A thin strip of asphalt reaches out into the Atlantic Ocean south of Islamorada and leads to an idyllic looking private island. Patti Stanley, a Coldwell Banker Schmitt real estate agent, is one of the few who have ever set foot there. She represented the former owner, who sold the nearly 16-acre lot for $10 million in December.
Stanley focuses on properties near the upper Florida Keys, which she said have become a hotbed for investment properties. But at least 21 private islands across Florida are listed for sale onShe noted housing uncertainty caused by the pandemic as a factor in competition for the finite land of the Keys. “It’s just been the perfect storm so to speak,” Stanley said.A 5,000-square-foot mansion sits amid 26 tropical acres on the bay side of northern Key Largo.
The island is within three miles of the Florida barrier reef, the only living coral reef in the country; there’s a marina large enough to accommodate a large yacht. 10 Tarpon Isle, a nearly three-acre man-made island created by dredging in the 1930s, will be home to Glaser’s opulent mansion. The estate will build upon an existing 12,321-square-foot house and include new amenities. Glaser was tight-lipped about details but said the sticker price is currently $220 million.
Glaser did not disclose when the construction will be complete or when the mansion will be formally placed on the market, but he said he’s already begun showing the island off to interested buyers.For $9.5 million, Cow Key offers nature-minded millionaires 50 acres of open space and mangrove shoreline. The property is accessible by a land bridge and is on the southern, ocean-facing side of Stock Island, an unincorporated community right next to Key West.