An entity linked to the former president bought the house at 1125 S. Ocean Blvd. in 2018. It’s also listed for sale at $59 million.
Former President Donald Trump is asking $2.5 million in annual rent for an oceanfront house he owns, through one of his companies, next door to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.
A new for-lease listing for the furnished, eight-bedroom house at 1125 S. Ocean Blvd. was expected to enter the multiple listing service Thursday, according to the listing agent, Margit Brandt of Premier Estate Properties.
The rental asking price works out to about $208,333 monthly.
The house also is listed for sale at $59 million, unfurnished. Broker Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens has held that listing since the property first entered the MLS in the spring of 2021 at $49 million. It later left the market and re-entered the MLS in February with a higher price tag. Moens does not typically handle rental listings.
The property has been leased out periodically since Trump’s company bought the house in 2018 for a recorded $18.25 million from one of his sisters, Maryanne Trump Barry, a retired federal appeals judge.
Brandt declined further comment about the rental listing and Moens couldn’t be reached.
Known as “The Beachouse,” the home was rented out during the season that is drawing to a close, according to sources familiar with the property. Records about the house’s rental history in the MLS are sparse but show that a rental agreement was signed at $65,000 a month for a year starting in August 2019. That rental listing was held by Trump International Realty.
With 10,455 square feet of living space, inside and out, the two-story West Indies-style house was built in 1956 on a lot with 194 feet of beachfront. It has been renovated since Trump bought it through a limited liability company named after the property’s address. That company is administered by his two eldest sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., through The Trump Organization, business records show.
Hot market for rentals
Palm Beach’s real estate market has seen residential rental prices and asking prices for homes skyrocket over the past 18 months.
Longtime Palm Beach broker Linda Olsson of Linda R. Olsson Inc. Realtor, who isn’t involved with the Trump property, said rentals are hard to come by on the island because of stronger-than-ever demand.
“Rents have certainly gone up, probably 30% to 40%,” Olsson said, depending on the property and whether someone wants to lease monthly, seasonally or annually.
Palm Beach’s housing boom was initially driven by people searching for warm-weather havens during the coronavirus pandemic. But renters and buyers also have have been drawn to the island by Florida’s favorable tax climate as compared to other states, real estate observers say.
“Everyone wants to be in Florida,” Olsson said.
Some would-be homebuyers haven’t been able to find a house and have been looking to rent instead, especially younger families who want to be able to enroll their children in school, Olsson said. Others have sought to lease properties while they are renovating or building a new house.
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Two other Palm Beach oceanfront properties are being marketed at higher monthly rentals than the Trump-owned house, the MLS shows. An oceanfront house owned by an entity linked to celebrity surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz and his wife, Lisa, is being offered at $275,000 per month at 473 N. County Road. And an estate at 6 Via Los Incas has a monthly asking rental price of $250,000. Broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate holds both listings.
In all, 35 Palm Beach single-family rental listings were in the MLS on Thursday.
Trump house is directly on the beach
The house owned by the Trump company stands directly on the beach, unlike many other oceanview homes in the neighborhood that are separated from the ocean by the coastal road.
The layout includes a formal living room, a sunroom, a family room and a library. Photos show the foyer leads to a gracefully curved staircase, the living room has pecky cypress paneling and the family area has plate-glass windows facing the Atlantic. Several bedrooms also have ocean views.
On the east side, a balcony looks out to the Atlantic beyond a patio area with a swimming pool.
All in the family:Trump’s sister sells Palm Beach house to company linked to him
The house occupies a half-acre lot immediately east of South Ocean Bou. It’s catty-corner from the main grounds of Mar-a-Lago, the landmarked 1920s-era mansion that former president converted into a private club in the mid-1990s. The house also is adjacent to Mar-a-Lago’s Beach Club.
The house also stands directly across the coastal road from a residence at 1094 S. Ocean Blvd. that has been in the Trump family for years, as has a house next door to it at 124 Woodbridge Road. Shortly after his inauguration in 2017, Trump deeded those properties to a company controlled by his eldest sons. Both houses stand immediately north of Mar-a-Lago.
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This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call (561) 820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.