Waterfront tower project approved last year in limbo
Increased costs, softer rental market likely factors in work delay.
WEST PALM BEACH — The storied history of the north-end waterfront project that once bore the name “Trump” awaits its next chapter.
In its most recent iteration, as a six-building complex of a thousand condo and apartment units, Marina Village was supposed to have come out of the ground at 4400 N. Flagler Drive late last year. But more than four months into 2017, there’s no sign of activity and neither development partner will talk about it.
“I drove by it this weekend,” said Jonathan Gladstone, a developer who bought commercial property just to the north in Riviera Beach, thinking that the big Marina Village projec t would catalyze the market there. “I’m always looking for movement and nothing’s happened on the site.” What happened? West Palm’s development services director, Rick Greene, said a Related executive told him they’re tweaking the plans to make the project financially feasible in light of a rise in construction costs. Meanwhile they’ve requested an extension of their development approval, which is set to expire in December, he said.
“They told me they’re trying to value-engineer the project and costs came in higher than they anticipated,” Greene said. “They definitely want to do the project but want to get the costs down.”
Others in the real estate industry point to a number of market factors affecting the development climate, from shallowness of demand, to rents too soft to support construction.