J. Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate represented Tauro and Wood. The property hit the market in August asking $8.25 million. It sold for 10 percent less than the asking price.

Angle is also listing the remaining parcels. The lot at 599 County Road is on the market for $5.95 million and the other remaining property at 125 El Bravo Way is asking $13.9 million, according to Redfin.

Earlier this year, Tauro sold a recently built home in Palm Beach for $11.5 million.