The South Florida estate of the late billionaire businessman and sports magnate H. Wayne Huizenga is up for sale at $45 million, and the listing agent says the property would be perfect for a well-to-do-buyer who craves a family compound or for a developer looking to subdivide the land.
The 17-acre site in Palm City, about 45 miles northwest of Palm Beach, offers 800 feet of frontage on the St. Lucie River and access to the Intracoastal Waterway, according to the listing on Homes.com. A new owner taking out a mortgage would pay about $235,000 a month in principal and interest at the current list price with a 20% down payment, Homes.com data shows.
A $45 million sale price would be a record in St. Lucie County, according to One Sotheby's International Realty's Tyler Potts.
"It's pretty impossible to find that much acreage on the water," he said in an interview. Potts is co-listing the home with Alex Burns, also of One Sotheby's International Realty.
Huizenga is one the most iconic names in South Florida sports history. He was a central figure in helping the region become a pro sports mecca with franchises in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League.
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After buying partial stakes in the NFL's Miami Dolphins and their football stadium from Joe Robbie in 1990, Huizenga assumed full control of the team in 1994. He also was the founding owner of the Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers, becoming the first person ever to own three major pro sports franchises.
He later divested himself of the Marlins and Panthers to focus on the Dolphins. But frustrated with his inability to build a Super Bowl champion, Huizenga sold the NFL team to Stephen Ross in stages in 2008 and 2009.
Fortune 500 companies
Aside from his sports empire, Huizenga created three Fortune 500 companies: Waste Management, Blockbuster Video and AutoNation. Forbes magazine reported his net worth at $2.8 billion in 2017. He died the following year at age 80.
Huizenga bought the Palm City estate in 1995, often entertaining coaches and executives and playing golf with them at the nearby Floridian National Golf Club, a site he helped develop.
The two-story home and a guest house, on the market for about two weeks, have a combined six bedrooms, seven and a half bathrooms and a 10-car garage, according to the listing. Other features include a wet bar, a gas fireplace, a heated pool and a spa. The property is located in the gated Harbour Ridge development that has no homeowners' association.
The estate is about 20 miles northwest of Jupiter Island, an exclusive enclave home to golfer Tiger Woods, retired Alabama football coach Nick Saban (who led the Dolphins in 2005 and 2006) and other sports and entertainment celebrities. Potts, who is selling the Huizenga home for his daughter, Pamela, said the property may attract someone who prefers an even more remote location than Jupiter Island.
Though inventory is increasing and the South Florida luxury market is in transition, Potts said he expects the home to attract plenty of attention during the upcoming winter buying season.
"Coming out of the election, people are still letting things settle and making sure the sky isn't falling," he said. "I think from January through Easter, we'll have a pretty good turnout."