Most developers worry about finding buyers for their projects. Todd Glaser found Herbert Wertheim admiring his car in front of SurfSide Diner in Palm Beach.
The conversation started over Glaser’s 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL and turned into an off-market deal with the billionaire inventor and Trump friend. Records show Wertheim bought the waterfront house at 305 Indian Road from Glaser’s LLC for $38 million. It marks a significant closing at the start of what agents expect will be another strong season for residential sales.
Glaser, a luxury spec developer based in Palm Beach, said activity in the market has surged since last week’s election.
“The Palm Beach market’s on fire,” Glaser said. “The Trump effect in real estate is crazy.”
Glaser bought the Indian Road house for $21.4 million in June of last year, records show. The 5,400-square-foot house was built on 0.8 acres in 1995, according to property records. It has six bedrooms, five bathrooms, two half-bathrooms, a pool and 130 feet of waterfront. Glaser redid the windows, doors, roof, pool, seawall and dock as part of the home’s renovation.
Glaser, who along with his partners renovated Tarpon Island and sold the estate for $152 million in May, said he’s focusing more on renovations than ground-up developments at the moment.
“It’s easier, we get to go a lot faster,” he said, adding that costs like mortgage, taxes, and insurance are lower because the projects take less time.
While the market is seeing a flurry of activity now, Wertheim bought into the island well before votes were cast. Last year, he dropped $18.9 million on a furnished townhouse at 219 Brazilian Avenue. Records show he also owns two waterfront homes in the gated Gables Estates community of Coral Gables.
Wertheim, 85, is an optometrist by training. He founded and leads Brain Power, the largest producer of optical tints for eyeglasses, and has a net worth of $5.9 billion, according to Forbes. He and his wife of 55 years, Nicole Wertheim, are in the process of getting a divorce, Miami-Dade County court records show. The pair both have namesake schools at Florida International University: the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences.
Wertheim’s isn’t the only pricey deal in Palm Beach this fall. The oceanfront home of late Wingate Companies founder Jerry Schuster sold to a hidden buyer for $42.5 million in October. The oceanfront estate of the late Leonard Riggio, founder of Barnes & Noble, went into contract asking $96 million in August, and is expected to close in the coming weeks.