‘King of Queens’ star buys $14M home in Delray Beach

Actor and comedian Kevin James, who starred in the sitcom “The King of Queens” and in movies such as “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and “Zookeeper,” has purchased an

18,906-square-foot home across the street from the ocean in Delray Beach for $14 million.

The property, at 344 N. Ocean Blvd., was originally listed for

$15.95 million. It has six bedrooms and nine baths and was recently renovated, redesigned and upgraded by Delray Beach-based Randall Stofft Architects, along with Stofft Ikasu Interiors.

Located on a .65-acre lot, the three-story home’s features include a summer kitchen, fireplace, elevator, pool, wine cellar, multiple balconies and a one-bedroom guest house.

James took title as Kevin Knipfing, the name he was born with, as co-trustee of a living trust. He was represented by real estate agent Jack Elkins at William Raveis in

Palm Beach. The listing agent was Nicholas Malinosky of Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Delray Beach. Both agents declined to comment.

The luxury single-family home market in Delray Beach is robust, according to statistics provided by Douglas Elliman. The median sales price of a luxury single-family home in the fourth quarter of 2020 was $2.3 million, up 64.3% year-over-year. Listed inventory declined sharply in the fourth quarter, by 61% year-over-year, a major factor, along with increased demand for single-family homes, that has contributed to the surge in pricing.

“We’re getting a lot of buyers coming up from Fort Lauderdale and Miami because there are tons of condominiums in those areas, and COVID has really put the hurt on the condo market because no one wants to ride down in an elevator with other people every day,” said Chuck Luciano, a real estate agent with Compass Florida in Boca Raton, who was not involved in the Kevin James transaction. “A lot of buyers are also coming from out of state — New York, Boston, Chicago, New Jersey — so the single-family home market is really booming as a result. They’re not making any more oceanfront, so what is available gets bought up really quickly.”

ELLIMAN.COM/COURTESY PHOTOS Actor and comedian Kevin James purchased an 18,906-square-foot home across the street from the ocean in Delray Beach for $14 million. The property, at 344 N. Ocean Blvd., features six bedrooms and nine baths, a summer kitchen, fireplace, elevator, pool, wine cellar, multiple balconies and a one-bedroom guest house.