Al Capone’s fortified Miami Beach estate site sells for $21 million

In 1928, at the height of his reign as Chicago’s most notorious gangster, Al Capone purchased a sprawling estate on Miami Beach’s Palm Island, seeking a warm-weather retreat from the cold and his foes. He is reported to have spent some $200,000 bolstering the property with bulletproof walls, steel shutters and other security measures befitting a man who lived under threat of attack at every turn. Nearly a century later, the mansion that once was home to “Scarface” is no more, demolished in 2023 after years of deterioration and fruitless attempts at preservation. Now, the vacant waterfront lot where the infamous home once stood has sold for $21 million, a stark reminder of how land values in Miami Beach have outpaced even the most notorious chapters of local history, according to a report by Profile Miami Real Estate.Capone’s Miami escapeAl Capone first visited Miami in the mid-1920s, drawn by the warm climate, booming real estate market and the city’s reputation as a playground for the wealthy and the criminal. In 1928, he bought a large estate on Palm Island, a man-made, exclusive enclave in Biscayne Bay that was already attracting millionaires, celebrities and politicians. The ho...