From left: Shannon Larocque, assistant county administrator, and a sketch of the Palm Beach County convention center hotel
Now that it has settled the foreclosure lawsuit at nearby CityPlace, Related Companies will turn its attention to the long-planned Palm Beach County convention center hotel, the Palm Beach Post reported.
The county selected Related to develop a 400-room Hilton hotel in early 2010 and vowed to contribute $27 million to the $100 million project. [more]
As expected, the Palm Beach County Commission has chosen the Related Companies as the developer for the long-awaited 400-room Palm Beach County Convention Center Hotel. Plans for a new hotel next to the convention center in West Palm Beach have failed to get off the ground on numerous occasions over the past three years. Most recently, a contract with developer Ocean Properties fell through after a federal investigation into alleged corruption in the deal. Related, which developed the massive CityPlace retail and entertainment center in Downtown West Palm Beach, was recommended for the deal by a county selection committee. Contract negotiations and financing arrangements between Related and Palm Beach County are expected to take four to six months. Once built, the hotel will operate under the Hilton Hotels brand. TRD
The lengthy, convoluted quest to find a developer for a Palm Beach
County convention center hotel took another turn this week when a
court-appointed special master said county officials had unfairly
rejected bids from two of five contractors seeking the work. The
Related Companies and another group, Acquest Realty Advisors of
Michigan, had been approved for bids, but special master Robert Rosillo
said the county had given Related an unfair advantage. He ordered that
FRI Investors and Rose Development, both of West Palm Beach, be
returned to the bidding, and added that the fifth remaining bidder,
Grove Street Partners of Atlanta should be reinstated as well. [Palm
Beach Post]
