So, Mar-a-Lago is worth $18MM? Ummmm…OK.

With the very Soviet-style “verdict first, then trial” show trial proceeding apace in Manhattan, President Donald J. Trump has a delicious opportunity to turn the tables on his persecutors waging lawfare against him, his family, and his companies. //

The house was built by Marjorie Merriweather Post, the Post Cereals heiress and at the time the wealthiest woman in the United States, with her husband, stockbroker Edward F. Hutton. Completed in 1927, the house cost $7 million (equivalent to $118 million in 2022; perhaps Judge Engoron merely forgot a 1 in the hundreds place?).

It is said that in real estate, the three most important things are location, location, location. Mar-a-Lago is truly an unique property. Located on the Southern end of Palm Beach Island, it is the only property on the island to span its width, with both oceanfront and lakefront (hence its name, meaning “sea to lake”). It is not only listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, it is also a United States National Historic Landmark. //

Hearst Castle has an estimated value of $700 million and Biltmore less than a quarter that amount, at $144 million. In 2022, Forbes magazine valued Mar-a-Lago at $350 million, but Palm Beach real estate professionals (who understand the intangibles that add value to properties on Palm Beach Island) valued the property much higher, with one estimate coming in at $725 million and another at $1 billion.

Now, what Palm Beach properties near Mar-a-Lago are valued at $18 million? Not many. One home to the South that sits on a half-acre on Lake Worth is valued at $40 million. Another to the North that sits on 0.89 acres with neither ocean frontage nor lake frontage, is valued at $37.5 million.

The closest to an $18 million valuation is a house squeezed into 0.28 acres in the middle of the block on a side street that is valued at $18.95 million.