Here’s why luxury sales are booming in Boca Raton’s most expensive neighborhood

It’s been a busy year for luxury real estate sales at Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club.

The gated golf community is Boca Raton’s most expensive neighborhood, and the epicenter of the city’s luxury market. Spanning 450 acres and fewer than 700 homes, the community includes a private club by the same name with a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and a marina. Its 24/7 armed security patrol is particularly popular with the well-heeled set.   

Waterfront spec mansions in Royal Palm have repeatedly broken price records in recent years. Boca Raton has other luxury gated communities, like the Sanctuary, where software mogul Oleg Movchan sold an estate for $29 million in February. But none has the same pull as Royal Palm, and none has seen as many eight-figure deals this year. 

Part of the phenomenon, agents say, is that South Florida’s luxury buyers have an insatiable appetite for spec mansions, and Royal Palm has plenty to offer. 

“It’s become a great playground for investors, developers [and builders],” said Carmen D’Angelo, a broker and co-owner of Premier Estate Properties. Luxury buyers don’t have the time or patience for the homebuilding process, he said. “People come to Florida, and they want instant gratification.”

The most prolific spec developers in Royal Palm are brothers Steve and Scott Dingle, the owners of SRD Building. The Dingles have carved a niche for themselves churning out mansions for Royal Palm buyers. Their longtime partner and agent, David Roberts of Royal Palm Properties, has also made selling homes in the gated community his specialty. It’s turned out to be a lucrative one: Roberts ranked as the top agent in The Real Deal’s 2023 Palm Beach County broker ranking, with $349.8 million in on-market deals closed. 

Roberts, who has been an agent at Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club for nearly 40 years, said much of his business is from people moving within the community, but buyers also frequently come from the Northeast, Illinois and California. One thing they all have in common: They have cash to spend. 

“I’ve never sold a house to a lottery winner,” he said in a previous interview. “Our folks have done well.”

Here are Royal Palm’s five biggest residential sales this year:

$36M | 2499 East Maya Palm Drive | Seller: Randy Parker

Randy Parker, founder of email marketing giant Constant Contact, set a price record for Boca Raton in May when he sold his longtime family home –– a teardown –– for $36 million. Parker and his siblings, Robin Parker and Suzanne Maddux, sold the waterfront mansion at 2499 East Maya Palm Drive to the Dingles, who are planning a luxury spec project on the 1.7-acre site. The current compound has a 9,500-square-foot mansion, a guest house, two pools and 440 feet of waterfront, according to the listing. 

Jill Hertzberg and Jon Mann of the Jills Zeder Group at Coldwell Banker Realty represented the sellers, and Roberts brought the buyers

$28.5M | 360 East Alexander Palm Road | Seller: A trust 

Earlier this month, a trust named for the address sold a spec mansion at 360 East Alexander Palm Road built by the Dingles for $28.5 million, records show. Another trust, also named for the address, bought the home. The true buyer and seller are hidden. The Dingles completed the half-acre, 10,700-square-foot mansion earlier this year. The waterfront home has seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, three half-bathrooms, a pool and a dock.  

Joe Liguori of Premier Estate Properties brought the buyer, and Roberts had the listing.

$28.5M | 444 East Alexander Palm Road | Seller: Mikhail Avrutin 

Hotelier Mikhail Avrutin sold the waterfront spec mansion at 444 East Alexander Palm Road for $28.5 million in April. A trust named for the address bought the 9,900-square-foot mansion, which was completed last year, records show. Built on 0.3 acres, it has six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, one half-bathroom, a pool and a dock, according to property records. Avrutin bought the site for $5.5 million in 2020. 

Adam Elmer and Marie Mangouta of Fortune Christie’s International Real Estate represented both sides of the deal. 

$26.5M | 480 East Alexander Palm Road | Seller: A trust

A trust sold the waterfront spec mansion built by the Dingles at 480 East Alexander Palm Road for $26.5 million in April. Records show a trust sold the home to another trust, with both the buyer and seller hidden. SRD Building completed the 8,900-square-foot, six-bedroom, seven-bathroom mansion earlier this year, records show. The 0.4-acre property includes a pool, a dock, two half-bathrooms, a four-car-plus golf cart garage, and 104 feet of waterfront. 

Roberts had the listing, and Ina Bloom of Compass brought the buyer. 

$25.9M | 415 East Alexander Palm Road | Seller: G. Robert Sheetz

In March, the founder of the Sheetz convenience store chain sold a waterfront spec mansion for $25.9 million. G. Robert Sheetz sold the house at 415 East Alexander Palm Road to a trust, records show. The true buyer is unknown. Sheetz dropped $4.5 million on the half-acre property in 2019, and completed the 10,700-square-foot waterfront mansion last year, according to property records. The mansion has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, one half-bathroom, a pool, a dock and a 900-bottle wine room. 

Roberts represented both sides of the deal.