palm beach then and now

Palm Beach County Then and Now

Presented by: Tim Wilmath, MAI

Chief Appraiser

Palm Beach County – Then and Now

Palm BeachCounty


2007 $235,857,163,7592008 $222,676,826,9992009 $188,286,110,0422010 $166,379,429,0672011 $163,284,611,9402012 $163,011,694,1062013 $171,664,589,8652014 $192,619,660,2422015 $217,610,910,6752016 $236,353,370,514

Palm Beach County Market Value


Florida’s first residents were Native Americans.

Native tribes in Palm Beach County included the Tequesta, Jeaga, Jobe, Ais and Seminoles.


In the 1500’s Ponce De Leon landed in Florida.

He didn’t survive the trip, but he started an influx of visitors.


From the 1500’s to the 1800’s Spanish and other European explorers came to Palm Beach and other Florida locations looking for treasure.


As settlers moved in, Native American tribes were forced into smaller and smaller areas, eventually leading to the Seminole Indian Wars in the mid-1800s.


Word of Florida spread and settlers began moving into the area in greater numbers in the late 1800s.


Otto and Mary Weybrecht opened a hardware store on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach in the early 1890’s.


Clematis Street remained the center of commerce in West Palm Beach into the 1940’s


Today Clematis Street is a booming destination in Palm Beach with retail shops, restaurants, theaters and other attractions.


The first City Hall in West Palm Beach – circa 1909. Located at the corner of Banyan Street and Poinsettia Ave.


Palm Beach County’s first courthouse – built in 1916.


The Palm Beach Courthouse has been restored and currently serves as the Palm Beach County History Museum


The Palm Beach County Government Center opened in 1984 and the 11-story Palm Beach County Courthouse opened in 1994.


Henry Flagler founded Palm Beach in 1894 with the introduction of the railroad.


In 1896 Henry Flagler built the “Palm Beach Inn” -later renamed The Breakers Hotel.


In 1903, the Breakers burned down to the ground, but was quickly re-built and opened one year later.


In 1925, a full 21 years after the first fire, the Breakers caught fire again. The hotel was rebuilt and opened again in 1926.


Today the Breakers Hotel occupies 140 acres along the Atlantic Ocean. Room rates are approximately $500/night.


In 1893 Henry Flagler purchased a cottage and 10 acres in Palm Beach for $75,000.

That was a relatively high price at the time, but his introduction of the railroad caused real estate prices to skyrocket.


In 1902 Henry Flagler built the first Luxury Home in Palm Beach, “Whitehall” a 75-room, 100,000 square foot home, at a cost of $2,500,000.


“Whitehall” was converted to a hotel in 1925, and eventually converted to the Flagler Museum which is currently open to the public.


Even in 1913, Worth Avenue was a shopping destination for the rich and famous.


“Alligator Joe’s Farm” West Palm Beach – circa 1900


Worth Avenue continued to be the exclusive shopping district into the 1950s


Today Worth Avenue is an exclusive shopping district with rents in excess of $100/PSF


Boca Raton – 1955. This photo shows the public beach. Notice the pavilion at the end of the road on the beach.


Boca Raton today - notice the pavilion in foreground.


Blue Heron Hotel under construction on Singer Island – 1928


Singer Island today


“Emergency Hospital” – 1914. Palm Beach County’s first hospital.


“Good Samaritan Hospital” opened in West Palm Beach in 1920.


Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach today


The Village of Wellington is located in Eastern Palm Beach County.


Wellington is the home of the International Polo Club Palm Beach - and the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.


Many of the stables in Wellington rival the value of luxury homes


Bill Gates, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Bloomberg, Steven Spielberg and Tommy Lee Jones all have homes in Wellington


Bill Gates has bought up his entire street in Wellington. He has spent $37 million and now owns 18 acres.


Belle Glade is a small community in Palm Beach County known as the “Gateway to the Everglades”


The Western portion of Palm Beach County is mostlyagriculture, dominated by sugarcane fields.


Belle Glade has always been a farming community as shown in this photo from 1940


Belle Glade suffered tremendous loss of life and property in the hurricane of 1928


Herbert Hoover Dike is a 143-mile dam that surrounds Lake Okeechobee.


Belle Glade is still mostly a farming community.


Town of Palm Beach

Billionaires Row

The highest price ever paid for a home in Palm Beach “Casa Apava” which sold for $116 Million in 2015 to Paul Tudor Jones II. Estimated mortgage payment - $337,000/Month


The 2nd most expensive home sale ever in Palm Beach was Donald Trump’s sale of “Maison de l’Amitie” to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybovlev for $95,000,000 in 2008. Trump bought the property in 2004 for $41.35 million.


The home was located on 6 acres. It was eventually demolished and sub-divided into 3 lots. One of those lots just sold for $34.34 million.


There have been over 45 sales of homes over $10 million in Palm Beach in the past year and a half. Of those, 15 sold for more than $20 million.


Joe Kennedy purchased the Kennedy Compound on Palm Beach for $120,000 in 1933. In 1995, the Kennedy’s sold the home for $4.9 million. It sold in 2015 for $31 million.


• Louwana - 473 N. County Road

• Built in 1919 by AddisonMizner

• Purchased by “Dr. Oz” for $18 Million in 2015

• Currently available for rent for $95,000 per month


• 1071 N. Ocean Boulevard

• Asking Price - $69,900,000

• 8 bedrooms/7 baths. 35,993 square feet

• 242 feet of Ocean frontage

• Bowling Alley, pub room, 8-car garage, home theater.


• 1473 N. Ocean Boulevard

• Asking Price - $54,000,000

• 7 bedrooms/10 baths17,804 square feet

• 2 acres on the ocean

• Sold in 2012 for $41.5 million.



Mar-a-Lago was built in 1925 by Marjorie Merriweather Post. After her death in 1973, the property was donated to the Federal Government to be used as a Presidential Retreat.


Marjorie Merriweather Post used Mar-a-Lago as her winter home from the 1920’s till her death in 1973.


Because of high maintenance costs, the Federal Government returned Mar-a-Lago to the Post family and they sold it to Donald Trump for $7 million in 1985.


After his $7 million purchase of Mar-a-Lago in 1985, Trump sued the Palm Beach Property Appraiser over its $11.5 million assessment.


Trump lost his property tax appeal on Mar-a -Lago, in part because of comments he made in the “Art of the Deal”

Palm Beach County Property Appraiser v. Donald Trump 549 So. 2d 1098; (1989)


Trump also filed suit against Palm Beach County to force them to re-route the flight path for jets flying over Mar-a-Lago to Palm Beach Airport.


Trump also filed suit against the City of Palm Beach over the height of the American Flag flying at Mar-a-Lago.


Mar-a-Lago FeaturesYear Built – 1925 (Many additions since)Site size – 17.5 acres Heated Area – 76,821 square feet58 bedrooms 33 baths3 bomb sheltersInitiation Fee: $200,000 (up from $100,000 in 2016)Amenities: 3 bomb shelters, oceanfront swimming pool, spa and salon, six tennis courts, croquet court, two ballrooms, and seaside cabanas, Atlantic and Intracoastal frontage.


Under President Trump, Mar a Lago has become the presidential retreat that Marjorie Merriweather Post envisioned.

Thank you!Tim Wilmath, MAI – Chief AppraiserPalm Beach County Property AppraiserPhone: (561) 355-2862Email: [email protected]

palm beach then and now

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