July 2026
Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Manalapan
Volume 19 Issue 7
Along the Coast
Looming property tax vote hints at big changes Ballot measure putting more focus on spending issues By Rich Pollack
sold the lot for $67 million to the two business moguls, allowing them to become neighbors. The new neighbors are both major supporters of President Donald Trump, who makes his home about eight miles north at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. Trump nominated MacNeil to the Federal Trade Commission. Ellison has long been part of Trump’s inner circle. Satter declined comment on the sale because Ellison hadn’t closed on his half of the property. But in the past, Satter has credited the real estate boom in
Difficult decisions could loom large on the horizon should a proposed state constitutional amendment reducing property taxes for a giant chunk of Florida homeowners be approved by 60% of voters in November. Yes, local government leaders will have to make tough choices, but the ripple effect of those decisions could mean higher costs for everyone — from business owners and renters to even soccer moms who could face higher league registration fees for their children to participate. Proponents of the amendment say it will be a blessing for homeowners facing higher insurance costs and other affordability issues. They also see it as reining in local governments, whose budgets
See BILLIONAIRES on page 24
See TAXES on page 20
Once viewed for development as a spec home, this lot was split between David MacNeil and Larry Ellison. Photo provided
Multibillionaires are new neighbors, splitting vacant parcel between them Agents see no end to run on town’s real estate with latest deals By Jane Musgrave Fueled largely by two well-known multibillionaires who have invested heavily in Manalapan in recent years, real estate sales in the tiny coastal town have broken local, state and even national records in recent months. The latest eye-popping purchase came
in June when WeatherTech founder David MacNeil plunked down $32 million and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison agreed to pay $35 million to split a 4-acre ocean-toIntracoastal lot that was to become home to one of the most expensive houses in the United States. Former Manalapan Mayor Stewart Satter was the mastermind behind the idea of building a $285 million spec house on the land at 1960 S. Ocean Blvd. that he purchased in 2024 for $27.5 million. Instead, the real estate entrepreneur abandoned plans to build a 50,000-squarefoot custom-designed house and instead
Along the Coast
Waves of war: South Florida’s brush with the Revolution
bicentennial celebration away. The battle for years has been described As America celebrates its 250th as having taken place off the coast of birthday, Palm Beach County residents Cape Canaveral. There’s even a historical wanting to visit a Revolutionary War marker about the battle on nearby battle site need only get in Merritt Island, where the battle a boat and head a few miles is celebrated. offshore. But a decade ago, when A historic naval battle, the Cape Canaveral’s current staff last of the Revolution, took historian went looking for place there, though technically additional information about Local events after the fighting had already the battle for an article she was page AT18 ended. writing, she found original There are no GPS navigational logs from the coordinates for the March 10, 1783, Alliance that showed the skirmish really encounter between the victorious USS took place between present-day West Alliance and the defeated HMS Sybil. Palm Beach and Boca Raton. Such technology was more than a “My article was not very well By Larry Barszewski
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID WEST PALM BCH FL PERMIT NO 4595
received by some of our local history organizations,” historian Molly Thomas now admits, but she says the logs and other ship entries don’t lie. It appears the Cape Canaveral reference for the battle is a mix-up akin to the Revolutionary War misnomer of the Battle of Bunker Hill, which instead took place on Breed’s Hill. It turns out Cape Canaveral was one of the few easily identifiable coastal reference points for voyagers sailing between St. Augustine and the Florida Keys, Thomas said. “Even for the most enthusiastic local historian to say that this location (more than 140 miles to the southeast) is ‘off the coast of Cape Canaveral,’ seems a bit of a stretch,” she wrote in her 2017 story in
The USS Alliance. Image provided Brevard County’s Indian River Journal, which detailed her research. Given her findings, some have given the fight an alternate name: the Battle of the Gulf Stream. See AMERICA 250 on page 14
Fire rescue lawsuit
Plenty of musical options for summer entertainment. Page AT5
Delray sues Highland Beach for payment for prior services.
Page 8
Turtle mascot
Practicing with the pros
Local kids get to see World Cup athletes up close.
Page AT1
South Palm Beach honors late sculptor’s work.
Page 17