The local developer, Todd Michael Glaser, confirmed to the Wall Street Journal for a Monday article that he signed a contract with Epstein’s estate to buy the deceased financier’s Palm Beach property. The property went on the market in July for $21.995 million.
According to Glaser, he plans to tear down the property and replace it with a 14,000-square-foot home once the sale wraps in December. “Palm Beach is going to be very happy that it’s gone,” he told the outlet, referring to Epstein’s home.
Glaser declined to reveal what he and his partners are paying for the house, but did indicate that they received a discount.
A person familiar with the deal told the Journal that the price of the compound, which is located about a mile from US President Donald Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club, was close to roughly $18 million.
Records obtained by the Journal show that Epstein bought the six-bedroom property, with a waterfront view, for $2.5 million in 1990. Prosecutors say that the property was an integral part of Epstein’s sex-trafficking schemes, as it is believed he lured underage girls to the property to engage in sexual acts with them.
In July, the front gate of the estate was spraypainted with the words, “Gone but not forgiven.”
In August 2019, the 66-year-old financier was found dead in his cell at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC). The death was later ruled a suicide after officials determined that Epstein had apparently hanged himself.
At the time, Epstein was awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking of minors after his bail appeal was declined. In mid-July, Epstein was put on suicide watch after an unsuccessful attempt, but was reportedly taken off a suicide watch one week later.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and alleged accomplice, is currently in jail as she awaits her trial, which is scheduled to start in July. Maxwell has not pleaded guilty to charges claiming she recruits three girls for Epstein in the mid-1990s for Epstein to abuse.