Welcome to The Dirt! I’m real estate, weather and critter reporter Kimberly Miller with the latest developments in the sizzling market.
A 54,570-square-foot estate won approval last month for construction in the Town of Manalapan with a list price of $285 million. And if you read the previous sentence without thinking there was a typo in the size and/or price tag of the aforementioned multi-building property then you are are an honorary Palm Beacher, or native Palm Beacher, or someone who has just lived around Palm Beach long enough to become inured to outlandishly-sized homes, billionaire whimsy and mansion accumulations the size of the Mall of America.
Who, and how many families, are going to live in 54,570 square feet? The estate includes an eight-bedroom main house, a guesthouse, a beach house, a boat house, a bowling alley, a shooting range, a padel court, a movie theater, a golf simulation room, and two pools. Both of the pools are larger than 3,000 square feet, which is more than three times the size of the house I’ve lived in for 20 years (but at least the rooster is gone, although now I miss him).
Also, a bowling alley AND a shooting range? Of course! You can perfect your follow through while prepping for the zombie apocalypse/WWIII/run on Kendal Jenner’s 818 Tequila brand the tariffs kick in.
In other real estate-related news, mega developer Related Ross is asking for a grant from the City of West Palm Beach to fix up an historic property near CityPlace, a proposal for 30 townhomes near an industrial area in West Palm is moving through the system, buyers closed on 16 acres at the Palm Beach Kennel Club for homes and things, and an investor saved the ice skating rink in Palm Beach Gardens.
Related Ross asks for $1.3 million grant to renovate historic West Palm Beach home
The company of billionaire developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, wants to turn the historic Hibiscus House near CityPlace into a 250-seat restaurant and it wants $1.3 million from West Palm Beach to do it. If your first reaction to a billionaire wanting a million bucks from the city to build a restaurant that (wild speculation here) will be unaffordable for most city residents unless they miss a mortgage payment is dismay, you are hereby forgiven.
Still, and just hear me out, doesn’t a rising tide lift all boats? Yeah, I hate that saying too, and king tides, hello? Look, bottom line, the renovation is expected to cost $13 million and it’s going to help save a 107-year-old home, so, meh, what’s $1.3 million, said the honorary Palm Beachified real estate writer.
Thirty new townhomes planned near downtown West Palm Beach
The guys doing the much-anticipated Nora development north of downtown West Palm Beach originally bought up properties kind of hush-hush on Nottingham Boulevard south of downtown West Palm Beach for some kind of development. Now Pulte is in the picture considering buying the land for luxury townhomes after NDT Development puts the infrastructure in.
There’s no price range available on the townhomes, but they are a signal that 1. developers are still investing in West Palm, and 2. developers are ready to break the Dixie Corridor barrier with a westward expansion, and 3. El Bonche bar needs to start carrying White Claw.
Iconic Palm Beach Kennel Club sells 16 acres for new development
Lead Palm Beach Post business reporter Alexandra Clough broke the story back in 2023 that the Frisbie Group planned to buy property at the Palm Beach Kennel Club to develop, and now that’s come to fruition, in part. The first 16 acres purchased for $20.9 million is phase one of a plan to acquire 42 acres for a retail and residential project.
The purchase is a signal that 1. developers are still investing (near) West Palm, and 2. developers are ready to break the Dixie Corridor barrier with a westward expansion, and 3. smoker friendly dive bar Foster’s Shak, famously open until 5 a.m., needs to start carrying more White Claw.
Live lightly.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Related Ross asks West Palm Beach for $1.3 million to turn historic home into fine dining
Reporting by Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
