Exclusive: Developer plans to demolish gangster Al Capone’s Palm Island house
Al Capone died there in 1947. Now, his Palm Island home may soon meet the same fate.
Developer Todd Michael Glaser and partner Nelson Gonzalez, an investor and senior vice president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM, plan to demolish the single-family residence at 93 Palm Ave. after acquiring the house this summer for $10.75 million, Glaser told the Miami Herald.
The 2-story residence has nine bedrooms, six bathrooms and two half bathrooms. Glaser said they would build a 2-story modern spec home with 8 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, a Jacuzzi, spa and sauna.
Al “Scarface” Capone bought the house for $40,000 in 1928 and returned often. He died at the residence in 1947 from a heart attack.
“The house is a piece of crap,” Glaser said, describing flood damage and still water beneath the residence, which is about three feet below sea level. “It’s a disgrace to Miami Beach.”
A historic designation would make Palm Island a tourist trap, Glaser said. Off-duty Miami Beach officers guard the island, Gonzalez said, but visitors could still enter the community to drive by Capone’s residence.
“You know how many people are going to come to see Al Capone’s house? It’s going to be a tourist attraction for a known felon,” Glaser said.
Capone used the Miami Beach house in 1929 to plan the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, in which he rubbed out seven rival gangsters using hit men dressed as policemen. The mass execution earned Capone the designation as “Public Enemy Number One.”
Capone was sent to prison in 1931 for tax evasion and served six and a half years of an 11-year sentence, most of them at the Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. He was released in 1939 and eventually returned to his Palm Island getaway. A Miami Herald story from March 21, 1940, reported “lights were blazing in rooms” at the house and automobiles were entering the grounds through the massive wooden doors that guarded the entrance.
Glaser said he faces opposition from Miami Beach residents, preservationists and officials from the city of Miami Beach. While he was under contract, Glaser said, he learned that the house was placed on the upcoming September agenda for historic designation.
“They want to glorify this guy? I knocked down Jeffrey Epstein’s house. Palm Beach was begging me to knock his house down,” Glaser said. “I’m doing good for the community.”
Regardless of the efforts, Glaser is determined to demolish the existing residence. He plans to connect with Palm Island and connected Hibiscus Island residents next week to try to gain support.
“We’re going to get this knocked down,” he said.
This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Exclusive: Developer plans to demolish gangster Al Capone’s Palm Island house."
