Mattress Giant co-founder Sam Katz is listing his cushy oceanfront Fort Lauderdale Beach house for nearly $18 million.
Katz built the five-bedroom, 8,000-square-foot home at 1635 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard. It features a pool, motor court with a three-car garage, a one-bedroom guest house, a cabana, home office and a wet bar. Property records show Katz paid just over $1 million for the 0.8-acre site in 1998, and hired Ellemar Luxury Construction to build the house three years later. The gated Fort Lauderdale Beach estate includes about 250 feet of ocean frontage.
Kevin Kreutzfeld of Premier Estate Properties is the listing agent. Kreutzfeld said the property offers a better value to a comparable home in Miami-Dade or Palm Beach, where the same home would go for double or triple the price.
Katz co-founded the Miami-based mattress retailer in 1986. The company grew to 360 stores in 14 states before its remaining stores were acquired by Mattress Firm in 2012 for $47 million. The Fort Lauderdale Beach home was Katz’s primary residence, and he’s now planning to downsize, Kreutzfeld said.