Deadline looms for West Palm Beach project

The clock is ticking on a West Palm Beach project.

Developer Michael McCloskey reportedly has two weeks left to reach an agreement with Mayor Jeri Muoio on his proposed office and medical complex on the city-owned downtown “tent site,” a vacant 2.4-acre plot at Okeechobee Boulevard and Dixie Highway.

West Palm Beach will offer up to $8.5 million in incentives only if the money goes directly to McCloskey’s tenants, Muoio said, according to the Palm Beach Post.

“This is a $200 million project. If it’s more palatable to the city that it goes toward tenant improvements, I’m amenable to that,” McCloskey told the Post, adding he had budgeted $20 million for tenant improvements.

The developer proposed buying the property for $13.5 million. His plans include a West Palm Beach Health and Wellness Campus, including two office towers.

“Right now I’m not sure it’s viable,” Muoio the mayor told the Palm Beach Post. “I don’t like this deal at all …We’re going to go back to him and say, ‘that’s not acceptable.’  If the deal dies, “we will put a ‘for sale’ sign on the site, and get a competitive bid for people.” [Palm Beach Post] — Kristina Puga