AN AMERICAN PALACE, ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE US HOMES FOR SALE

Right down the highway in coastal Hillsboro Beach there stands Le Palais Royal, a 60,500 sq ft estate on four acres of waterfront land – ocean to intracoastal – on the market for $159,000,000 – so, will the entity who has that much petty cash to purchase please step up? 

Planned to resemble France’s Palace of Versailles, a must-stop-by for your next trip to Paris, features include a huge $2MM marble staircase, more than $3MM of gold leaf, 11 bedrooms, 30-car underground garage, IMAX theatre, 3,000-bottle wine cellar, waterfalls  and a 1300 gallon fish tank.  Two guest houses, each about 3,000 sq ft, will be included on an extra lot.  Under construction are a go-kart track, ice-skating rink, bowling alley and night club, all to be ready in 2 years.

Right on: you never have to leave home.  It may take months to explore the complete house.

Wouldn’t this make a spectacular Winter White House?  But, can the US government afford it?  They would need to build an airstrip, perhaps a hospital and make mainland access readily available for cars and walkers.  It would definitely raise area home values.  A good move.

READY TO SHOP FOR THE BEST OF THE BEST?

Main Streets Across the World 2014-2015 tracked over 500 of the top retail streets, and two in our area came up HIGH on the list.

Lincoln Road in Miami Beach ranked as the 10^th most expensive retail street in the United States and Worth Avenue in Palm Beach ranked 14th, tied with Boston and Georgetown.  You, no doubt, won’t be surprised to learn that Manhattan’s Upper Fifth Avenue was at the very top of the list, 46% more expensive than #2, Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay. 

For our World Traveler readership, other streets on the list were England’s Bond Street, Paris’ Champs-Élysées, Milan’s Via Montenapoleone and Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall.  Rents rose impressively on the number one street, Manhattan’s Upper East Side, to $3500 per sq ft.  Between Madison Avenue’s East 72nd and 75th street, this usually thriving stretch is reported to be a “micro-pocket of retail that is really starting to flourish, thanks to the new Apple Store, the forthcoming Metropolitan Museum of Art building and new residential product.” Retail asking rents north of 72nd are increasingly exceeding $1,000 per square foot.

Lincoln Road rents, at $325 per sq ft, which sounds reasonable in comparison, have held steady for the past year.  National and international investors have sent Lincoln Road’s rents and property values way high.  Tenants include H&M, Anthropologie, Intermix, Forever 21, Apple, Gap, Urban Outfitters and lululemon and the same shops, as well as those on Worth Avenue listed below, can be found in local malls in other Florida cities.

Rents on Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue jumped up 20% to $150 per sq ft, resulting in one of the largest global growth rates.  Worth Avenue has attracted global luxury retailers, such as Cartier, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Graff, Gucci, Hermès and Louis Vuitton.  Luxury real estate firm, Cushman & Wakefield, reports that part-time residents and international visitors have led to the growth.

An overhaul is planned for Lincoln Road with sidewalk enlargements, extensive landscaping and new pedestrian walkways on some side streets and in back alleys where new retail and restaurant venues will be found.  A Business Improvement District will be created by assessing area business and property owners to create a 10-year long maintenance and management program.

With rising consumer sentiment and increased tourism (100 MILLION tourists visited Florida in 2014 and more are expected this year) it might not be a bad idea to get on line on Worth Avenue and Lincoln Road and elsewhere on the Friday after Thanksgiving and going forward a few weeks after.  Online purchases are expected to be about 10% of retail sales, the other 10% visiting brick-and-mortar stores.

Sounds like our economy has severely improved, don’t-cha think?

LOCAL RENTAL MARKET

TOUGH these days for you and those you love to find the rental of your dreams at the price you want to pay.  Rentals have gone up in the past year, especially on the waterfront or near a thriving downtown area like Delray Beach or Boca Raton.  Demand is strong from those who want an ocean view to those who want to be near amenities, entertainment and restaurants.

Many prospects call me and give me addresses and MLS numbers for units they saw online… but most are already rented!

When you see a rental you like: GRAB IT or next week someone else will.

One great reason to focus on rentals is that each year you can move to a different  “scenario” and perhaps eventually find where you want to stay, and we at Weichert Realtors, Health& Joseph, have LOADS OF RENTAL LEADS to tell you about.

If you have the information about a unit you want to see, give me a call and let’s go look!  SOME units are negotiable, some are not.  Some take pets, restricting them by weight, some do not.  Some are for age 55+, some are for all ages.

Good luck with your search… let me make your search easier!

Marilyn Jacobs

561-302-3388

Weichert Realtors, Heath & Joseph, Wellington, Florida

BUYERS: LOOKING AT A HOUSE YOU LIKE, BUT HATE POPCORN CEILINGS -



THREE DIY WAYS TO RID OF POPCORN CEILINGS

SCRAPE IT AWAY:

• Cover walls and floor with plastic drop cloth
• Cut off light fixtures power
• Saturate popcorn layer with water
• Start scraping it off
• Use joint compound to touch up ceiling and buff
• Prime; paint
• BUT - if your house was built before 1980, have a sample of your ceiling tested for asbestos.  Online and home improvement stores carry test kits

COVER IT OVER WITH WOOD PLANK:

• No scraping needed
• Adhere thin (but quality grade) tongue and groove wood planks to ceiling with coat of Liquid Nails
• Secure them with nail gun
• You can stain or pickle or paint them – inexpensive way to go

TILE OVER IT:

• No scraping needed
• Cover popcorn with faux-tin Styrofam tiles
   
  These hints came from the www.PersonalHomeManagement.net website.



YOU MAY WANT TO JOIN ME AND TAKE THIS 6-SESSION COURSE ON WINSTON CHURCHILL, STARTING OCT 5

“Hillsdale College symbolizes everything that is good and true in

America.”

Margaret Thatcher

Hillsdale refuses every penny of taxpayer-funded government support

(even indirectly through student grants and loans), which allows it to remain truly

independent.

The six-week course, taught by Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn, examines

the life, lessons and legacy of Sir Winston Churchill. Register online at

online.hillsdale.edu/Churchill

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