Home
E-Mail
Page Bottom
HomePage
homesaleshistory
pbpstory20070616
June 16, 2007, Palm Beach Post, Want a boat in the back yard and a golf course in front?, by Barbara Marshall.
This exclusive Jupiter community (and former residence of singing sensation Celine Dion) is the place to get it — but bring a stack of cash.
Steve Mitchell/The Post
enlarge
THE GOOD LIFE: Longtime Admirals Cove residents Allen and Ellen Meyerson like to explore the Intracoastal around their home in their kayaks, which they keep at the private dock that came with their condo. 'Admirals Cove reflects the upper end of the world of real estate.' says Allen, who came out of retirement five years ago to start selling homes for Waterfront Properties. 'This is just 1 percent of the market.' Home & Garden Blogs from the Web Ranters' Bloom Day and more From Garden Rant
Mosquito repellers From As the Garden Grows
Not Your Mother's Indoor/Outdoor Upholstery From PURE CONTEMPORARY Design Blog
Framevase From productdose
Ooh, pretty electronics From Hue
Florida Home This week's features Housing squeeze
Share This Story diggdel.icio.us FarkNewsvine redditTechnorati FacebookMore What are these?
'It's all about the water!'
Admirals Cove was created when John D. MacArthur wouldn't take "no" for an answer.
In the 1970s, the insurance and land tycoon wanted to cut canals into a mangrove-cushioned spot on the Intracoastal that had long served as a hurricane refuge for local boaters. Denied a permit to dredge his 800 acres, the irascible billionaire did it anyway. MacArthur, who owned much of northern Palm Beach County at the time, got off scot-free. He was acquitted in a subsequent court case over the dredging.
Today, those 6 miles of canals allow hundreds of Admirals Cove residents to sail from their backyard docks to the Bahamas without encountering any fixed bridges. That is, if they can tear themselves away from this luxuriant and luxurious tree-shaded neighborhood, where $2 million buys a tear-down.
Admirals Cove is the residential equivalent of an all-inclusive Caribbean resort. Residents of the 20-year-old boating and golfing community rarely need venture beyond its walls, except to go to work. Two clubhouses, a Wachovia bank branch, hair salon, exercise programs, a spa and four restaurants mean that most daily chores can be handled within the development. An on-site security team and paramedics, plus plenty of security cameras, protect the wealthy residents, who are required to buy a mandatory club membership ranging from an $86,250 social membership with $4,000 dues to a $150,000 full golf membership with $14,000 yearly dues.
But it's the rare combination of direct access to deep water and 45 holes of golf that makes Admirals Cove unique among northern Palm Beach County's high-end developments. About 500 residents have docks behind their homes. The marina has room for 74 more boats up to 130 feet long.
Of the 885 homes, 700 have golf club memberships, where residents can play at any of three private courses in the community, which straddles Alternate A1A in Jupiter. The 18-hole Robert von Hagge course in the larger, eastern subdivision is undergoing a $6 million renovation, which should be completed in November. The Golf Village, on the west side of Alternate A1A, has an 18-hole course with rolling fairways, as well as a 9-hole short course.
Peter Alevizos and his family haven't even moved in yet, and they're already ecstatic over their new neighborhood. "It's pretty much a community that can serve all your needs," he said.
Moguls and magnates abound, such as Rich Wackenhut of security-firm fame and Richard Santulli, chief executive officer of NetJets. Current and former celebrity residents include former Philadelphia Phillie Mike Schmidt, Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres, and pro golfers Jesper Parnevik and Robert Allenby as well as the most famous ex-resident, Celine Dion.
When friends urged the Quebecois singer to move to Palm Beach, she reportedly said she felt Admirals Cove was safer and more private. After they moved to Vegas to open her show at Caesars Palace in 2002, Dion and husband, Rene Angelil, sold the palatial home to Santulli for $9 million, plus an estimated $7 million for its contents.
Despite residents' wealth, "it's not stuffy. There are a lot of entrepreneurial, self-made types here," said Realtor Rob Thomson of Waterfront Properties, himself an Admirals Cove resident.
According to Thomson, about 50 percent of the neighborhood's sales are to people who already live there.
Susan and Ron Chernow sold the home they had lived in since 1988 to Allenby and downsized to a 4,000-square-foot house in the Golf Village.
"We stayed because we love the community," Chernow said. "It's a nice way to live, and we have a lot of friends here."
Despite home values that range from $500,000 to $30 million, homes sell quickly. There are 51 properties for sale, according to Thomson.
"We have already sold 40 homes so far this year, which is more than we sold for all of last year," he said. There have been 26 closings since April alone, and six homes so far this year have sold for more than $5 million.
Unlike other luxury communities, the cost of mandatory club memberships in Admirals Cove has dissuaded investors from buying and flipping homes.
The plain, white tile look of Admirals Cove is changing, as the entire community undergoes a face lift.
Modest 1980s houses are being torn down and rebuilt as Mediterranean-style mega-mansions.
"I sold one house for $2.9 million, and they're knocking it down," Thomson said.
Each year, about 15 homes are razed and rebuilt, and as many as 70 or 80 receive new faÁades or new barrel-tile roofs, said Allen Meyerson, another resident and Waterfront Properties Realtor.
The biggest change in Admirals Cove may be the families moving in. At one time, almost all residents were retirees, but even Meyerson is surprised by how many homes he has sold to people in their 40s.
"We may be approaching 160 kids who live here on a full-time basis," Meyerson said. "I attribute it to all the activities we have here, but first and foremost is the water."
ROB & LOREA THOMSON
THEIR HOME:
A 5,000-square-foot, 5-bedroom, 4-bath house with pool, guest house and boat dock
WHEN THEY MOVED IN:
June 2005
WHAT THEY PAID:
$1.9 million
CURRENT VALUE (from Zillow.com): $2.6 million
WHY THEY LOVE IT: Rob Thomson didn't want to live in Admirals Cove.
"I'm already here 70, 80 hours a week working," said the Realtor and co-owner of Waterfront Properties.
But when he, his wife, Lorea, and their six kids (two of hers, two of his, and two of theirs) ran out of room in their Tequesta house, they started looking all over northern Palm Beach County.
"The one community that had everything was Admirals Cove."
Especially children's activities. Friday is kids' night at the pool with arts-and-crafts, games and soccer. Saturday morning, it's kids fishing classes or maybe tennis or golf camp.
"On Halloween, everyone decorates golf carts to go door to door," said Rob.
Their newly renovated house is an upscale kids playground, with pool, basketball court, playrooms, media rooms and three boats. In the summer, the family joins the community's large fleet of boaters who gather in informal flotillas to sail to the Abacos in the eastern Bahamas.
Lorea uses the Blue Water spa and is a regular at the exercise center's Pilates classes.
"There's so much to do, you never have to leave. You can even have groceries delivered, and there are four restaurants," said Rob.
RON & SUSAN CHERNOW
THEIR HOME: A 4,000-square-foot, 3-bedroom, 31/2-bath home with a courtyard in the Golf Village section of Admirals Cove
WHEN THEY MOVED IN: February 2002
WHAT THEY PAID: $650,000
CURRENT VALUE (from Zillow.com): $1.04 million
WHY THEY LOVE IT: "Wouldn't it be nice to have a boat behind the house and a golf course in front?" Ron and Susan Chernow asked themselves rhetorically during a cold New Jersey winter in the late 1980s.
They became some of Admirals Cove's first residents when they discovered they could do both in the new community along the Intracoastal. After 14 years, they sold that first house to Australian golfer Robert Allenby and moved to a smaller house in the Golf Village subdivision.
"We stayed because I like the people. It's one of the few communities that is truly mixed, with about 50 percent Jewish and 50 percent gentile," said Ron.
After serving in several capacities on the board of The Club at Admirals Cove, including president, Ron is out of boating these days.
He still plays golf regularly with old buddies and a younger crowd that includes fellow residents Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres and former Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt.
Susan, who used to plan the yearly block party, is pleased that younger families are moving into the community and that even the famous, very wealthy residents remain low-key.
"You could spend days with people and never know how much they had or what they had.''
ALLEN & ELLEN MEYERSON
WHEN THEY MOVED IN: September 1997
WHAT THEY PAID: $255,000
CURRENT VALUE (from Zillow.com): $504,000
WHY THEY LOVE IT: "It's all about the water!" said Allen Meyerson. He and his wife, Ellen, enjoy exploring the Intracoastal around their home in their kayaks. Both also regularly use The Club's exercise and Blue Water spa facilities.
When they moved from Connecticut 11 years ago, the Meyersons scouted developments between Stuart and PGA Boulevard before choosing Admirals Cove for its mix of activities and waterfront location. They purchased one of the Harbor House condos, which come with private docks.
Allen says he particularly enjoys the mix of people attracted to the neighborhood. "It's entrepreneurs, not corporate world-types," he said. "And more recently, younger families."
Five years ago, he shelved retirement and started selling homes for Waterfront Properties, which has an office in the Admirals Cove clubhouse. He says his well-heeled clients seem immune to the vagaries of real estate elsewhere in South Florida.
"Admiral Cove reflects the upper end of the world of real estate. This is just 1 percent of the market."
Click for this story on the Palm Beach Post website.
Page Top