Al Capone Casino and Bootlegging Florida Mansion Listed for Sale

Posted on: March 9, 2022, 12:43h. 

Last updated on: March 9, 2022, 01:56h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

A waterfront mansion in North Miami Beach with a most intriguing past has hit the market for $13.9 million.

Florida mansion Al Capone gambling casino
An estate once rumored to be home to an underground casino run by associates of Al Capone looks out over the Intracoastal Waterway. The Florida mansion comes with an asking price of $13.9 million. (Image: Sotheby’s International Realty)

334 Atlantic Avenue in North Miami Beach’s Atlantic Isle community features a private island, seven bedrooms and six-and-a-half bathrooms, and 350 feet of water frontage. But its biggest draw could be its history.

The estate was once used as an underground casino and bootlegging operation during the height of prohibition in the 1920s, according to the listing agents with ONE Sotheby’s International Realty. The story goes that the house was run by associates of notorious Chicago mobster Al Capone.

It was used, supposedly, as a gambling house and for selling liquor during the prohibition era by associates of Al Capone,” Sotheby’s agent Allan Kleer told international luxury real estate media outlet Mansion Global.

The Mediterranean-style home sits on the Intracoastal Waterway opposite Oleta River State Park, a more than 1,000-acre state park on Biscayne Bay. The property includes a small private island that can’t be developed.

Seeking Major Return

The house has reportedly been owned by former Sunny Isles Beach Mayor George “Bud” Scholl and his wife Dione Del Monico since 1993. Scholl recently resigned as mayor to focus on OneBlood, his not-for-profit organization that is working to “enhance the health and well-being of others through our work with blood and stem cell products and by facilitating scientific research.”

Scholl and his wife listing their compound for $13.9 million would represent a substantial return on their investment should it go for anywhere near that price. The couple paid just $525,000 when they bought the Atlantic Isle estate 29 years ago. With inflation, that would be a little more than $1 million today.

Property records show that the estate’s tax bill last year was only $15,500, based on an assessed value of approximately $900,000.

Inflation has real estate prices soaring, but not all luxury sellers have found buyers. One such seller who hasn’t found much success recently is billionaire Steve Wynn.

The disgraced former Las Vegas casino tycoon has been trying to unload mansions in Las Vegas and Beverly Hills, but to no avail. His Southern Nevada mansion on “Billionaire’s Row” remains listed for $24.5 million. Wynn’s sprawling compound in Beverly Hills on Benedict Canyon is still on the market for a whopping $115 million.

Mob Gambling in Miami

Al Capone wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms when he arrived in Miami Beach in 1928. Capone was long notorious by the time he opted to relocate to Miami. And as expected, he brought with him a slew of illicit and underground activities, including gambling.

Capone was accused of bringing gambling to the city, but with or without him, South Florida was a hotbed of illegal gambling, prostitution, corruption and rum-running. City officials had looked the other way before,” explains a PBS biography on the mobster.

Capone eventually made Clarence Busch’s Palm Island estate his permanent residence. The historic mansion is just 10 air miles from the Atlantic Isle property.

Capone died from a stroke and pneumonia at the Palm Island estate at the age of 48 in 1947.