There’s no place quite like Palm Beach.
The 16-mile barrier island was first transformed into an exclusive winter getaway for the wealthy more than a century ago, and remains a hub for America’s rich and powerful to this day.
Home to dozens of billionaires and numerous trophy properties, Palm Beach is, needless to say, a lucrative place to be a luxury real estate agent. Frequent eight- and nine-figure deals have prompted several of the nation’s largest brokerages to plant their flags in the town, but gaining a foothold isn’t easy. Most of the area’s top agents have been selling homes there for years. They are keenly attuned to the island’s lifestyle and the rhythms of “the season”: the period roughly between Thanksgiving and Memorial Day, when most of the well-heeled part-time residents are in town.
Partaking in the lifestyle and community is essential to being an agent in Palm Beach. The island is notoriously insular, and closing the biggest deals requires a seat at the right tables. So, what exactly does that look like? For a peek behind the curtain at Palm Beach agent life, The Real Deal talked to a few brokers in town about how they walk the walk. It’s offseason, so more than a few of them called in from the Hamptons — or their clients’ boats in the Mediterranean.
Where is the power lunch?
There was a single, ubiquitous answer to this question: Sant Ambroeus.
“Sant Ambroeus is Grand Central,” said local agent Chris Leavitt, who heads Douglas Elliman’s top Palm Beach team and sold a private island estate in May for $152 million. “That’s where everyone goes if you want to see and be seen.”
The Italian pasticceria was founded in Milan in 1936, and expanded to Manhattan’s Upper East Side in 1982. Today Sant Ambroeus operates eight restaurants and cafes in Manhattan, two in the Hamptons and another in Aspen. It’s a footprint that mirrors the flight paths of its monied regulars.
It opened a Palm Beach location in the Royal Poinciana Plaza in 2016 and quickly became a local hotspot. Part of its popularity among brokers stems from its central location, said Elliman agent Samantha Curry, a luxury specialist who has sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of real estate on the island.
“It’s 20 steps away from my office,” she said. Brown Harris Stevens and Sotheby’s International Realty also have offices in the complex.
Other lunch spots mentioned included Cafe L’Europe, the Palm Beach Grill, BrickTops and Café Boulud — another import from Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
There are also, of course, social situations that require more discretion. When courting a potential client or securing a listing, agents said meeting at a private residence or getting off-island is the way to go.
What about the dinner scene?
In the evenings, everyone seems to be eating at Le Bilboquet.
Yet another Manhattan staple that followed the money south, the French bistro was dubbed “the snobbiest restaurant in New York” in 2013 and naturally expanded to Palm Beach in 2021. Centrally located on Worth Avenue, art collector and Andy Warhol muse “Baby” Jane Holzer is both an investor in the restaurant and its landlord. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez were seen dining there in December, inspiring a runaway rumor that the billionaire couple were house hunting (down in Miami-Dade, the pair have snapped up a combined $234 million worth of estates on a single island in the past year alone).
Agents also said they frequent nearby establishments Bice, Buccan and its sister restaurant Imoto. The Palm Beach Grill is also a go-to spot.
“It’s a small town, so every time you go to one of these top restaurants you’re going to see all kinds of people, and other top brokers,” Curry said.
The Palm Beach season includes a packed schedule of philanthropic cocktail parties, galas and luncheons. Which are the must-attend events?
An unceasing procession of charitable functions dominates society life on the island from late autumn to early spring. These range from small lunches and fun runs to black tie balls with world-famous performers. Some of the big-ticket events agents mentioned are AIDS research foundation amfAR’s annual gala (most recently attended by Tom Ford, Kris Jenner and Tommy Hilfiger, with a performance by Sting); the Society of the Four Arts’ Contemporaries Gala (Cleopatra themed this year); the Norton Museum of Arts’ annual gala (which includes an auction hosted by Sotheby’s); the International Red Cross Ball; the Palm Beach Heart Ball; and the Boys & Girls Clubs’ Winter Ball (which raised $14.5 million this year).
Many of these are hosted at private estates or clubs on the island, and their popularity can vary based on who is chairing a given year’s shindig.
“You could do something every single night of the week if you wanted to,” said Brown Harris Stevens agent Whitney McGurk. “I know a lot of people go out and try to do as many events and charitable things as they possibly can.”
McGurk, who runs a top BHS team with Liza Pulitzer, grew up on the island and knows it well. The pair had the pocket listing for interior designer Victoria Hagan’s renovated mansion and sold it for $60.4 million in May, making it one of the priciest non-waterfront Palm Beach homes ever sold.
McGurk said he never misses the Four Arts gala, the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League’s Christmas ball or the Everglades Foundation’s party. Curry said she works closely with the Opportunity Early Childhood Education & Family Center and the Hope for Depression Research Foundation. Top local agent Christian Angle was joined by Michael Lorber — a newcomer to Palm Beach — as vice chair of the amfAR gala this year. Angle is also on the board of advisors for the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.
“You don’t want to be at everything, you want to be selective. Donate to charities that you believe in,” Leavitt said. “It’s obvious when you’re at everything, when you’re an agent, why you’re there.”
A big aspect of Palm Beach social life plays out at private clubs. Are there certain clubs the top agents congregate at?
A hush fell over the room. If there’s one thing Palm Beachers won’t talk about, it’s their private clubs. There are seven on the island: the Everglades Club, the Bath and Tennis Club, the Palm Beach Country Club, the Beach Club, the Sailfish Club, the Breakers and, of course, Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Their initiation fees are estimated to range from $250,000 to as much as $1 million, and prospective members can endure years-long waitlists.
With so many people moving to the island and demand for memberships surging, the price of access has become prohibitive for many brokers.
“Not too many belong to clubs, they’re too expensive,” said Elliman agent Gary Pohrer, who declined to say where he’s a member. “I think it’s important to be a member of a club. It doesn’t have to be on the island.”
To that end, Curry said she is a member at the newly opened Panther National in Palm Beach Gardens, as well as the Concours Club, a club for automotive enthusiasts in Opa-locka that offers members a private two-mile racing circuit. Curry said she likes taking clients there to drive on the track.
One club people do seem to be buzzing about is the Carriage House.
“The Carriage House has become a new kind of hotspot for a younger crowd,” McGurk said. He’s not a member there, but will join friends for meals at its private dining club, which is a bit of a nightlife hub for its younger members. Real estate investor Michael Bickford and his wife, Paula, founded the club in 2022, and Palm Beach’s younger set has taken to what McGurk describes as its “different vibe” with zeal.
It’s a lot of driving between events, showings, meetings, dinners. What car are you pulling up in?
Mostly luxury SUVs. Curry drives a Bentley Bentayga. McGurk drives a Range Rover Sport, but he’ll also tool around the island with clients in his 1978 Jeep CJ-7.
Pohrer said he drives a Range Rover and occasionally will take clients in his golf cart, to give them a taste of the laid-back Palm Beach life. Agents have to strike a delicate balance with their wheels, he said.
“You can’t go overboard. The Range Rover’s become the standard of everybody who sells real estate here, in an area where you will never need four-wheel drive,” he said. “Some realtors may have Lamborghini SUVs… I don’t think that sends the right message.”
Leavitt said he typically drives a white Mercedes G-Wagon, except for when he doesn’t want anyone to recognize him — or see where he’s going.
“You don’t know who’s going to see you pull out. We all know each other’s cars,” he said. “I have another car that no one knows.”