Underwater Florida Property Selling For A Whopping $43 Million

A South Florida developer is selling a property for millions of dollars, but you won't get a huge mansion or some special amenities with that. For $43 million, you can own four acres of land submerged in the Intracoastal Waterway of Boca Raton, according to USA Today.

William Swaim, who owns the property, had to go through years of litigation and clearing the title to get the drowned plot ready for the market. He told reporters people can fill it up with buildable dirt and build a sea wall, or pay him an extra $3.5 million to do the dirty work.

"Most people don't even know that private people own parts of the Intracoastal," the developer said, adding that he's already gotten "quite a few calls" about the property. “Submerged parcels are a headache. It takes years to clean them up, and most people don’t want to take years to clean them up."

When completed, the land is zoned for a single-family home. Future owners can look forward to 600 feet of Intracoastal frontage and a view of the ocean. Swaim is advertising his inundated acres as the "last and largest undeveloped Boca Raton Intracoastal property for sale in 30 years."

Underwater properties have sparked lengthy legal fights and backlash from environmental advocates. The latter argues that wealthy buyers may be taking critical habitats, especially in the waterways, away from local wildlife and endangered species.

“I think we are getting to the point where we can’t afford to lose any more seagrass in our waterways,” Everglades Law Center Executive Director Lisa Interlandi said. “Manatees are dying at record rates because of impacts to their habitat and increasing development on submerged lands is only going to compound that problem.”

You can read more about this on USA Today's website.