DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — The property that is home to a former Delray Beach monastery has been sold to a new developer.
Pennsylvania-based Toll Brothers recently closed on the 11-acre property where the old Christ the King Monastery of St. Clare sits, purchasing the land for $8.5 million, WPTV has learned.
Simon Lipton, founder of Monopoly Real Estate Group, said Wednesday that he represented the buyer in the deal.
The property had been purchased by New York-based TL Management in 2022 with the intent to build a nursing home there.
Christ the King Monastery of St. Clare, located at the corner of Sherwood Boulevard and Sutton Place in the Sherwood Park neighborhood off Military Trail, was built in 1967, but the cloistered nuns who inhabited the property could no longer care for it and moved out, selling the land.
TL Management had sought to rezone the property from single-family residential to medium-density residential, sparking opposition from neighborhood residents. After its efforts failed, TL Management decided to part with the property.
Lipton said the current land use calls for about 26 homes on the property, but Toll Brothers will seek to build about 34 homes. He told WPTV that the site is "probably a year away" from being developed, noting that the city must first review the site plan.
Unlike the previous sale, Lipton said he believes the plans for the property will appease Sherwood Park residents. He expects high-end luxury homes to be built there, increasing residents' current property values.
"I think it will be great," he said.