PARK SLOPE A SLICE OF SOUTH BEACH IN WEST PALM
In a historic enclave of West Palm Beach sits a new housing community that is selling to buyers who want a new and modern-style home —
and are willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for it.
After just a few months of sales, Park Slope, a boutique townhouse community, is nearly sold out of its 14 units.
The project, at Lake Avenue and N Street, is by devel
oper Neil Kozokoff of Parkland Properties. Together
with partner Sam Fisch of Real Estate Solutions, they
built the first new multifamily project in years in Grandview
Heights, a historic neighborhood west of Dixie Highway, just south of Okeechobee Boulevard.
Park Slope could be an indicator of demand for new homes in the bustling South Dixie Highway corridor.
In order to gain city approval, Kozokoff said had to create a design that had some historic element to it. So he settled on an Art Deco-style to match the Armory Art Center on nearby Parker Avenue.
The result? A project that looks like it could be plucked from South Beach.
Sandwiched between Dixie Highway and the train tracks, Park Slope has plenty of ame
nities within walking distance. They include CityPlace, the convention center, the new
Hilton Hotel and across the tracks, the new Grandview Public Market food hall.
Kozokoff said he took a bet that the West Palm Beach market was ready for an upscale new townhouse. During the course of building the project, he decided to make the town
houses even more luxurious, using Bosch appliances, Italian cabinetry and extra storage space.
“We put a lot of thought, and
money, into this,” Kozokoff said, pointing out the 20-by-40 inch tiles.
Prices are not inexpensive.
The three-story, three-bedroom townhouses started at $650,000 and go up to $899,000. With 10 of 14 townhouses sold, remaining units start at $689,000.
Park Slope features six units
facing Howard Park; and
another eight units, each with private swimming pools, in a separate building along N
Street. Seven of the eight Slope units are purchased, with one remaining for sale. On the Park side, three remain available.
Kozokoff said several buyers are locals who have children and want them to attend
Palm Beach Public elementary school, he said. Other buyers just want to experience the urban lifestyle and walk to nearby restaurants and shops.
If enough land can be assembled, Fisch and Kozokoff expect more new projects like Park Slope in the downtown area in the future, particularly with technology making it easier for those with high incomes to work from anywhere.
Intech leaving CityPlace
Intech, the longtime anchor
tenant of the luxury CityPlace
Tower office building, confirmed it plans to move to One
Clearlake Centre, west of downtown West Palm Beach.
The deal, in the works for some time and first reported last November, would free up 50,000 square feet of arguably
the best office space downtown.
That soon-to-be empty space
will be an indicator of whether downtown really needs more
luxury office space.
“It’ll be a big test,” said
Kelly Smallridge, president of
the county’s Business Development Board, the county’s chief recruitment arm.
“It’s very desirable space,” Smallridge said. “I don’t think it’s going to be empty that long. Everybody keeps complaining there isn’t enough office space. And (this amount of ) space hasn’t come on the market in a long time.”
Intech’s 17th and 18th floors at CityPlace Tower feature water views and lots of luxury finishes.
Justin Wright, Intech’s chief operating officer and general counsel, said Intech is making the move to One Clearlake next summer for a couple of reasons.
One Clearlake Centre, at 250 South Australian Ave. offers Intech employees, clients and visitors easy access to and from Interstate 95, Palm Beach International Airport, and commuter trains, he said. An added bonus, he said, is that there aren’t any train crossing gates to worry about when heading to the building.
One Clearlake also offers Intech a dedicated generator, which allows Intech to run its business even if power is out in West Palm Beach, as can be the case during hurricane season.
Intech is taking One Clearlake’s top two floors totaling about 25,000 square feet, half the size of its existing office.
The rent is less expensive, too: Rents at One Clearlake are about $26 a square foot, not including about $15 per square foot for taxes, maintenance and insurance. CityPlace Tower, on the other hand, commands rents starting in the mid-$40 per square foot range, plus another $20 for common area maintenance, real estate brokers said.
Intech, the money management firm now owned by Janus Henderson Global Investors, was the signature tenant that first kicked off leasing when the 18-story CityPlace Tower opened in 2008. Intech moved to the tower’s penthouse floors, which are connected via an internal staircase, from a location in Palm Beach Gardens.
Now Intech’s hop over to One Clearlake could raise the profile of this older office tower The building last year sold for $42 million to Velocis, a private equity real estate manager, in partnership with CREC, a Miami-based real estate company.
In recent months, city and business officials have said there’s a strong need for more space to accommodate businesses wanting to be downtown.
In fact, city commissioners recently approved a new office building plan by the Related Cos. to build a waterfront office tower.
The 275,000-squarefoot tower, dubbed One Flagler, will be built next to the First Church of Christ, Scientist along Flagler Drive. At 25 stories, the tower will have soaring views of the Intracoastal, Palm Beach and the Atlantic Ocean.
The public was divided over the project. While some residents extolled the tower’s design and need, others decried the building’s construction on waterfront land that city residents twice voted to keep only five stories.
Brokers throughout the city say demand for new office space isn’t as robust as city leaders and some developers say it is. In fact, many brokers say potential tenants new to the market mostly want small blocks of space, up to about 5,000 square feet.
If built, it’s unclear how quickly One Flagler will fill up, especially since Related Co.’s Ken Himmel said rents will top $50 a square foot, not including another $25 to $30 a square foot in taxes, insurance and maintenance.
But Himmel is optimistic, saying that many tenants own homes in Palm Beach and want to do business in the area. Potential tenants include financial services companies, private equity firms, hedge funds, family offices and wealth management firms, he said.