Pair of multimillion Naples sales buck housing slowdown narrative

While the housing market, by many measurable standards, continues to struggle, two residential deals late last month in Naples bucked the trends.

In a big way.

The pair of sales happened in the city’s prestigious Port Royal neighborhood and even by the high-price standards set by that area they were mind-boggling.

The first announced deal was a trio of connected residential beachfront properties that sold to a single owner for $225 million.

That was followed by the announced sale of a Naples Bay front estate for $85 million to local billionaire entrepreneur David Hoffmann.

News of the deals came just days after the National Realtors Association issued its March housing report showing existing-home sales fell 5.9% in when compared with February. Sales were down 2.4% when compared year-over-year, NAR reported.

In Florida, sales of single-family homes fell 1.3% year-over-year in March Florida Realtors says.

The luxury home market fared better, though, with the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing reporting that sales of homes in the segment increased by 7.3% in March when compared with a year ago.

The organization’s Luxury Market Report for April found that “improvements in sales volume and inventory levels, (suggest) growing seller confidence and sustained buyer interest despite ongoing economic headwinds.”

“While concerns like inflationary pressures, geopolitical uncertainties, and stock market fluctuations remain in play, affluent buyers and sellers are both demonstrating strategic patience while also acting decisively when conditions align with their long-term lifestyle and investment goals.”

Facts and figures aside, properties like the ones that sold last month in Naples are a breed apart.

As Timothy Savage, principal of Gulf Coast International Properties says of the Hoffmann-purchased estate, “This is an extraordinary property.”

The Hoffmann deal

The billionaire founder of The Hoffmann Family of Companies paid $85 million for the bewly-built 17,202-square-foot waterfront house at 575 Admiralty Parade W.

The Port Royal house sits on 2¼ lots and has 250 feet of frontage on Naples Bay, according to Gulf Coast International Properties and The Agency, which brokered the deal. It has eight bedrooms and 10½ bathrooms.

The property, according to Collier County property records, was previously owned by a revocable trust which paid $5.85 million in 2021.

Gulf Coast International Properties, quoting Multiple Listing Service data, says this was the highest price ever recorded for a single-family residence in the history of the county as well as the highest price for a non-beachfront single-family residence in the county, according to MLS statistics.

The Hoffmann Family of Cos., which has its roots in Missouri, first came to Naples in 2015 when it bought a $75 million portfolio that included seven properties and a parking lot.

Today, the family-owned and -operated company owns more than 100 national brands and employs 9,000 employees with businesses located in 30 countries.

What does $225 million get you?

The three waterfront residential properties all adjoin one another in Naples’ Port Royal neighborhood and were sold to a trust named 2200 Gordon Land Trust last week.

The sale is the largest residential transaction in Florida’s history — according to realtor.com — and one of the largest residential transactions ever in the U.S., trailing, but not by much, the 2019 $238 million sale of a penthouse at 220 Central Park South in Manhattan.

The main property, at 2200 Gordon Drive, sold for $113.17 million according to copies of the deeds in public records. On either side of it, 2340 Gordon Drive sold for $46.91 million and 2170 Gordon Drive sold for $44.91 million.

Combined, they make up 15 acres and have 812 feet of beach frontage.

The properties had been on the market for just shy of two years before being sold. They were marketed individually, though the original listing said that buying the three as one continuous property was an option.

The 2200 Gordon Drive house, which sits in the middle, is an 8,846-square-foot beachfront house sitting on 8.53 acres. It was built in 1986 and has six bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, three half bathrooms and three garages.

The previous owner, according to Collier County property records, was a Naples based company named Westbury Properties. The records show it sold in 1985 for $4.13 million and then was deeded twice, with Westbury being listed as the owner since 1995.

It was originally listed in 2023 for $175 million.

The house at 2340 Gordon Drive, which is on the south side of the three parcels, is a 6,000-square-foot, five-bedroom, three-bathroom home built in 1938 that sits on 3.41 acres.

Property records show it was previously owned by a company based in Bermuda named Jesse’s Good Luck South Limited, which paid $9.02 million Dec. 31, 2002.

It was originally listed for $59.9 million.

As for the 3.07-acre property at 2170 Gordon Drive, is a 3,518-square-foot home built in 1996. It too was owned by a company out of Bermuda — Megan Park Limited — that bought it on Dec. 31, 2002 for $9.03 million.

It was originally listed for $60.3 million.