Riviera Beach officials have chosen a developer for the city’s multimillion redevelopment of its marina.
The city on May 21 chose North Palm Beach-based Forest Development during a meeting of its Community Redevelopment Agency. Forest won the project over competing bids from California-based Sonnenblick Development and Related Urban.
The City Council voted 3-1 in favor of Forest’s bid, with council member Kashamba Miller-Anderson saying she was not prepared to support any of the candidates. Council member Shirley Lanier was not present for the meeting.
Forest had been involved in other projects in the area. It built the Nautilus 220 condominium complex along U.S. 1 in Lake Park and is involved in renovating the town’s marina along the Intracoastal Waterway. It also has had discussions with Lake Park about a multifamily development, 10th & Park.
During his pitch to Riviera Beach officials, Peter Baytarian, Forest’s founding partner, said his company’s involvement would put the largest local team on the project and deliver the largest guaranteed, subsidy-free return. It also would bring the city both a community center and a convention center.
Building a new convention center was at the heart of Forest Development’s pitch in Riviera Beach.
Its plans call for a new center that, at 326,918 square feet, would be nearly as large as the 350,000-square foot Palm Beach Count Convention Center in downtown West Palm Beach. Forest’s plans also call for the construction of a 522,576-square foot hotel with 270 rooms.
In bid materials submitted to Riviera Beach, Forest Development said the new convention center would “play a huge role in the city’s economy, culture and development.”
“The building is situated in the heart of the Riviera Beach Marina Village and will integrate aesthetically and functionally with new amenities of Bicentennial Park,” the bid document said.
“The building will continue to provide space for community events and expand the presence and operational capacity beyond city events. This will be the centerpiece jewel of the proposed Marina Village.”
Julius Whigham II covers northern Palm Beach County and public safety for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Builder that pushed convention center to redevelop Rivera Beach Marina
Reporting by Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
