NY developer buys Palm Beach home near the Everglades Club

Francesco Galesi and 19 Golfview Road in Palm Beach (Credit: Getty, Redfin)

UPDATED Oct. 3, 10:50 a.m.: Real estate developer Francesco Galesi just paid $6.5 million for a Palm Beach house, property records show.

The 3,930-square-foot home at 19 Golfview Road sold for about $1,653 per square foot. Records show the sellers, Michael Kelly and Edward Kelly Jr., are listed under a trust in Michael Kelly’s name. The sellers bought the house in 2009 for $3.85 million, records show.

Galesi is known for making millions off his real estate empire. His company Schenectady, New York-based Rotterdam Ventures, which operates as Galesi Group, has more than 11 million square feet of industrial, commercial, retail and residential properties, according to its website.

His new Palm Beach home sits on the corner of the Everglades Club golf course. The four-bedroom, three-bathroom, Colonial Revival home was built in 1940 and renovated in 2000, according to Redfin.

Sotheby’s International Realty – Palm Beach Brokerage’s Wally Turner had the listing. Turner declined to comment on the sale. Online listings show the home hit the market in December 2015 for $8.9 million. It last asked $6.9 million, meaning it traded at a 5.7 percent discount.

Galesi also has been active in New York City. Galesi Group has a 99-year ground lease for Harlem River Yards, a 500,000-square-foot industrial complex in the South Bronx, and recently scored a 100 million loan from Bank of America to refinance the six-parcel property.

In the early 2000’s, Galesi became involved in one of the nation’s largest accounting scandals at the time. WorldCom Inc., now MCI Inc., where Galesi served as a director, reportedly inflated its company’s total assets by about $11 billion.

Rotterdam Ventures also operates as a logistics company and an oil and gas company that produces over 11,500 barrels per day, according to its website.

from The Real Deal Miami https://therealdeal.com/miami/2017/10/02/ny-developer-buys-palm-beach-home-near-the-everglades-club/