Boca Raton attorney Andrew Blasi sold a Delray Beach oceanfront tract in a hot waterfront property market with finite inventory and high demand.

Blasi, a founding shareholder of Shapiro, Blasi, Wasserman & Hermann, represented the sellers, Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors president Albert Rabil and his wife, Tamara, in the $7.05 million sale of less than an acre.

New Jersey-based National Realty Investment Advisors bought the parcels at 1240 and 1248 Seaspray Ave. in a deal that closed Oct. 16.

The Rabils sold a mansion facing the two-lane Ocean Boulevard and the ocean, but it's fated for a teardown. The price was based on land alone.

How was the cost of a three-story waterfront mansion factored out of the sale price?

A lawsuit filed by the Rabils against a contractor they hired to build the home, Seaside Builders LLC, alleges, among other things, that the company performed defective work, failed to finish on time, failed to supply enough properly skilled workers and appropriate materials, and submitted fraudulent invoices, according to the April 2016 complaint filed in Palm Beach Circuit Court.

Seaside Builders turned around and sued the Rabils for unpaid construction work, according to court filings.

“That's a very, very unique circumstance,” said Blasi, who is not involved in the lawsuit. “I think nobody in this transaction valued the structure because it was the subject of a lawsuit alleging defects.”

National Realty Investment Advisors plans to demolish the home, divide the property into three lots and build a home on each, according to Blasi.

The Rabils bought the property as two lots, one purchased in July 2013 and another in October 2013, for more than $4.2 million, according to the Palm Beach County property appraiser's office.

The price of the latest sale breaks down to about $182 per square foot for the about 38,716-square-foot lot.

In a market where waterfront property for sale is scarce, this transaction was unique, Blasi said.

“How often are you going to stumble into a large mansion-sized property that you can actually pick up for land value because the house needs to be torn down?” he asked.