The Palm Beach Post

EXCLUSIVE — Tiger Woods signs $54 million-mortgage to pay off the ex

Elin and Tiger

Elin and Tiger (Click on the photo for more)

Jupiter Island golfer Tiger Woods‘ secret divorce settlement may be so expensive that he had to mortgage his home to pay for it!

Official records that just popped up in Martin County hint that Woods will have to pay ex-wife Elin Nordegren $54 million by January 2016 — or risk losing the house he spent five years building.

How do I know?

The philandering golf-club swinger took out a $54 million-mortgage last Wednesday, two days after his quickie divorce was finalized in Panama City Aug. 23.

Click here to read the mortgage docs

Click here for a better look at Woods’ Jupiter Island digs

And the mortgage holder, according to the records, is a shadowy company with no apparent capital, JRD Florida Ventures LLC. The corporation’s registered agent is none other than one of his former wife’s six divorce lawyers, Dennis Belcher.

Woods, the mortgage shows, used the Jupiter Island property, Sand Turtle, to secure the loan — which means that Nordegren could end up with that Motel 6-style crib if he doesn’t pay up. The document was actually notarized by Tom Sasser, Woods’ West Palm Beach-based divorce attorney.

For more, look below or click (Read more…)

Palm Beach Pops maestro Bob Lappin strikes false note$ in orchestra’s books; Half the board quits

Lappin

Lappin

Some business practices at the Palm Beach Pops are leaving the orchestra founded by maestro Bob Lappin exposed to lawsuits and the scrutiny of the IRS, forensic accountants have told the non-profit.

Red-flagged by the Alpern Rosenthal financial sleuths: The Pops is plunking down $20,000 a year for the health insurances of Lappin’s fiancee and his maids.

Also, pops staffers have improperly factored in Lappin’s salary in the books, making it look like he took no pay when, indeed, he’s compensated handsomely. And Lappin is reimbursed for his use of a private jet he co-owns and limo rides, even when it’s unclear whether he is on Pops business or pleasure!

What’s more, the scathing report spells out how the group’s bylaws make Lappin, who’s also the Pops’ CEO and a board member, the sole person in the organization who gets to select, elect and reject members of the Pops board of directors. The board, which includes Lappin’s personal friends and business associates, then approves the conductor’s pay package — about half a million per season!

The forensic report caused such a ruckus that eight board members have resigned over the past month. Only six board members remain, just weeks before the new season’s opening concert.

For more, look below or click (Read more…)

Palm Beach rocker Rod Stewart to be a dad again, at 65!

At a time when he should be collecting social security checks, Palm Beach rocker Rod Stewart is collecting babies!

Stewart is soon to become a dad for the eighth time, at the ripe age of 65.

Stewart, with Penny and baby Alistair

Stewart, with Penny and baby Alastair

The golden-tonsiled singer announced today he and his wife, model-shutterbug Penny Lancaster, are expecting their second child together. Lancaster’s 39, and she’s been hitched to the singer of Maggie May and Baby Jane for three years.

The couple’s first-born is 4-year-old Alastair.

In a statement, Stewart and Lancaster described themselves as “thrilled” and “delighted” to tell the little one he’s about to be a big brother.

The baby is expected in February, right on time for Stewart’s yearly three-month pilgrimage to his $22.7 million-Palm Beach beachfronter.

Stewart has six other children with two previous wives and two baby mamas.

Click here for a bird’s eye view of Rod’s Palm Beach digs

SACREBLEU! Jupiter Island official says Celine Dion’s waterworld shouldn’t have been built!

Dion's waterpark getting the finishing touch in April (Click on the photo for more)

Dion's waterpark getting the finishing touch in April (Click on the photo for more)

Songbird Celine Dion isn’t making friends on Jupiter Island.

The waterpark that the Canadian singer of My Heart Will Go On built on her Jupiter Island property has caused the ire of the quietly rich, old-money residents on the exclusive barrier island — and the secretive ouster of the government official who approved the project.

Director of Planning, Zoning and Building Jeff Newell, 61, one of the town’s best-liked department heads, resigned suddenly in June as occupancy certificates for Dion’s house were being drawn.

Newell’s exit papers include conditions that he not criticize the town’s administration or reach out to town employees, as well as two letters of reprimand for work he did on Dion’s construction. They indicate Newell’s departure from the $102,743-a-year job may not have been totally his choice. Newell will be paid until September as part of his severance deal.

In documents obtained by Page2Live, Town Manager Gene Rauth opined in one of his reprimands that the permits for Dion’s $1 million private waterpark should not have been approved!

Thing is: There’s nothing the town government wants to do about it now!

For more, and the poll, look below or click (Read more…)

Wellington’s a funnier place: SNL creator Lorne Michaels buys property

Michaels (middle) with Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey (Click on the photo for more)

Michaels (middle) with Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey (Click on the photo for more on this and other celebs' homes)

Celeb arrival in Wellington!

Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels plunked down $667,500 for a rather modest 2,100-square-foot, three-bed, three-bath pied-a-terre in South Florida’s horse capital.

The Canadian-born Michaels, 65, his wife and 12-year-old daughter Sophie have been winter regulars here for the last few years as Sophie learns show jumping. They used to stay with singer Jimmy Buffett in Palm Beach then, last season, rented the Equestrian Club Estates house that’s been theirs since July 6.

I’m told Michaels plans on spending 200K on freshening the property. The missus, Alice, wants a lap pool, gourmet kitchen and a glamor bathroom.

Michaels’ is six doors down from actress Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction, TV’s The Shield) on Calypso Lane. Elsewhere in the gated community are the horse-season homes of rocker Bruce Springsteen and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

For more, and photos of the house, look below or click (Read more…)

Walmart-sized Coral Gables house in LeBron James’ sight

Didn’t take long for new Miami Heat superstar LeBron James to start looking for that special bachelor pad!

LeBron's new house? (Click on the photo for more on this home, and the South Florida homes of celebrities)

LeBron's new house? (Click on the photo for more on this home, and the South Florida homes of celebrities)

LeBron greets his new fans (Click on photo for more)

LeBron greets his new fans last week (Click on photo for more)

The 25-year-old has been checking out properties in the Coral Gables area and, according to the celebrity weekly Life & Style, he’s fallen in love with a $49.5 million crib with view on Biscayne Bay. James last week signed a six-year deal with the NBA’s Heat worth an estimated $110 million.

A realtor with Avatar Real Estate Services, which has the listing, confirmed the house was taken off the market temporarily a day after James arrived in South Florida.

The 20,000-square-foot digs, on Casuarina Concourse, sit on nearly four acres of prime land in Miami-Dade County’s swankiest town. It boasts eight bedrooms, including three full suites, eleven baths, a world-class gym, a pond, a media room and a 12-camera security system.

For more, look below or click (Read more…)

EXCLUSIVE — Rush Limbaugh on Steinbrenner debacle: They’d love to Imus me!

Limbaugh (AP Photo)Palm Beach radio talker Rush Limbaugh tells Page2Live exclusively that the firestorm he finds himself in today, after his quip about the late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, is yet another attempt by the Left to kick him off the air.

“That cracker made a lot of African-American millionaires,” Limbaugh said Tuesday on his show, hours after the announcement that Steinbrenner had died of a heart attack. “He fired a bunch of white guys as managers left and right.”

Click here to read The Palm Beach Post’s story

Quickly, New York activist Al Sharpton called the comments repugnant as the Web exploded with criticism of Limbaugh.

Limbaugh’s response: Lighten the hell up, it’s all in jest!

“It’s my stock in trade: Illustrating the absurd by being absurd,” a worked up Limbaugh e-mailed Page2Live exclusively this morning. “Simple to understand and even appreciate IF…IF….IF….one listens to my show.

Media Matters for America (a group that monitors Conservative TV and radio) does listen but they purposely distort the things I say and the reporters who then quote Media Matter, and do not ever listen to my show, print the erroneous take. All this is purposeful.”

Purposeful? What does Rush mean? For that, the poll and more, look below or click (Read more…)

SOLD: Rush Limbaugh unloads his condo

The living-room (Click on the photo to visit)

The living-room (Click on the photo to visit)

Palm Beach radio talker Rush Limbaugh is officially out of New York City.

Newlywed Limbaugh’s 4,600-square-foot, 20th floor Manhattan pad (click here to visit) is under contract for $11.5 million, The Wall Street Journal reports. The buyer is unknown as of now.

What is known, however, is that conservative Limbaugh fulfilled his promises to get out of the Big Apple when the state of New York adopted higher taxes for the rich over the past few years.

The sale, however, is going to force Limbaugh to pay through the nose. The Journal reports Limbaugh will have to plunk down $325,000 in state and city transfer taxes!

Over the years Limbaugh, who bought the joint for $5 million in 1994, paid $1.1 million in New York property taxes. Add another $1 million or so in maintenance fees.

The lavishly appointed East 86th Street condo, with four bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths and a staff bedroom, also feature four balconies, 30-foot ceilings and a large fireplace.

When asked about his putting the crib up for sale in February, Limbaugh told Page2Live he just had not use for it.

“I haven’t been to New York in over 16 months,” he said. “Or maybe 15. But who’s counting? I have lived full-time in Palm Beach since 1998.”

Click here to visit Limbaugh’s apartment, and other homes of celebrities throughout South Florida

Click here for a bird’s eye view of Limbaugh’s Palm Beach home

Hide your daughters: Tiger Woods’ entourage is moving south; He can’t be far behind

A tired-looking Woods answers questions this morning after a tournament in Ireland (AP Photo)

A tired-looking Woods answers questions this morning after a tournament in Ireland (AP Photo)

The circus that is Tiger Woods‘ life is about to pull into town.

Its ringmaster, Woods’ Orlando-based business manager, just bought a 7,000-square-foot house in Palm Beach Gardens.

Chris Hubman, an officer in every company and trust-fund owned by Woods, also put his palatial mansion in Windermere, a shanked drive away from Woods’ current marital residence, on the market two weeks ago.

Records in Palm Beach County show Hubman paid $2.14 million June 28 for a freshly-built house on a .32-acre lot in the fancy Frenchman’s Reserve neighborhood. He and his wife, Rebecca, obtained a mortgage from Deutsche Bank worth $1.6 million.

A source with the Boca-based Bloomfield Construction, the seller, said it was unclear if Woods’ main company, ETW, would be moving from the Orlando area as well. Hubman, I’m told, played it close to the vest during the purchase.

An oft-parroted scandal sheet in London last week claimed that Tiger’s Jupiter Island mansion would go to soon-to-be-ex-wife Elin Nordegren.

B.S.!

And here’s why: Hubman’s not the only one in Woods’ inner-circle relocating here. Construction on a house for Woods’ mom in Jupiter is going full-blast. And Woods’ spokesman, Glenn Greenspan, is settling down in Stuart.

Woods indeed is about to become our creepy neighbor!

Click here for photos of area celebrity homes

Click here to spot Tiger’s houses in Florida on the exclusive Page2Live map of celebrities

Click here for the special features in Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Island house

Nashville star Alan Jackson selling Tequesta digs

Country superstar Alan Jackson is unloading some of his Martin County real estate.

But don’t worry! It’s not that he wants to celebrate five o’clock somewhere else!

Jackson, 51, has no use for a tidy little Key West-style cottage in Tequesta, one with a wraparound balcony overlooking the Intracoastal and a metal roof.

Alan Jackson has put this tidy Tequesta cottage on the market (Click on the photo for more)

Alan Jackson has put this tidy Tequesta cottage on the market (Click on the photo for more)

The singer has put it on the market for $1.27 million. Wanna see it? Realtor Rob Thomson is holding a happy hour open house this evening. Or click here to visit!

“Alan bought this place because of the dock,” Thomson said. “You can dock a mega-yacht here, which is rare in a private residence. But now, Alan keeps his boats across the Intracoastal, near his new house on Jupiter Island.”

Thomson said Jackson mostly used the 3,350-square-foot, four-bedroom house with plenty hardwood floors and a deep-sea fishing motif for guests or high-level staffers.

For more, and the poll, look below or click (Read more…)

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