PALM BEACH IN UPROAR AS 'NEW MONEY' TRANSPLANTS CLASH WITH RETIREES

Palm Beach locals want some semblance of upper middle class normalcy to stay
Developers, though, want to cater to the uber-wealthy with flashy high-rises
Why the Surfside condo collapse in 2021 may lead to a victory for developers

Longtime Palm Beach residents are fighting to preserve the island's little remaining middle to upper middle class character as rich developers seek to tear down the current standings to build luxury condos.

At the center of the feud between locals and developers is the Ambassador Hotel. Cain International and OKO Group bought the Ambassador and an apartment building across the street for $147 million in 2022 with the intent to demolish the hotel.

Their plan is to replace dated building with 'the most ultra-luxury multifamily project likely that the town will ever see,' Bloomberg reported.

The three-star Ambassador is already besieged by condos to its north, south and west, and residents feel that a new building that exclusively caters to the uber-wealthy is unwarranted.

Complaints have been filed about what the developers wanted to do with the property in an attempt to grind the process to a halt.

And residents have Palm Beach's strict building codes on their side, which locals are unsurprisingly against loosening.

Cain and OKO Group initially planned three buildings to replace the Ambassador, each of which would be five stories high. They failed to change the pesky zoning laws though, and now they're altering their blueprint and asking the Palm Beach Town Council for individual exceptions.

The homeowner's association next door to the Ambassador is against the increased square footage and the 'intensity' of the proposals by Cain and OKO Group. The new property would have rooftop decks, fountains and at least 10 swimming pools, according to renderings.

Bobbie Lindsay, the town council president, said most people who actually live in the area 'could never afford to buy a unit like this, not even remotely,' adding that the developers should engage with the community more.

Though, its not clear that the community would support anything Cain and OKO want to do.

At a recent town meeting, an apartment owner nearby said he and others 'don’t want to become West Palm Beach,' which in recent years has been transformed into a glittering row of skyscrapers, complete with sleek office buildings and luxury condo complexes.

Of course, Palm Beach itself is already filled with obvious signs of wealth and excess, with superyachts parked in the marina and the streets being clogged with Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces. Plus, Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort is there, along with billionaire Paul Tudor Jones' giant $71 million mansion.

Another resident at the meeting took issue with the proposed rooftop pools, saying she didn't want to see 'dancing girls on bars'.

Paul Holland, who has owned a condo next door to the Ambassador for 15 years and mostly supports the new project, gave a frank assessment of how locals think and how if the developers want to be successful, they might just have to steamroll residents' concerns.

'Getting things through the pipeline here - you're going to have lots of people who will argue with you about everything,' Holland told Bloomberg. 'The Ambassador is not an attractive place, so it can only get better.'

Holland still noted that if his neighborhood were to ever become a haven for billionaires, he'd 'have to move out'.

Bloomberg reports that developers, although they're getting a lot of upfront resistance, may eventually win in the end by simply playing the waiting game.

That's because all 30-year-old plus Florida condo buildings with more than three stories are facing mandatory assessments at the end of the year that more than likely will force the owners to do expensive repairs.

The devastating 2021 Surfside condo collapse in Miami, which killed 98 people, prompted the Florida state legislature to pass a law mandating these assessments of older buildings.

A member of the Citizens’ Association of Palm Beach told Bloomberg there are at least five buildings in the area that are negotiating with developers over buyout deals to avoid being on the hook for the impending assessments.

The Ambassador, for example, was built in 1947, and the all the buildings around it are at least 30 years old with most of them being much older.

'The world is different in the post-Surfside world,' said Harvey Oyer, the lawyer representing the Ambassador developers, during a public meeting.

'There’s also the fact that we’re at the greatest demand for waterfront real estate in the history of Florida in this post-Covid real estate boom.'

2024-05-09T20:21:59Z dg43tfdfdgfd