A concert venue at sea, floating homes, even farmland with artificial trees — these are just a few of the ideas potential buyers have presented to Ellen Gvili, a real estate agent with Ocean Sotheby’s International Realty, to develop on private islands for sale in Florida.
Yes, privately owned islands do exist all over Florida, and many of them are up for sale. At least 39 are listed on privateislandsonline.com, ranging from $1.1 million to $95 million.
Public interest in owning a private island remains high, real estate agents say, especially after the real-estate boom induced by the post-pandemic economy.
“The interest is definitely still there,” Gvili said.
In May, West Palm Beach’s only private island, Tarpon Island, sold for $150 million. Just this month, Patti Stanley, a Coldwell Banker Schmitt real estate agent, sold Upper Matecumbe Key in Islamorada for $72 million. The listing for the island didn’t last long: It was scooped up in just one day.
In the Florida Keys, previously developed private islands are selling quickly, and real estate agents may just be running out of islands to sell.
According to Stanley, it’s infrequent that islands come on the market, simply because not many exist. However, development on vacant land is an attractive endeavor for those wealthy enough to take on the challenge of zoning regulations.
For example, in 2020, a buyer purchased an island in Marathon and chose to redevelop the island instead of putting it back on the market.
“It’s not easy to develop or rezone properties like that, so they may end up making one very large mansion that would be worthy of a $15 million island,” Stanley said. “It’s kind of a Catch-22 when it comes to deciding what you are going to do.”
With undeveloped property, investors can dream, but also have to follow the rules, such as county regulations and different zoning permits. This is what “makes these properties a little harder to sell,” Gvili says.
According to Gvili, the private islands are “for potential buyers who like nature and like to preserve nature — but also want to build something either for the community or use as a private residence.”
Cow Key Island near Key West, one of the few private islands up for grabs and zoned for commercial development, is selling both the land and water parcel for a combined price of $12.4 million.
The waterfront property would offer any nature-minded property owner 50 acres of open space and a mangrove shoreline. The island is accessible by a bridge and is located on the southern, ocean-facing side of Stock Island, an unincorporated community right next to Key West.
According to the listing, the current owners use the land to run a small farm, beekeeping operation and kid’s summer camps. Since the current owners make use of the land for farming, there are presently no developments on the island.
Yet the listing suggests a possible equestrian estate. Or it could be “an excellent place to host large events, or possibly therapeutic programs or retreats,” for someone who wants to spend a few extra million dollars adding event space or curating a personal nature park on the island.
Its waterfront views are “very desirable” as “water property is very hard to find in Florida,” Gvili said.
