An oceanfront home once owned by Conrad Black is up for sale in Palm Beach, Florida -- a property that was assessed for the 2009 tax year at a value of US$32.6 million.
The sale is being handled by Linda A. Gary, a Palm Beach real estate agent who describes the amenities of the 21,672-square-foot home on her website. They include a three-car garage, five bedrooms, an elevator, six full bathrooms and a movie theatre.
The house sits on a three-acre property and includes about 90 metres of "ocean and Intracoastal waterfront." It also has a two-storey guest house and a "North to South tennis court."
According to the official website of the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, the estimated taxes on the property are $597,378.82.
Gary's website does not indicate if there is a specific asking price for the property. She did not immediately return an email to CTV.ca requesting comment.
The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser website lists Blackfield Holdings LLC as the current owner of the property.
The Globe and Mail reported in its Thursday edition that Black and his wife, Barbara Amiel Black, transferred the deed of the Palm Beach home to Blackfield Holdings in February to settle a mortgage.
Property records show that the Conrad Black Capital Corporation purchased the property for $9.9 million in July 1997.
Globe and Mail reporter Paul Waldie said Black had prior business dealings with Blackfield Holdings.
"What happened with this house is interesting because he actually transferred ownership of it to an investment firm that had lent him $10-million five years ago," Waldie told CTV News Channel from Toronto on Thursday morning.
But Black owed more than $11 million to Blackfield Holdings when he settled the mortgage in February, Waldie said.
Waldie said the fact that the house is worth about $30 million on paper is interesting, considering that Black sold it at a much smaller price to cover a loan.
"So, we're not really sure of all the details here, but effectively the new owners are the investment firm and they're the ones that it looks like are putting it up for sale," he said.
BNN's Michael Hainsworth told CTV News Channel that Black had put the property up for sale several years ago at a price of US$37 million. But he was unable to sell it.
The 65-year-old Black is currently serving a six-and-a-half year prison sentence in the U.S., after being convicted in 2007 of three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice.
He has appealed his conviction with the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not yet ruled on the matter.
Black is incarcerated at a correctional institution in central Florida, more than 300 kilometres northwest of the Palm Beach property that is currently up for sale.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons website indicates that Black has a projected release date of Oct. 30, 2013.
