In Manalapan, a Billionaire Real-Estate Investor Asks $49.9 Million for Neighboring Homes

Billionaire real-estate investor Jeff Greene is asking $49.9 million for two adjacent homes in Manalapan, Fla., a town roughly 10 miles from Palm Beach.

Totaling more than 3 acres, Mr. Greene’s properties comprise two contiguous parcels of land that both run from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Atlantic Ocean.

While both parcels include small beach cottages, Mr. Greene said the true value of the property is in the land and that most buyers would raze the cottages to make way for a more modern estate.

Mr. Greene made his fortune betting against risky mortgages in 2006, a strategy he learned from hedge-fund executive John Paulson. He purchased the first of the Manalapan properties in 2015 through a bankruptcy auction for $6.5 million, records show. He bought the second for $4.1 million in 2018 after a neighbor died, he said. He has rented one of the homes out for $25,000 a month, he said.

The site faces the Boynton Inlet, an artificial cut through a barrier beach connecting the ocean and the Intracoastal. “It’s right next to the inlet,” he said. “Some people might not love that idea, but I like that you can be out in the ocean in minutes if you just want to go fishing or for a quick Jet Ski in the ocean. I also like to be able to see all the excitement of boats coming and going all the time.”

Mr. Greene said he and his wife, Mei Sze Greene, who have a home in Palm Beach, considered building on the property but found they don’t have the time. Much of their energy is going into building a new mansion at their estate in North Haven on New York’s Long Island. They also still own Palazzo di Amore, a 25-acre compound in Beverly Hills, which once asked $195 million. Mr. Greene said he’s since taken that property off the market.

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Mr. Greene said he has been quietly shopping the Manalapan properties for a while, but is now finally hiring a broker to market them. The listing comes as the Manalapan market is hitting record highs. In June, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison purchased a $173 million home in Manalapan, setting an area record. 

In the past, Manalapan properties tended to be cheaper than those in Palm Beach, but that is changing, according to listing agent Christian J. Angle. “Now the secret is out,” he said.

Mr. Greene said he doesn’t expect the Palm Beach-area market to dip significantly, despite economic headwinds. 

“There are so few great homes and most people there never sell,” he said. “Once they get their house, they are there for the rest of their lives. It’s the last stop. They’re not going to pick up and move to Jacksonville.”