Information Concerning Property at
4005 South Ocean Boulevard, Highland Beach

BUILT BY SABAL DEVELOPMENT

If you are considering purchasing the property at 4005 South Ocean Boulevard in Highland, Beach Florida, you may be interested in learning about the current situation between current ownership and some very concerned neighbors. Please find the neighbors’ key takeaways below:

(front of the house improperly exposed to the elements for months on end)

1. Exposure to the elements. The front of the home has been wide open for months on end (see images above), exposing the interior, electrical and plumbing to sea spray. Each stage of this project has taken months too long. The overall lack of timeliness should concern any potential buyer. The developers finally installed windows after months and months of exposure, but only installed half of them, leaving wires, piping and metal 2 x 4s exposed. Even today, there are still some missing windows. The home's interior was exposed to the elements during Tropical Storm Eta, which hit the area with 55 mph winds and seven inches of rain. One should wonder what the inside of this house looks like given the extended period of exposure. 

(covered cars due to spraying on of new roof)

2. Water leaks from above.  In October 2020, several years into the project, the developers finally decided it was time to install the home's roof. The developers installed a spray-on roof (which is why the cars outside the project are covered in the above image). This installation was conducted on an unseasonably windy day, which resulted in roof material landing atop a neighbor's vehicle. When the neighbor approached the project manager to inquire as to why this process was being conducted on such a windy day, the project manager informed the neighbor that it was an emergency to have the roof installed immediately, as the property has sustained significant water leakage from above. Potential buyers should find it puzzling that it has taken this long to install a roof, given that significant electrical and plumbing work has already occurred in the home's interior. Exposing the interior to potential water damage for this long should concern any potential buyer.

(Top Left: severely rusted support poles, Top Right: workers scraping rust off of the poles supporting the rear of the house)

(Bottom: rust that has returned after being removed at least four times)

(Top Left: severe damage on multiple levels, Top Middle: severely rusted support around windows, Top Right: rusted support poles facing north)

(Bottom Left and Middle: workers in hazmat suits desperately try to repair support poles before something catastrophic happens. Bottom Right: rust along the side of the house)

3. Rusted support poles. Several times throughout the duration of the project, the metal poles that support the rear of the home have developed rust due to rain and sea spray exposure. On several occasions, the developers have sent workers with grinding equipment to scrape and remove rust from the posts (see image above). Photos taken from the north also show rusted support poles (see image above). This too should concern any potential buyer. Rust on the rear supports is an ongoing problem. You might wonder with so must rust on supports holding up the third floor, is this house safe to life in? Potential buyers should consider hiring a structural engineer to make sure this house will not fall down with you inside. As of January 2022, pictures taken from the south side of the project show major rust around the windows (see image above). As of February 2022, workers in hazmat suits were spotted attempting to repair the rusted support poles. One would wonder why these workers are wearing hazmat suits? Are they trying to prevent something catastrophic from happening? In July 2022, rust reappeared after being removed at least four times in the last 18 months

4. More rust. In November 2022, the developers finally sealed up the holes in the rear deck ceiling and also wrapped five steel supports with metal. At this time, it is no longer possible to observe whether the posts and main infrastructure are rusting. I'd recommend any potential owner look into this.

5. Summer kitchen. The builders finally began building a summer kitchen out of concrete board and steel studs. After years of exposure to the ocean, will the studs rust? Will the cabinets withstand the test of time? Most high end homes would use concrete block to prevent rusting and maximize durability. When the builders initially poured the concrete deck, they forgot to stub-out for natural gas and electrical. Because of this oversight, the builders had to break a hole in the ceiling and zip tie the wire onto a support. They drilled a hole through the main wall of the house and ran this pipe to the front of the house. I'd recommend potential owners look into the overall workmanship of this project. The left and left-middle images above are from the north side of the house. The image right-middle image shows the view from the south side, showing concrete board rather than block. The image on the right shows the newly installed top of the summer kitchen. One should investigate whether it was manufactured in a factory, rather than being a slab of real granite. 

6. Slats Covering Windows.  See image above. The second story window is covered in slats. How would one propose to clean such a window with slats constantly accumulating dust and soot?

7. Rust Everywhere! See image above (top left image), from the north side of the house. Rather than replacing the incredibly rusted part, the developers seem to have covered it with a new piece of metal (top middle image), which could rust in a few years. The same problem exists on the south side of the house (top right image). The bottom image is supporting a large, heavy glass railing. 

(above: image of the severely eroded beach at 4005 S. Ocean Boulevard)

8. Severely Eroded Beach. As pictured above, the property is experiencing major coast erosion. This creates challenges when accessing the beach and also increases the risk of flooding / building damage.

9. Accumulating Garbage. The developers have unprofessionally allowed construction debris to pile up for weeks on end.

10. Negative Google Reviews. The developer doesn't have a strong reputation online. This should concern potential buyers.

(wall impermissibly attached to the property dividing wall belonging to an adjacent neighbor)

11. Damage caused to adjoining property (surveyor report from August 2020). The developers have caused significant damage to an adjoining property. The most recent report from the surveyor shows two walls constructed by the developers that may be impermissibly attached to the property dividing wall belonging to an adjacent neighbor (see image above). The link above contains several dozen photographs of damaged caused by the developers.

12. Cracked Exterior Walls. The photograph above was taken from the beach by neighbors. As the picture demonstrates, there is a large crack that runs horizontally across the top of the exterior wall, as well as diagonally by the stairs. Any perspective buyer of this home should investigate whether this is a structural concern.

13. Questions about Sturdiness of Supporting Beams. As you can see, the developers had to open up the ceilings to check the supports. Does someone think that this building might fall down? This does not say much for someone building a $30 million home.

14. Rusted Exterior Switch Box. As you can see, the exterior switch box cover is also rusted. One might wonder what else is rusted and what other features of this home lack integrity. 

(similar Sabal Development listing priced at a significant premium to 4005 S. Ocean)

15. Valuation and property tax concerns. Sabal Development has listed this home as "An oceanfront estate by acclaimed Sabal Development" for $29.5 million. According to the Palm Beach County Property Tax appraiser's website, property taxes on this house will cost approximately $500,000 per annum, quite the burden for a house with this many concerns. Sabal is listing a very similar home to this one, at 135 Palm Avenue, in Miami Beach. That home is listed for $34 million. Why is 4005 South Ocean Boulevard listed for $7.5 million less? Any prospective buyer should be concerned that the price difference is related to the issues listed above.

16. Better options available locally. A simple search on realtor.com revealed several turnkey oceanfront listings on S. Ocean Boulevard. The listing above is a 415 ft. deep lot down the street that is over $8 million less expensive than 4005 S. Ocean Boulevard. One would wonder why it would make sense to wait several years for the home at 4005 S. Ocean Boulevard to be built when this alternative is available today for 32% less (and lower property taxes). There is no way that the home at 4005 S. Ocean is actually worth $29.5 million.

The price per square foot on this property is $3,258, significantly higher than neighboring houses:

3715 S. Ocean Blvd - $2,771 per square foot

2445 S. Ocean Blvd - $2,533 per square foot

2455 S. Ocean Blvd - $2,571 per square foot

2325 S. Ocean Blvd - $2,311 per square foot

17. Low end materials. It is surprising to see that a house priced at $29.5 million dollars would have $3.69, $4.59 $5.35 per square foot flooring. You may expect to see flooring like this in homes valued between $500,000 and $1 million. There are pallets of this product in the driveway. At a $29.5 million price tag, low-cost materials like this should lead potential buyers to question whether this home is a good value.  

18. Issues with Stucco. Rather than using the traditional hand-troweled stucco along the sides of the house, the developers used a low cost, spray on technique, resulting in a bumpy, wavy finish, rather than the smooth modern finish that modern homes usually have. This spray-on stucco requires multiples coats, but in this case, only one coat was used. Is this why the job came out so poorly? Please click here to learn more about hand-troweled vs. spray on stucco. 

19. More Issues with Stucco.  The developers failed to stucco the adjacent neighbor's side of the divider wall. Additionally, the developers neglected to stucco other areas to the west of this.

(exposed wire on the first floor)

20. Exposed Wires. On all three floors of the home, there exists a surface-mounted box with exposed wires. One would think that for a home at this price point, no wires would be visible to the naked eye. Why wouldn't the builder run the wires through the exterior walls? Wouldn't that make more sense from both an aesthetic and safety perspective? Should wires be permanently exposed to the elements? Serious buyers should question the thought process behind this and many of the builder's other decisions. 

21. Poor Work Quality Overall. The developers have consistently used low end materials and have required repeated attempts to complete simple job tasks. In the above photo, $4.50 per square foot tile is being installed on the rear deck of a $31.5 million home. A prospective buyer should wonder about the overall quality of the building materials and project overall.

22. Lousy Paint Job. The developers recently painted the entire house. However, none of the proper preparatory work was done. The house was not pressure washed, and the painters painted directly on top of dirt, sea salt and rust. This should make prospective buyers question the integrity of the entire project.

23. Water Leaks Already? As pictured above, American Leak Detection made a recent visit to the project (January 2023). The house appears to be 95% built and nobody lives there, yet there might be leaks already? One might question the integrity of the project's plumbing given this recent visit.

24. Damage to Neighbors' Boundary Walls. When digging a construction site in close proximity to nearby structures, it is standard practice to employ a strategy called shoring. Shoring involves using steel support beams to hold up adjacent structures during excavation. Based on the images above, one should question whether shoring was ever done. The images above show a lack of steel supports to the neighboring wall with heavy excavation taking place inches away. Additionally, the end result of neighbors' walls leaning and caving in suggest that shoring likely wasn't done.

25. Issues with the Pool. Well after completing and tiling the pool (and filing it with water), the developers have opened up the pool's wall. A prospective buyer should wonder what the problem is here.  

25. Missing Light Fixtures. For a house at this price point, one would think that all outdoor light fixtures would be installed. In the image above, it's clear that one was missed. 
26. Issues with Sub-flooring. The developers did a poor job laying the concrete flooring base (onto which the tile flooring is to be attached). This sub-flooring was riddled with cracks, so many cracks that major areas of the sub-flooring had to be jackhammered and resurfaced. This doesn't speak highly to the quality of the job. We recommend any prospective buyer find out from the developers what transpired. 
27. Legal action against current ownership. On June 21, 2018, the owner of the adjoining property filed a notice of claim for the damage done to his/her property. The owner of 4005 South Ocean Boulevard was unresponsive for two full years.
28. Original professional engineer's report (from 2019). This is a report by a professional engineer of his investigation into the recent improvements to the property at 4005 South Ocean Boulevard, Highland Beach, FL. This report was in support of the claim described above, as it demonstrates concrete examples of the damage unprofessionally caused by the construction company working at the property. Some examples of the damage are listed below:
    1. Willful destruction of sea grapes and native dune vegetation
    2. Reported dumping of materials beachside
    3. Construction debris in the adjacent dune and scrub area
    4. Settlement cracking of the concrete privacy wall owned by an adjoining neighbor
29. Email exchange. This is an exchange between an Email exchange between the owner of an adjoining property and a Town of Highland Beach Building Official. This email exchange occurred after the claim above was filed and after the Original engineer's report was submitted. To anyone considering purchasing this property, please be advised that the adjoining neighbors are working in unison to lobby the Town of Highland Beach to revoke the property's building permit and shut the project down.
30. Exterior Signs. The frustrated neighbors in an adjoining property have attached these signs to the exterior of their home to alert any potential buyers of the situation and direct them towards this website. Any prospective buyers should know that these signs will remain permanently should Sabal Development not remedy the situation to the satisfaction of the neighbors.

The neighbors of 4005 South Ocean Drive are beyond frustrated with the current state of affairs. In addition to constant noise, damage and disruption, we are also concerned about the turmoil and lack of stability of the construction process from inception to now. We are planning on pursuing full legal remedies against the current ownership and construction company, regardless of the expense. It has become a matter of principle and we have no intention of backing down. We hope that you found this information helpful and will use it in your decision regarding whether or not to purchase the aforementioned property.