Former ambassador to Brazil and Netherlands buys oceanfront Palm Beach townhouse

An ambassador who served during the Bush and Obama administrations bought an oceanfront Palm Beach townhouse for $7.5 million.

Property records show Clifford M. Sobel, and his wife, Barbara Sobel, paid $7.5 million for the townhome at 10 Sloans Curve Drive. The seller is Peter Harvey, as an individual and trustee of the Harvey Revocable Trust.

Sobel served as ambassador to the Netherlands from 2001 to 2005, and as ambassador to Brazil from 2006 to 2009. He is also co-founder and managing partner at New York City-based Valor Capital Group, an investment firm focused on cross-border opportunities between the USA and Brazil, according to the company’s LinkedIn page.

The 5,517-square-foot townhouse was built in 1981, according to Palm Beach records. It comes with two bedrooms, three full bathrooms, and one half-bathroom.

The Sobels financed their purchase with a $3 million loan from Bank of America, records show.

Fern Fodiman with Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyer and seller. The townhouse was listed in November and sold for its asking price, according to Realtor.com.

“It was a wonderful opportunity,” Fodiman said. “They [the Sobels] are thrilled.”

The property last sold in 2020 for $4.6 million, according to records.

Palm Beach has seen record sales during the pandemic, as out-of-town buyers seek luxury properties.

This month alone, spec homebuilder Carl Sabatello, president of Sabatello Construction, bought an oceanfront lot for $39 million. Todd Glaser, a luxury spec homebuilder, flipped an estate for $31.7 million. And a company linked to William Ford’s office sold a non-waterfront mansion for $33 million. 

Demand for homes in Palm Beach — and the rest of South Florida — has been so strong that prospective buyers have written love letters, offered post-sale, rent-free occupancy to sellers, and dropped contingencies, all in an effort to snag properties.