The Trump administration is leasing three Palm Beach homes near the president’s Mar-a-Lago Club, and the rates are some of the highest price-per-square-foot rents on the federal government’s books.
The annual rent for the three homes totals $3.3 million, Bloomberg reported. Each of the homes is within the Mar-a-Lago Security Zone, a section of the island adjacent to the club that the Secret Service secures and restricts access to while the president is in town.
In total, the federal government’s leases equate to $13.3 million, a steep uptick from what it paid for its rentals in the same neighborhood during Donald Trump’s first presidency. It reflects the cost of running the executive office from uber-expensive Palm Beach, which emerged from the pandemic as the country’s hottest trophy real estate market and a hub of American wealth and power.
The administration signed a lease for the 4,500-square-foot house at 136 Woodbridge Road for $685,652 per year, or $57,138 per month. The owners, Gary and Monique Silvi, bought the home for $2.9 million in 2014, records show. The feds leased it during Trump’s first administration for staffers to use –– Woodbridge Road is directly adjacent to Mar-a-Lago –– and the lease was extended during former President Biden’s administration. Last year, the feds leased it for $332,840, less than half the cost of the latest lease.
The administration also rented the 4,800-square-foot house at 153 Woodbridge Road for $1.4 million per year, which breaks down to $120,000 per month, Bloomberg reported. Owner Vesna Oelsner bought the five-bedroom house for $1.5 million in 1999, property records show. She told Bloomberg she considered the rent appropriate for the market.
The third rental is the 3,700-square-foot house at 136 Kings Road for $1.2 million a year, or $100,000 per month. Owner David Taylor and his wife, longtime CBS executive producer Milbrey Rennie Taylor, bought it for $475,000 in 1995, records show.
It is typical for the federal government to rent houses near the homes of the president and other high-ranking officials for security purposes, Cary Feld told Bloomberg. Feld is a former lease contracting officer with the General Services Administration and FBI realty specialist, and said the need for proximity can limit options.
“Every lease I ever did for GSA, we were required to test the market,” Feld told the outlet. “Reach out to local government, real estate brokers. You never want to do things without competition.”
Palm Beach’s real estate market is much more competitive than when Trump first took office in 2016. The pandemic supercharged demand for properties on the island, and prices surged in kind. A series of record-breaking sales and an influx of billionaires and other nine-digit net worth individuals has transformed the island into one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. Trump’s re-election also fueled a bump in the island market, particularly within the Security Zone.
Since the election, seven homes have sold in the zone, equating to $118.3 million in deals. Prices ranged from $12 million to $27.5 million. Agents say buyers request homes in the zone, both for their proximity to Mar-a-Lago and for the Secret Service security benefits.
Trump and his family also own homes within the Security Zone: at 1125 South Ocean Boulevard, 1094 South Ocean Boulevard, 124 Woodbridge Road and 121 Woodbridge Road.
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