An $11.7 million house sale in Palm Beach has Boston links on both sides of the deal
The just-closed sale of a house on the near North End of Palm Beach has links to Boston through the buyers and the sellers.
Commercial real estate investor Eric D. Schlager and his wife, Beth, sold — for a recorded $11.7 million — the 1970s-era house they remodeled and owned through a trust at 170 Everglade Ave. Eric Schlager is CEO of Bulfinch, his family’s commercial real estate business in Boston. Beth Schlager has a background in banking and real estate.
The deed recorded July 1 shows Boston-area commercial real estate attorney Luis A. Vidal and his wife, Jennifer R. Slifka, bought the four-bedroom house. The couple already own a home in Palm Beach, having last year bought a penthouse condominium at the Sun & Surf. They have that condo listed for sale at just under $9 million.
The house Vidal and Slifka just bought has 3,791 square feet of living space, inside and out, property records show. It stands on a lot of a little more than a quarter-acre at the corner of North County Road, a quarter-mile north of Royal Poinciana Way.
The house last changed hands for a recorded $1.83 million in January 2014. The Schlagers earned the town’s permission to extensively renovate and expand the house the same year, town records show.
The Schlagers had their house homesteaded as their primary residence in the latest Palm Beach County tax rolls.
The seller listed on the deed was attorney H. William Perry of Gunster, who acted as trustee of the Schlager-affiliated AKAC PB Land Trust.
Douglas Elliman Real Estate agent and Palm Beach commercial real estate investor Spencer Schlager handled the both sides of the deal, which closed June 24, according to the multiple listing service. Spencer Schlager's father is Bullfinch President Robert Schlager, Eric Schlager’s brother.
Spencer Schlager declined to discuss the sale or his clients. He also declined comment on his clients’ behalf.
The ocean-block property entered the market at just under $13 million in mid-March and was immediately listed as being under contract, according to records in the Palm Beach Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service.
The sales listing described the 1972 house as having been “meticulously renovated.” Each of the bedrooms has its own bathroom, the listing says.
A set of fold-back glass doors added during the renovation can open the living room and kitchen to the backyard pool area, which has a prized southern exposure.
Other amenities include a full-house generator, impact-resistant windows and sophisticated lighting and sound systems.
Vidal and Slifka have residential ties to Needham, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, public records show. Vidal founded his own Boston law firm, Vidal Law Group LLC. He also is an entrepreneur and investor, according to online biographical sources. Massachusetts legal records show his wife once held an attorney's license but it is inactive.
In May 2023, according to property records, Vidal and Slifka paid a recorded $8.5 million for their three-bedroom vacation condo at the Sun & Surf, 130 Sunrise Ave., on the near North End of Palm Beach. Overlooking The Breakers golf course, their apartment has 2,476 square feet of interior space and an expansive balcony. Spencer Schlager has it listed for sale at $8.95 million.
Schlager also handled both sides of the 2023 sale when Vidal and Slifka bought the apartment from the PB 130 Limited Partnership of Ontario.
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Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz.
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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Sale of renovated 1970s-era house in Palm Beach has ties to Boston
