Two Gulf-front mansions in Naples among priciest homes for sale in Florida

Two Gulf-front mansions in Naples among priciest homes for sale in Florida

With the luxury market making a comeback in Naples, two posh Port Royal mansions are among the priciest homes for sale in Florida.

The beachfront homes — with Gordon Drive addresses — recently landed on a list of the 10 most expensive residential listings in the state. The rankings, published last month and generated by PropertyShark.com, included homes priced from $58 million to $195 million. Yes, $195 million.

The Naples properties making the list are at:

» 2500 Gordon Drive, ranked No. 8, with an asking price of $60.9 million.

» 2750 Gordon Drive, in 10th place, with a price of $58 million.

At $54.9 million, a third Port Royal estate, at 3100 Gordon Drive, narrowly missed the list. (It originally was put on the market for $68 million in 2014.)

The three mega-mansions are in a class by themselves in Naples.

The next-closest listing based on asking price is at $49 million — also in Port Royal, on Galleon Drive, according to Trulia.com.

From there, listing prices drop to $30 million or less.

“Fifty million-plus is rarefied air,” said Bill Earls, a luxury home specialist with John R. Wood in Naples. “There are only so many people on the planet Earth that can buy a property like that. But they have to be interested in Florida. They can’t be foreign from China, with no interest in the United States.”

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Selling ultra high-end real estate takes time, but it helps when consumer confidence is higher, as it is now — and the uncertainty of the 2016 presidential election is in the rear-view mirror.

“You have to be extremely successful and wealthy individuals to be able to play in this market,” Earls said.

Of the most expensive trio of listings in Naples, the 15,995-square-foot estate at 3100 Gordon Drive has been listed on the market the longest — more than 910 days.

The newest to hit the market is 2500 Gordon Drive, made publicly available again about 200 days ago. Marketing efforts picked up with the start of the busy winter season last year. Its listing agent is Gulf Coast International Properties.

Here’s a look at the listings:

» With five bedrooms and six baths, the Island Colonial-style home at 3100 Gordon Drive is on nearly 5 acres, with 277 feet of sandy shore. Built in 2009, it includes a seven-car garage, retractable motorized glass walls, luxury gardens and a 66-foot-long pool with a spa and sun shelf. It last sold in March 2012 for $47.3 million, an eye-popping price that made headlines as one of the most expensive homes ever sold in Naples.

» Known as La Capanna, the estate at 2750 Gordon Drive spans 18,172 square feet on 1.55 acres. The Mediterranean-inspired, resort-like estate has six bedrooms, 14 bathrooms (eight full and six half), a home theater, a beachside game room, a five-bay collector’s garage, a two-story rotunda with waterfront views, a 500-bottle wine room, state-of-the-art electronics, a fitness center, his and her studies, and a zero-edge pool, which appears to vanish into the horizon. It recently underwent a four-year, $8 million renovation, making it even bigger and more stately.

» The lavish five-bedroom estate with seven bathrooms (six full and one half) at 2500 Gordon Drive has a Lowcountry architectural style, with elements that developed in the 1700s in Georgia and Tennessee. An ornate gate opens to stands of palm trees, verdant lawns and privacy hedges around the main home. The grounds include several guest houses, a pool and pool house, a few garages, a sun room and service buildings, and even a “secret garden.” The property has been visited by presidents and has hosted large charity events.

“They are all like works of art. They are all incredibly beautiful in their own right, and they are unique. When you see them firsthand, it’s hard to deny how special they are,” said Larry Lappin, a luxury home specialist who is part of an ultra high-end real estate team with Earls.

The power team has the listings at 2750 Gordon Drive and 3100 Gordon Drive.

Related: Naples tops in the nation again for well-being, happiness

“If you have visited La Capanna, then no explanation is necessary, and if you haven’t been there, no explanation is possible,” Lappin said.

Since the last Super Bowl, Earls said $5 million to $10 million homes have been selling “almost every day,” so the high-end “market is really alive again.” In the seven months leading to the presidential election, that wasn’t the case.

“It was the biggest living soap opera in the history of the United States,” Earls said of the presidential run. “Nobody wanted to talk about anything but Trump and Clinton.”

This year Earls said he and Lappin have sold more than $80 million worth of property. They’ve had more showings over the past few months than they did in the previous six months.

“The activity somehow begets activity,” Lappin said.

Also helpful are the recent headlines Naples has generated as a great place to live and work. Last week Naples and the nearby communities of Immokalee and Marco Island took the top spot as the healthiest and happiest place in the nation for the second year in a row in the Gallup-Healthways State of American Well-Being 2016 Community Rankings.

Naples saw fewer luxury home sales in 2016 than in 2014 and 2015, with both sales price and volume down. Port Royal and Olde Naples were hurt most, in part due to larger home inventories, said Michael Polly, president and managing broker for Royal Shell Real Estate in Naples.

In Collier County, 31 residential properties have sold or gone under contract for $5 million or more since Jan. 1, Polly said. Additionally, he said, four other homes have gone pending and two have sold for more than $10 million since the beginning of the year.

Last week an open house at an estate home on Galleon Drive priced at $13.9 million attracted 11 prospective buyers, Polly said, adding that it’s “pretty good traffic” for a property in that market.

“I’ve seen a lot of adjustments in the prices of some of these properties so that some that were a little overzealous have come more in line with the market. The factors of confidence in the economy and more realistic pricing have brought the interest back in that market in Naples,” Polly said. “It will stabilize and be at more of an equilibrium as the year moves on.”

Related: Southwest Florida’s top 10 home sales of 2016

However, the renewed interest in multimillion-dollar homes doesn’t mean the $50 million-plus mansions will sell in a snap or even this year, he said, acknowledging they’re a different breed.

“That is a narrow market,” he said “Look at those price points.”

Philip Collins, a luxury property specialist with William Raveis Real Estate in Naples, said a home in Port Royal recently went under contract for about $18 million (the most expensive home sold in Collier County last year fetched less than $15.2 million). He declined to give the address of the pending sale, pointing out it’s not a done deal. He said he wouldn’t be shocked to see one of the $50 million-plus properties sell this year, as wealthy buyers are feeling more confident about the economy and where the country is headed with the election of President Donald Trump.

On average, Collins said about 60 homes sell in Port Royal a year. That number dropped to 36 last year, he said, but he expects sales this year to be much stronger.

One of his company’s newest listings is at 655 Galleon Drive in Port Royal, which is going for $5.75 million. The single-family home, with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, is older, built in 1971, and much smaller than the mega mansions, spanning 3,567 square feet, and it’s getting serious looks.

“We have had some interest already, and it does have a nice water view, and the house has been renovated,” Collins said. “It is on the lower end price wise on navigable water.”

When it comes to the Top 10 priciest homes on the market in Florida, many are found in Palm Beach. At No. 2 on PropertyShark.com’s list is Il Palmetto, Netscape co-founder Jim Clark’s 60,350-square-foot Italian Renaissance mansion on South Ocean Boulevard in the small beachside community of Manalapan, priced at $137 million.

The most expensive property in Florida on PropertyShark.com’s list, The Gemini, a mega mansion sitting on more than 15 acres in Manalapan, with 33 bedrooms and 47 bathrooms (13 half-baths). The fortress is also one of the priciest in the country. Listed at $195 million, the home stretches more than 63,000 square feet. Its owners, the Ziff publishing family, finished a major renovation of the property in 2003.

Shortly after PropertyShark.com released its Top 10 list, the Donahue family announced they’re exploring the sale of 70 acres of beachfront property on Keewaydin Island and Gordon Pointe in Naples. Though the offering is unpriced, some have speculated it could sell for $100 million to $150 million to the right buyer.

Related: Naples family might sell 70 ‘amazing and unique’ acres that include beach

The holdings comprise property the family has acquired over more than 40 years, beginning with a home off Gordon Drive. The offering includes:

» Ready-to-build lots on the northern tip of Keewaydin.

» A lounge for arriving and departing guests.

» A 4,700-square-foot lodge.

» A beachfront single-family estate with nearly 16,000 square feet.

» Tennis courts.

» A helicopter landing pad. (If you don’t have a helicopter, the only way to get to the island is by boat.)

A day after the listing hit the market, Robert McEwan, one of two CBRE agents representing the sellers, said after a short period of marketing, there would be a call for offers.

“There is just not another property like this in the state of Florida,” McEwan said. “We anticipate a lot of interest. We anticipate it will sell quickly.”