Huge Ocean Ridge Boynton Beach Mansion a1a and Ocean Blvd

So we get alot of emails and questions about the huge mansion at the end of Ocean Blvd where it meets A1A. This gargantuan Florida mansion next to the Boynton Beach Oceanfront Park.



The founder of the Miami Beach landmark restaurant The Forge is expanding his residential enclave in Palm Beach County's exclusive Ocean Ridge.

Multimil-lionaire Alvin Malnik dropped $7.9 million for a five-bedroom house on the Atlantic Ocean in the sleepy town east of Boynton Beach. The 9,417-square-foot house built in 1985 is at 6307 N. Ocean Blvd.

The lawyer-turned-real-estate-investor and his wife, Nancy, live in an 11-bedroom, 18.5 bathroom estate next door at 6301 N. Ocean Blvd. Their expansive home of six years measures about 44,600 square feet on 2.23 acres, making it the biggest house in Ocean Ridge. Ocean Ridge has about 3,000 residents -- including seasonal visitors.

Joseph and Carol Russo sold Malnik his newest home on March 28. The Russos paid $2.2 million for it in 1990. County appraisers put the market value of the oceanfront home at $3.85 million, less than half of the purchase price.

Malnik paid about $800 per square foot, and one broker said it was a good price.

"Some homes are selling for well above $1,000 per square foot in that area," said broker Candace Friis with the New York-based Corcoran Group in Delray Beach. "It is a terrific buy for the buyer. It is a very nice house."

Friis was not involved in the sale. She said the property was not on the Multiple Listing Service.

The Russos recently bought a house that's half the size in Palm Beach. They paid $3.95 million for a 4,686-square-foot home on Australian Avenue in February.

Malnik owes his South Florida celebrity in part to the success of The Forge, now run by his son, Shareef Malnik. Rich in European architecture and art, the former casino is a draw for celebrities, politicians and wine connoisseurs. The restaurant's underground cellar has room for up to 300,000 bottles.

Alvin Malnik, 73, bought the neglected restaurant in 1968 when he was a young attorney and his roster of clients included mob financier Meyer Lansky.

Considered one of the fathers of the organized crime in the United States, Lansky established gambling operations in Florida, New Orleans and Cuba in the mid-1930s. His illegal operations extended to drugs and prostitution. In the 1970s, he faced tax evasion charges and fled to Israel. His extradition brought him to Miami and prison. He died of lung cancer in 1983, leaving behind a $400 million fortune.

Malnik's association with the gangster tainted his reputation. In a 1980 opinion, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission described Malnik as a "person of unsuitable character and unsuitable reputation."

Malnik has always denied any involvement with organized crime, noting he was never convicted of any crime.

In recent years, Malnik has focused on real estate. He transferred ownership of The Forge to his son in 1991 after a spectacular roof fire heavily damaged the restaurant.

Shareef Malnik re-opened it and took it to a higher level. He created Jimmy'z at Cuba Club as part of the restaurant and has hosted celebrities such as Madonna, Michael Jordan, Robert De Niro and Paul McCartney.

The elder Malnik has been an active investor in South Florida real estate for at least three decades, said Mark Gilbert, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield in Miami. Malnik invests in commercial and residential income-producing properties, but his name rarely appears on corporate records filed with the state.

Gilbert has been a friend of Malnik's for years and does business with him at times. Gilbert was the registered agent of ANC Rental Plaza, in which Malnik was an investor. In February, ANC sold the former Blockbuster headquarters in Fort Lauderdale for $23 million to Miami-based N.R. Investments. The new owner is converting the tower to office condos, said N.R. Investments' principal Nir Shoshani.

Renamed Museum Plaza, the 177,000-square-foot building has 45,000 square feet available for sale. Blockbuster founder H. Wayne Huizenga's penthouse office and the ground-floor retail space are on the market for $290 to $320 per square foot, Shoshani said.

Malnik's real estate portfolio also includes 32.5 acres of vacant land northeast of Lyons Road and Clint Moore Road west of Boca Raton, according to Palm Beach County property records.

The founder of the Miami Beach landmark restaurant The Forge is expanding his residential enclave in Palm Beach County's exclusive Ocean Ridge.

Multimil-lionaire Alvin Malnik dropped $7.9 million for a five-bedroom house on the Atlantic Ocean in the sleepy town east of Boynton Beach. The 9,417-square-foot house built in 1985 is at 6307 N. Ocean Blvd.

The lawyer-turned-real-estate-investor and his wife, Nancy, live in an 11-bedroom, 18.5 bathroom estate next door at 6301 N. Ocean Blvd. Their expansive home of six years measures about 44,600 square feet on 2.23 acres, making it the biggest house in Ocean Ridge. Ocean Ridge has about 3,000 residents -- including seasonal visitors.

Joseph and Carol Russo sold Malnik his newest home on March 28. The Russos paid $2.2 million for it in 1990. County appraisers put the market value of the oceanfront home at $3.85 million, less than half of the purchase price.

Malnik paid about $800 per square foot, and one broker said it was a good price.

"Some homes are selling for well above $1,000 per square foot in that area," said broker Candace Friis with the New York-based Corcoran Group in Delray Beach. "It is a terrific buy for the buyer. It is a very nice house."

Friis was not involved in the sale. She said the property was not on the Multiple Listing Service.

The Russos recently bought a house that's half the size in Palm Beach. They paid $3.95 million for a 4,686-square-foot home on Australian Avenue in February.

Malnik owes his South Florida celebrity in part to the success of The Forge, now run by his son, Shareef Malnik. Rich in European architecture and art, the former casino is a draw for celebrities, politicians and wine connoisseurs. The restaurant's underground cellar has room for up to 300,000 bottles.

Alvin Malnik, 73, bought the neglected restaurant in 1968 when he was a young attorney and his roster of clients included mob financier Meyer Lansky.

Considered one of the fathers of the organized crime in the United States, Lansky established gambling operations in Florida, New Orleans and Cuba in the mid-1930s. His illegal operations extended to drugs and prostitution. In the 1970s, he faced tax evasion charges and fled to Israel. His extradition brought him to Miami and prison. He died of lung cancer in 1983, leaving behind a $400 million fortune.

Malnik's association with the gangster tainted his reputation. In a 1980 opinion, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission described Malnik as a "person of unsuitable character and unsuitable reputation."

Malnik has always denied any involvement with organized crime, noting he was never convicted of any crime.

In recent years, Malnik has focused on real estate. He transferred ownership of The Forge to his son in 1991 after a spectacular roof fire heavily damaged the restaurant.

Shareef Malnik re-opened it and took it to a higher level. He created Jimmy'z at Cuba Club as part of the restaurant and has hosted celebrities such as Madonna, Michael Jordan, Robert De Niro and Paul McCartney.

The elder Malnik has been an active investor in South Florida real estate for at least three decades, said Mark Gilbert, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield in Miami. Malnik invests in commercial and residential income-producing properties, but his name rarely appears on corporate records filed with the state.

Gilbert has been a friend of Malnik's for years and does business with him at times. Gilbert was the registered agent of ANC Rental Plaza, in which Malnik was an investor. In February, ANC sold the former Blockbuster headquarters in Fort Lauderdale for $23 million to Miami-based N.R. Investments. The new owner is converting the tower to office condos, said N.R. Investments' principal Nir Shoshani.

Renamed Museum Plaza, the 177,000-square-foot building has 45,000 square feet available for sale. Blockbuster founder H. Wayne Huizenga's penthouse office and the ground-floor retail space are on the market for $290 to $320 per square foot, Shoshani said.

Malnik's real estate portfolio also includes 32.5 acres of vacant land northeast of Lyons Road and Clint Moore Road west of Boca Raton, according to Palm Beach County property records.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians' Houses, Part III

Soon-to-be Baby Mama Kourtney Kardashian came home Saturday night to find out her Calabasas, CA, home had been burglarized.  More than $100,000 worth of watches and jewelry were reportedly stolen, including vintage jewelry left to her by her deceased dad (famed attorney Robert Kardashian), a Cartier watch valued at $30,000, and a Rolex watch belonging to her boyfriend/Baby Daddy Scott Disick.

Kourtney was partying in Vegas the night before at her sister Kim's birthday bash, but was already back in town before the burglary occurred.  She went out for an early dinner with her Baby Daddy-to-be and discovered the burglary upon her return.

Kourtney lives in a 2200+ sq. ft., 2BR/3BA townhouse condo in this gated community (below):

So we wanna know WHO LEFT THE GATE OPEN?!!  Or was this an inside job?

Whatever the case may be, we're sorry for Kourtney that it happened.

UPDATE:  TMZ just ran a story questioning whether it was an inside job.
Top photo by PRN/PR Photos.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians' Houses, Part II

By now, everyone knows that Khloe Kardashian managed to snag herself a baller just like her sister Kim.  Sham or not, Khloe got her man -- NBA Lakers star Lamar Odom -- to "put a ring on it."  They were married (even if not legally) nearly a month ago and continued to haggle over the prenup.  Yesterday, TMZ reported that they finally reached a deal.  We hear from multiple sources that Khloe gets a $5 million house, $500K for every year they stay married, and $25K per month in general support.

Khloe also gets a bunch of other cash to support her clothing/makeup habit, but who are we kidding?  We only care about what kind of house she's going to get!

Khloe and Lamar are reportedly in the market for a home between 8,000 and 10,000 sq. ft., with a pool and basketball court. We don't know if that's enough space, considering they'll probably be living in separate wings.  Maybe they should just ask Bill and Hillary Clinton, who apparently only recently figured out that they need a bigger house!

Anyway, thanks to TMZ, we know that Khloe and her mom went house hunting in Bel Air only days before the wedding.  The house they looked at (below) was listed for $5,999,900--nearly a million dollars over her budget. 

Actually, after looking at the photos, we think it's pretty nice for a generic new Spanish mediterranean. 

But unless the price comes way down or Lamar is feeling extra generous, we guess Khloe will have to strike it off her list!

Keeping Up With the Kardashians' Houses, Part I

While we were on vacay last week, we missed a couple of stories about the Kardashian sisters, the socialites best known for starring in their former hit reality TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

First up is the most famous of the sisters, the curvaceous Kim Kardashian.  Earlier this month, Real Estalker and other sources reported that she recently listed her 3 bedroom/2.5 bath 1,750 sq. ft. condo in West Hollywood for just under $1.1 million.   We have since heard that she has reunited with her ex-boyfriend NFL star Reggie Bush and that they plan to purchase a home together.

As for the condo, looks like it was pretty generic and she tried really hard to spice it up:

Weird thing is, we found features we really LOVED and ones we really HATED in virtually every room!  Like, we loved the gold-leaf ceiling in the dining room, but then the furniture (especially those chairs!) didn't seem to measure up. 

We also loved the tufted headboard and bench, and the giant mirrored high boy and nightstands in the bedroom (bottom, left).  But we couldn't figure out why she needed a mirrored wall behind the headboard.  The pale colors reflected over and over again merely made the room look washed out.

We appreciate other personal touches like the wallpaper and black ceiling in the powder room, and we'd love to get our hands on that 4-panel Buddha-like wall-hanging in her living room (top left photo).

The bottom line is, Kim is a 29yo celebrity-for-no-reason (other than her bodacious butt!) and she's having fun living on her own in L.A--for a least a little while longer.  Her condo looks both stylish and regular at the same time.  We like that.

Let us know if you think she should have done a better job decorating her condo.

Next up Khloe Kardashian.

Condo photo collage from Real Estalker.

Palm Beach Mansions - Sidney Kimmel Mansion sells to John Thornton

In another sign of just how hot the Florida mansion market has remained, the oceanfront estate built by billionaire businessman and philanthropist Sidney Kimmel has sold for $81.5 million, a record for the island.

John L. Thornton, 54, a former Goldman Sachs partner and chairman of the Brookings Institution, is the buyer, people familiar with the transaction said.

While the sale price was officially recorded in late 2008 at $77.5 million, listing agent Paulette Koch said the buyer also paid $4 million in closing costs. That means Kimmel got his full asking price of $81.5 million.

The deal underscores both the strength of the mansion market and the desirability of Kimmel's home at 1236 S. Ocean Blvd.

"The house was in impeccable condition, with the finest details," said Koch, adding that three other buyers were interested in the property.

The estate boasts 5 lushly landscaped acres and 300 feet of ocean frontage. The 32,000-square-foot home was designed by Thierry Despont, who also created Bill Gates' mansion.

The living room includes 26-foot ceilings and 20-foot-high glass panels that disappear into the floor at the push of a button.

The home also features a wine cellar, pool, waterfalls, staff quarters and an air chiller and 27-zone air conditioning system.

The sale tops the previous Palm Beach record of $70 million, which Ron Perelman's estate fetched in 2004.

Palm Beach Realtor John Pinson said he wasn't surprised that Kimmel's house sold so quickly and for full price.

"There are only so many outstanding, exceptional properties, and this is one of them," Pinson said. "It's a very nice, isolated location, and the beach is very pretty."

For many, the home's property tax bill alone would prove daunting - $517,775 last year.

While the overall housing market in Palm Beach County has struggled since late 2005, the mansion market in the town of Palm Beach is booming.

County home prices dipped 4 percent from 2006 to 2007, according to the Florida Association of Realtors, but Palm Beach prices jumped 13 percent during that period, according to a study by Palm Beach attorney Les Evans.

"There are buyers out there with plenty of money that they can afford to spend," Pinson said. "When you get into this very elite level, certain people are unaffected by economic changes because they're blessed with a lot of wealth."

Kimmel is founder and chairman of Jones Apparel Group and producer of films including The Kite Runner.

Thornton could not be reached for comment. In addition to his role with Brookings, an independent research and policy institute based in Washington, he is a director of Intel Corp., Ford Motor Co. and News Corp. He's also a professor of global leadership at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

It's not the first time Thornton has proved bullish on real estate.

In 2001, he set a record for New Jersey home sales by paying $18 million for a 118-acre estate in Bedminster that Princeton University had been using as a retreat, The New York Times reported.

Description from Listing Brokers Site for this huge house in Florida Reads - World Class Oceanfront: Designed by internationally renowned architect, Thierry W. Despont on approximately 5 private acres (301' frontage), this extraordinary residence is truly a "work of art". The essence of this masterpiece is the unsurpassed direct oceanfront setting, tropical gardens, fountains and reflecting pools perfect for monumental art, and the rich mahogany and pale French limestone pervasive throughout. This unparalleled architectural vision has floor to ceiling walls of glass designed to capture light and sweeping ocean vistas with over 32,000 square feet of unmatched quality and detail beyond compare.

King of Comedy Steve Harvey's King-Sized Mansion Up For Sale

Funnyman, actor, radio host, author, and GMA correspondent Steve Harvey has placed his Plano, Texas, mansion up for sale.  His monster home (below) can be yours for only $3.5 million.  This is down from an earlier asking price of $3.95 million. 

Of course, you'd need to find the front door first.  Doesn't this look like two separate homes joined together at the center?  Well, it is!  It turns out that the home on the left is actually his two-story guest house.

Steve's double-house sits on 3.25 acres and comes with a 7-car garage, though the yard naturally seems tiny because of the size of the house.  Clocking in at nearly 11,700 square feet, it has 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and 2 half baths. 

Here are a few photos of the interior:

 The kitchen (above) is probably the nicest looking room in the house.  And the coffered ceiling in the keeping room below is a nice touch.

But we can barely tell his dining room . . .

from his living room . . .

. . . or his study:

Enough with the chandeliers and beveled-glass windows already! 

Look, we like Steve.  But we think he's yet another celebrity of humble origins who feels the need to show off his wealth with an oversized ostentatious house. 

Tell us, do you think it's too much?  Or is it simply a well-earned reward for achieving success through fame and hard work?

See the agent's listing for additional photos.  Hat tip to Celebrity Address Aerial!

Demi Moore's Rental While Filming "The Joneses" is on Market

We're on vacay this week and only posting items found from other sources. Here's one you might enjoy: http://www.zillow.com/blog/demi-moores-rental-while-filming-the-joneses-is-on-market/2009/10/12/