Developer Decides Against Demolishing Capone’s South FL Home, Sells It For $15.5M: Report

MIAMI BEACH, FL — The late gangster Al Capone’s former Miami Beach mansion was saved from demolition when its new owners flipped the home for a $5 million profit.

The Chicago gangster bought the 7,500-square-foot Palm Island home in 1928 for $40,000. He died in the house in 1947 from a heart attack.

At the end of August, developer Todd Michael Glaser and his business partner, Nelson Gonzalez, purchased the estate for $10.75 million, Barrons reported.

Glaser and Gonzalez resold the property for $15.5 million last week. The buyer hasn’t been identified because the public records for the sale aren’t available yet, reports said.

When he purchased the home, Glaser highlighted all of the issues with it, including flood damage and standing water underneath it. It also sits three feet below sea level, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

“It’s a piece of crap. It’s a disgrace to Miami Beach,” Glaser said.

He planned to demolish the Spanish Colonial-style mansion, which overlooks Biscayne Bay, and build a two-story, modern spec home.

Public outcry from preservationists, including a petition with more than 25,000 signatures, caused the developers to rethink their plans and withdraw their application to tear down the house and rebuild with the local Design Review Board, reports said.

Glaser likened the home’s recent sale to winning the lottery.

“If someone tells you they want to give you a $5 million lotto ticket, of course you’d take it,” he told the Miami Herald, adding that the offer came out of the blue. “You can never lose money when you make money. We had an opportunity and sold it.”