Former Equity Residential boss sells waterfront Boca Raton mansion for $11M

Former Equity Residential boss Doug Crocker sold his waterfront Boca Raton mansion for $10.5 million to a yacht brokerage owner who plans to gut renovate it.

Records show Douglas Crocker II and Cynthia Crocker sold the home at 1207 Spanish River Road to Castillo De Boca LLC, a Florida entity managed by Joseph H. Perez.

Joseph Liguori, Gerard Liguori, and Carmen D’Angelo Jr. of Premier Estate Properties had the listing, and Gerard Liguori brought the buyer.

Perez is the owner of Yachting Partners International, a yacht brokerage based in Weston. 

Doug Crocker is the former CEO of Equity Residential, the Chicago-based real estate investment trust founded by billionaire Sam Zell. Crocker retired from the role in 2003, after 11 years on the job. Shortly after, he joined Chicago-based Pearlmark Real Estate Partners, formerly Transwestern Multifamily Partners, as chairman and chief investment officer, but is no longer with the firm. He is currently on the board of directors for Rye, New York-based Acadia Realty Trust. 

From 1986 till 2007, Cynthia Crocker was senior vice president of investor relations for Equity Group Investments, Zell’s Chicago-based private equity firm, LinkedIn shows.

Records show the Crockers bought the half-acre Boca Raton property for $6.6 million in 2015. Built in 2003, the 11,600-square-foot mansion includes four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and one half-bathroom, records show. The property also includes 135 feet of frontage on the Intracoastal Waterway, a pool, wine cellar, and two laundry rooms, the listing shows.

The Crockers will still have roots in Palm Beach County. Property records show the couple bought a 1.8-acre estate in the Village of Golf for $2.8 million in 2021. The 5,600-square-foot house at 33 Country Road South includes a pool and backs up to a golf course, property records show.

Joseph Liguori confirmed Perez plans to do an extensive revamp of the mansion.

“They’re doing a major multimillion-dollar renovation to the house,” he said.

The property is in Boca Raton’s Estate Section, an area known for its oversized lots, Liguori said. He also noted the neighborhood is walking distance to the Boca Raton, a historic resort and club billionaire Michael Dell bought for $875 million in 2019. 

The pandemic spurred a real estate gold rush across South Florida, particularly in Palm Beach County, which has seen a significant influx of corporate relocations to Wall Street South –– West Palm Beach. High demand and low supply sent prices skyward, but the market has cooled in recent months, thanks in part to the Fed’s mortgage rate hikes.

“Given the economic climate, things are not as they were in 2021,” Liguori said. “We have not seen a major drop in prices. The fundamental difference is prices are not continuing to rise.”

The Crocker’s $10.5 million sale landed $4.5 million under their first asking price. The couple initially listed the home in March of last year for $15 million, Realtor.com shows. 

Liguori says prices for new construction have held up better than older resale homes. In fact, new construction has continued to break price records, even as the market has slowed. In February, a developer from Michigan dropped $28 million on a waterfront spec mansion in the gated Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club community, marking a price record for Boca Raton residential sales.  

That shattered the price record set just a few months earlier in October, when a wealth advisor bought a waterfront spec mansion in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club for $25.8 million. 

Other recent Boca Raton sales include financier Stanely Moss’ $11.2 million purchase of a waterfront spec home last month. Supplements mogul Darielle Singerman also sold her waterfront mansion for $10.2 million in December.