Hedge fund manager Paul Saunders and his wife, Victoria Saunders, paid a record $34.7 million for an oceanfront Highland Beach estate.
The Saunderses bought the three-story, seven-bedroom mansion at 2445 South Ocean Boulevard from the estate of the late Mark Hamister, according to a deed.
Hamister, who died last year, ran Buffalo-based hotels and assisted-living facilities company Hamister Group. He had paid $12.5 million for the property in 2014, records show.
Paul Saunders is founder and CEO of Manakin-Sabot, Virginia-based James River Capital.
Joseph Liguori, Carmen D’Angelo Jr. and Gerard Liguori of Premier Estate Properties represented Hamister’s estate in the recent deal. Marcy Javor of Signature One Luxury Estates represented the Saunderses.
D’Angelo Jr. said the sale marks a record price for Highland Beach.
The property was listed for $42 million in November, according to the listing
The 16,582-square-foot house, constructed in 1999 on 1.1 acres, has eight-and-a-half baths, a 14-car garage and 120 feet of beach frontage, according to Realtor.com. Features include a butterfly staircase, a media and screening room, an office overlooking the ocean, a pool, and a gym with a massage room.
(Courtesy of Ed Butera/IBI Designs)
The deal comes less than three months after the Saunderses sold another oceanfront Palm Beach County mansion, at 1020 South Ocean Boulevard in Manalapan, for more than $90 million.
South Florida has become the epicenter of a financial firm influx in recent years, and with that, their founders and executives have been scooping up mansions for millions of dollars. Many have shown a preference for oceanfront homes in one of Palm Beach County’s barrier islands.
Last year, private equity titan Scott Shleifer, a partner and co-founder of Tiger Global Management, paid more than $120 million for a Palm Beach mansion overlooking the ocean.