By Darrell Hofheinz – Daily News Real Estate Writer
Martin and Diane Trust, who earlier this month sold their beachfront estate for $52 million to radio shock jock Howard Stern, have bought a condominium and cabana at Two North Breakers Row for $11.95 million — a record-setting price for an oceanfront apartment in Palm Beach and one of the two most-expensive condos ever sold here, according to property records.
Real estate developer Allan Green and his wife, Hana, sold the Trusts their four-bedroom, direct-ocean apartment, Unit S-34, and its poolside cabana, according to the deed recorded Tuesday by the Palm Beach County Clerk’s office.
The apartment is in the middle of the south building, one of two structures that house the 48 units of Two North Breakers Row. Offering direct east and southeast ocean views, the condo has 3,322 square feet of living space, inside and on its balconies, according to property records.
The deal was brokered on both sides by Lawrence A. Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates, who had listed the condo for sale at $13.8 million in late January, according to the Palm Beach Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service.
Moens, who declined to comment on the condo deal, also orchestrated the private sale, recorded May 15, of the Trusts’ house at 601 N. County Road, which presides over 3.25 acres with about 290 feet of beachfront. Moens won’t discuss that transaction or identify the parties involved. Stern hosts The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM Radio and is a judge onNBC TV’s America’s Got Talent.
The Greens, who also have a longtime home in Mamaroneck, N.Y., had paid the late Helen Boehm $4.2 million for the Breakers Row condo in September 1998, property records show. They subsequently carried out an extensive renovation.
Agent Carole Koeppel of Sotheby’s International Realty acted on the Greens’ behalf when they bought the condo 14 years ago but said she wasn’t involved in last week’s sale. She said the price it fetched likely reflects the realities of the island’s real estate market, where better-quality properties are hard to find.
“I think that people who are qualified are willing to pay for what they want, because our inventory is so low. It’s really about supply and demand,” Koeppel said. “The market is picking up, and people are waking up. It’s very exciting to see this kind of transaction. I think it’s great for our market.”
The Breakers Row sale marks the second-highest-dollar condo transaction in Palm Beach history and follows on the heels of the deal that earned the top spot — the sale of No. 6A in Il Lugano, recorded May 15 for $17.45 million. That 5,798-square-foot lakefront penthouse at 300 Seminole Ave. was sold privately by Lee and Laura Munder to a Delaware limited liability company linked to the Tisch family of Loews Corp. Agent Jim McCann of the Corcoran Group said he took part in the Il Lugano sale, although it was unclear whether any other real estate agent or agency was involved.
The Il Lugano sale broke the island’s condo-price record previously set when the Munders bought their penthouse for $12 million in 2008.
Although the apartment in Two North Breakers Row is smaller than the Il Lugano condo, its price per square foot is higher, when comparing the living space inside and out recorded by the county. The Breakers Row sale works out to $3,597 per square foot, compared to $3,009 in the Il Lugano deal.
The Trusts have strong ties to New Hampshire. Martin Trust founded MAST Industries in 1970 and grew it into one of the largest international apparel producers in the world; the company was acquired by the Limited Stores in the late 1970s. In 2001, Trust founded Brandot International Ltd. and serves as its president.
The Greens could not be reached for comment, so it was unclear whether they plan to stay in Palm Beach. Courthouse records show they own no other property in Palm Beach County.
Allan Green’s real estate development career includes his tenure at J.A. Green Development Corp., a family construction company founded nearly 70 years ago in New York and today run by his son, Daniel Green. Based in Greenwich, Conn., the company has completed extensive commercial projects over the years in New York — including the Great Neck region — and in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, according to the firm’s website.
The Trusts could not be reached for comment.
Big deals on the beach
Two North Breakers Row has seen its share of recent high-dollar sales. They include a May 2012 sale in which Roy J. Zuckerberg paid a recorded $9.85 million for Charlotte M. “Chris” Marden’s Penthouse 3 in the north building — and she, in turn, bought the smaller condominium he owned with his wife, Barbara, immediately below hers for $4 million. Both sales were orchestrated by Moens. Last November, No. N-42 changed hands for a recorded $8 million in a deal handled by Sotheby’s International Realty. Agent Carole Koeppel represented seller Bob Roberts, while Cristina Condon acted on behalf of buyers Ira and Beth Leventhal.
Meanwhile, Leverett House at 100 Sunset Ave. — immediately north of Two North Breakers Row — saw last season’s highest-dollar oceanfront condo deal in Palm Beach, when an April sale of Unit E 3B closed at a recorded $9.5 million. Agent Susan Polan of Illustrated Properties handled both sides of that private sale. The deed recorded the seller as Roger N. Duhl and the buyer as a Delaware entity named 110 Leverett LLC.
— DARRELL HOFHEINZ
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