Welcome to the latest issue of The Dirt. I’m Darrell Hofheinz of the Palm Beach Daily News, and I’m filling in this week for Kim Miller, Palm Beach Post’s reigning monarch of real estate snark.
Kim, as regular readers know, always presents her inimitable spin on the latest news about real estate in Palm Beach County. But this week, I’m doing things a little differently because, well, I can. When the cat’s away, as they say.
So with snowbirds heading back north, I thought it would be a good time for a mini season-in-review roundup of some of the stories that you may have missed since the beginning of October.
And there was a lot of news. It was a season packed with developments about developers’ plans for redeveloping whatever land may be left for them to develop. And if that last sentence had too much “development” in it, believe me, that was my intention.
This season, we learned about plans in West Palm Beach for a new hospital on the edge of downtown and a proposal to redevelop of 10-block section of historic Northwood with 100 new homes. In South County, we read how a developer is making another push to build townhouses in part of the Agricultural Reserve and how Boca Lago Country Club wants to give up a third of its golf course for redevelopment.
Here’s a recap of a few other developments that made headlines this season, with some items borrowed, word for word, from past issues of The Dirt. But isn’t that plagiarism, you ask? Sue me.
From October: GL Homes wins bid to build, baby, build, along congested Lyons Road
Who needs another Valencia Community? We do! And GL Homes is more than happy to oblige after winning approval to build a 481-unit development along Lyons Road west of Boynton Beach. There may be a tiny traffic issue there until Lyons is widened, but, you know, there are electric bikes now.
What is a Valencia Community? Well, that’s why we have the Internet, and the Internet tells us that it’s a 55-plus community with lots of pickleball courts and champagne. Sign. Me. Up. I’ll bring the Mad Dog 20/20.
From January: Developers come knocking on the door of quirky Lake Worth Beach
Lake Worth Beach prides itself on its quirky eccentricities, fun little downtown and public beach. But it does have challenges, like fried iguanas shutting down the power grid, and live iguanas pooping in the Lake Worth Beach High School pool.
All that aside, developers are eyeing the beach town for some major upgrades, like a beach hotel, a convention center and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course. The projects, worth an estimated $155 million-plus, and first reported by Post senior business reporter Alexandra Clough, are being pitched as a public-private partnership.
From February: Part of West Palm’s waterfront may become a marina ‘village’ with walkways, condo towers
So here’s a question for you: What does West Palm Beach’s waterfront need more of? Development, of course!
At least, that seems to be the view of Huizenga Holdings and Integra Investments, which have proposed a $2 billion plan to develop a waterfront district on the north end of the city. It will be next door the Safe Harbor Rybovich marina, which was formerly owned by the Huizenga family. The project would include four condo towers, a public walking path, retail space, restaurants, office space, and a private club.
The developers say they aim to revitalize the area and create a vibrant waterfront destination. As Food Network’s Barefoot Contessa Ina Gareten might say: Who wouldn’t like that?
From April: Brace yourself! Another condo tower has been approved for — you guessed it — Flagler Drive
So what’s an apogee? You probably already know, but we looked it up, and it’s “the highest point in the development of something.”
It’s also the name of a 21-story luxury condominium planned by Related Group for a site on North Flagler Drive. West Palm Beach city commissioners approved the construction of the 21-story tower at the tail end of March.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for The Apogee, however. The approval came despite protests from residents, who argued the building was too large for the 1.5-acre lot.
The developer ended up reducing the size of the project from 25 stories to gain the commission’s approval.
And that means the apogee of The Apogee won’t be quite as high.
As Kim would say, live lightly.
Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Emaildhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: The Dirt: This season in Palm Beach County saw development after development
Reporting by Darrell Hofheinz / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
