Health care CEO buys oceanfront Manalapan estate for $48M

A health care chief and his wife bought an ocean-to-lake estate in Manalapan for $48.4 million, a steep discount off the $75 million the sellers listed the property for last year.

Records show Rama Raju Mantena and Padmaja Mantena bought the mansion at 1400 South Ocean Boulevard from Francis and Dolores Mennella. Francis Mennella is a businessman from Pennsylvania.

Rama Raju “Raj” Mantena is CEO of P4 Healthcare, a health care services company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Maryland, according to Bloomberg and LinkedIn. The Mantenas own a home in Jack Nicklaus’ Bear’s Club in Jupiter that they bought for $3.9 million in 2001, according to property records.

Mark Griffin, a Bear’s Club broker with Sotheby’s International Realty, represented the Mantenas in the Manalapan sale. Philip Lyle Smith and Carla Ferreira-Smith of Luxury Resort Portfolio had the listing.

The Mennellas bought the Manalapan property as a newly built spec mansion for $25.2 million in 2016, property records show. The 1.8-acre property spans 200 feet of oceanfront and includes a 16,200-square-foot, five-bedroom, nine-bathroom main house and a 1,200-square-foot, one-bedroom, two-bathroom guest house, records and the listing show. The property includes two pools and a private 50-foot dock with a boat lift.

According to Philip Lyle Smith, the couple invested a couple of million dollars into the property, including the landscaping, during their ownership.

The property hit the market last January, when the South Florida market was at the peak of its pandemic frenzy. The Mennellas first asked $75 million, dropping the listing price to $62.9 million as of October, according to Redfin.

“The market collapsed right towards the middle of the listing,” Smith said.

The Mennellas are not moving far. The couple bought a nearly 2-acre oceanfront Manalapan lot at 1940 South Ocean Boulevard from singer Billy Joel for $7.5 million in 2018. Records show they completed construction last year on a 10,500-square-foot mansion with six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. They listed the home as their mailing address on the deed in this latest sale.

Manalapan, a small, wealthy enclave just south of Palm Beach, has been home to some of Florida’s biggest residential sales in the past year.

Billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison bought the historic 16-acre Ziff family “Gemini” estate from billionaire Jim Clark for $173 million in June. The sale set a price record for the entire state of Florida.

More recently, private equity chief James Caccavo and his wife, Kimberly, bought a waterfront Manalapan spec home for $10.5 million.