Trust Homes’ Kip Taylor buys Jupiter Island home for $17M

Homebuilder Kip Taylor dropped a meager $16.5 million on an oceanfront home, The Real Deal has learned.

The CEO of Georgia-based Trust Homes bought the property at 613 South Beach Road on Jupiter Island from the estate of the late developer Clyde R. “Buzz” Gibb, sources confirmed. 

Carla Christenson and Kimiko Deguchi of One Sotheby’s International Realty had the listing, and Holly Meyer Lucas of Compass brought the buyer. Meyer Lucas declined to comment.

Gibb bought the 0.8-acre Jupiter Island home for $3.5 million in 2002, according to records. Built in 1972, the existing home spans 4,900 square feet, four bedrooms, three bathrooms and two half-bathrooms. The property also has a pool, a one-bedroom guest house and stairs down to the beach, per the listing. The property spans 95 feet of oceanfront and 90 feet of waterfront on the Intracoastal, with a private beach on the Intracoastal side, Christenson confirmed.

The listing brokers said the home could be torn down, despite the home being in good condition.

“Tastes have changed. People want more, newer, modern,” Christenson said. “The reality is [the deal] was land value and that’s what it sold for.”

Buyers flock to the 600 block of Jupiter Island because of its proximity to town and the ability to see both the ocean and Intracoastal from the homes, according to Christenson. She also said that Jupiter Island has started to attract buyers from Palm Beach hoping to get more for their money.

The sale comes on the heels of University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban’s $17.5 million purchase of 619 South Beach Road just a few doors down.

Adjacent to Taylor’s property is Conair heiress Babe Rizzuto’s oceanfront mansion at 609 South Beach Road. Rizzuto bought the estate for $35 million in August, and listed it for $55 million in March. The asking price dropped to $49.5 million in May, Realtor.com shows.

 Katherine Kallergis contributed reporting.