WPB’s hotel boom: 2,400 rooms on way
Tourism is booming in Palm Beach County, and so are plans for new hotels in the county seat, West Palm Beach.
Plans are being dusted offff for a hotel on Clematis Street in the heart of downtown. Meanwhile, a new proposed hotel outside the downtown is in the works.
In addition, a controversial plan to build a hotel at the Palm Harbor Marina on the waterfront downtown just won a major legal battle, paving the way for construction of the eight-story, 108-room structure.
Combined with all other planned or proposed hotels, West Palm Beach could be looking at more than 2,400 hotel rooms opening during the next two to three years, said Rick Greene, West Palm Beach’s development services director.
The timing is good: A record-breaking 7.35 million visitors came to Palm Beach County in 2016, a 5.8 percent increase over 2015’s level, according to county tourism offifficials.
The increase marks the eighth consecutive year of tourism growth in the county, according to Discover The Palm Beaches, the county’s offifficial tourism marketing organization.
Downtown, Robert Samuels of Provident Jewelry is reviving plans to build the Hotel Clematis, a 94-room boutique hotel at 335 Clematis St. Samuels described the location as “Main and Main.”
In 2012, Samuels and co-owner Scott Diament received city approval to build up to 10 stories. But they weren’t able to line up a suitable hotel joint venture partner with fifinancing.
That’s likely to change with the growth of the downtown and the strong demand by major chains seeking urban locations for their hip boutique brands.
Also helping bolster construction: A recent hotel report Samuels commissioned showing a big boost in occupancy and room rate trends from six years ago.
The report showed average daily room rates in West Palm Beach now close to the mid$200s per night, up from $180 six years ago. Average occupancy also rose to more than 70 percent, up from 67 percent years ago.
“This is a very robust mar-