Is she in good hands? Finance honcho who led Allstate buys oceanfront Highland Beach townhome

Buyer Mary Jane Fortin, chief commercial officer of Thrivent, was formerly president of Allstate Financial Businesses

Thrivent’s Mary Jane Fortin with 4519 South Ocean Boulevard (Thrivent, Redfin)
Thrivent’s Mary Jane Fortin with 4519 South Ocean Boulevard (Thrivent, Redfin)

Thrivent’s chief commercial officer, who was formerly president of Allstate Financial Businesses, bought an oceanfront townhome in Highland Beach for $5.9 million.

Property records show Mary Jane Fortin, through a trust in her name, bought the under-construction townhouse at 4519 South Ocean Boulevard from Nadiya Alibhai.

Fortin was president of Northfield Township, Illinois-based Allstate Financial Businesses from 2017 to 2020, before taking her current position as EVP and chief commercial officer at Minneapolis-based Thrivent, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Thrivent is a Fortune 500 financial services organization that offers financial planning, insurance, and investments, according to its website. It has $189 billion in assets under management. Fortin is in charge of expanding the company’s life insurance, health insurance and annuities, according to a Thrivent press release.

Deena Dick and Jennifer Kilpatrick with the Corcoran Group had the listing. Stephen Brendle with Boca Raton Lang Realty represented Fortin. The deal was completed off-market, Dick said.

The townhouse was built in 1990, according to records. Alibhai bought it last year for $2.4 million and began gut-renovating it, Dick said. It remains under construction.

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Brendle said the 4,082-square-foot townhouse has four bedrooms, four bathrooms and one-half bathroom. Lake Worth-based JEY Property Group is handling renovations, both Dick and Brendle said.

Alibhai also bought the next-door townhome at 4517 South Ocean Boulevard in 2020 for $2 million, and had offered it as a short-term rental, Dick said.

South Florida has experienced a housing boom turbocharged by the pandemic — and Highland Beach along with other coastal towns, has experienced strong interest from wealthy buyers.

Last month, celebrity physician Nicholas Perricone bought an oceanfront Highland Beach townhome near Fortin’s for $6.8 million, and in February hedge fund manager Paul Saunders and his wife, Victoria, paid a record $34.7 million for an oceanfront estate.

In October, billionaire Don Hankey bought an oceanfront Highland Beach mansion for $30.3 million from Eric Moskow, through an entity linked to him. Moskow flipped the property for 40 percent more than its purchase price seven months earlier.