Hedge funder buys new Palm Beach townhouse for $12M
Billionaire developer Richard Kurtz paid $6.6M for site in 2020
A billionaire Palm Beach developer sold a townhouse to a hedge funder with an extensive New England real estate portfolio.
Records show 220 PB LLC, a Florida entity managed by Richard Kurtz, sold the townhouse at 220 Brazilian Avenue to Skyfall I Domestic LLC, a Delaware corporation tied to David P. Malm.
Kurtz is the billionaire CEO of Englewood, New Jersey-based real estate firm the Kamson Corporation, according to Forbes. Kamson owns more than 60 multifamily buildings throughout New Jersey, with more than 15,000 rental units, the outlet reported.
Kurtz is also a regular real estate investor in Palm Beach. In 2021, he sold the estate at 680 South Ocean Boulevard for $32.1 million, after buying it for $17 million in 2017. Kurtz’s dealings in Palm Beach stretch back decades, according to Tom Shaw of Sotheby’s International Realty, who has brokered many of Kurtz’s real estate deals. Forbes pegs his net worth at $1 billion.
Malm is no stranger to island investing, either. The hedge funder is a managing partner of Webster Equity Partners in Waltham, Massachusetts, and has spent years quietly amassing a nearly $100 million portfolio of luxury residential properties on the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Malm’s investing strategy focuses on luxury markets with limited supply, he told the Wall Street Journal, which first reported his investments.
Malm did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and it is unclear whether this Palm Beach acquisition is an investment or for personal use.
Adam McPherson of Douglas Elliman represented the seller in the deal, and Chris Leavitt of Douglas Elliman brought the buyer, Shaw said.
Kurtz bought the property for $6.6 million in 2020, with approved plans for a two-unit townhouse development and a contractor already hired, according to property records and Shaw.
“We closed on a Thursday,” Shaw said. “On Monday there were 20 guys already working.”
He also said Lilly Pulitzer, famed Palm Beacher, heiress and clothing designer, once owned a home on the same property.
Malm bought the development’s West unit, which spans more than 4,000 square feet, with four bedrooms and five bathrooms, records show. The townhouse was completed last year. Contracts for both the townhouses had been in place for two years, Shaw said, noting that the prices are based on outdated market conditions.
That’s why the development’s East townhouse, at 218 Brazilian Avenue, which just closed for $8.3 million, is already back on the market. Shaw has the listing for $16 million.
The Palm Beach luxury market has experienced dramatic price growth in the last two years. Pricing has remained strong in recent months, even in the face of a cooling market and a dip in sales.