The owner of a Palm Beach mansion sold the half-acre vacant lot next door for $8.3 million, according to Palm Beach County property records.
Located at 488 Island Drive, the property is part of a one-acre double lot on the northern tip of Everglades Island.
The seller is a family of Swiss snowbirds who first bought the mansion at 482 Island Drive for $3.5 million in 1992, and paid $1.4 million for the vacant lot next door to preserve their eastward views, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.
Achim Turklitz, son of the mansion’s owner Gertrud Turklitz, told the newspaper in 2012 that his mother, who was turning 98 at the time, had returned to Switzerland and was selling the home because she couldn’t travel anymore. The home and the vacant lot were being marketed together for $33.9 million, but the listing was taken down after two years and dropped by $4 million.
The vacant lot was purchased by 488 Island Drive LLC. Managing members are executives of luxury home developer Malasky Homes. The company also took out a $10.1 million mortgage from Stonegate Bank.