Soffer’s Firm Buys Out Beachfront Condo on Jupiter Island

UPDATED, Aug. 22, 9:45 a.m.: Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Development purchased all of the units of a 53-year-old beachfront condo building in Tequesta, likely planning a new luxury project.

Property records show an affiliate of Aventura-based Fontainebleau Development paid about $100 million to acquire the entire Regency Condominium, at 250 Beach Road on Jupiter Island, in northern Palm Beach County.

Motcomb Estates, an investment vehicle for billionaire brothers Simon and David Reuben, who have worked with Soffer before, provided the developer with an $80.5 million loan. (In 2020, Reuben Brothers acquired a 25 percent stake in Soffer’s JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa.)

The Jupiter Island acquisition breaks down to about $2.5 million per unit for the 40-unit, eight-story building that was completed in 1969, which is a high price for a bulk condo purchase.

Phil Perko of Perko Development Partners is Fontainebleau Development’s partner on the deal. Perko, who has worked with the developer on its other two Jupiter Island projects, led the bulk condo acquisition and will work on project entitlements for the Regency condo site.

Rendering of the proposed Savoy Residences on the left, and the existing Regency condominium on the right (Credit: Town of Tequesta)

With control of the condo association, the developer terminated the condo, a required step in order to move forward with redevelopment. Sheryl Kass, general counsel at Fontainebleau Development, signed the termination.

Soffer’s firm, which owns the Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort, has two other luxury condo projects in the works nearby on Jupiter Island: the 10-story, 21-unit SeaGlass Jupiter Island, expected to be completed this year, and the planned 10-story, 26-unit Savoy Residences at 300 Beach Road, which is next to the Regency property. Prices for new units at the Savoy project start at $12 million.

Brett Mufson, president of Fontainebleau Development, declined to comment on the company’s plans for the Regency site.

Developers have long used bulk buyouts to take control of associations and eventually redevelop waterfront properties into luxury condo projects, but the trend has become more common following the deadly condo collapse in Surfside. The tragedy highlighted issues that older buildings often face, which can become too costly for unit owners, especially those on fixed incomes.

In those situations, sellers often make much more money than if they had sold their units individually. At the Regency Condominium, units traded for between $475,000 and $815,000 from 2020 to last year, according to Zillow.

Soffer completed a similar process at the properties where he is now building SeaGlass and plans to build the Savoy Residences, records show. On July 21, the town’s planning and zoning board recommended approval of Fontainebleau Development’s Savoy project. The village council will vote on it next.