A recovering job market is helping the West Palm Beach apartment market show signs of life, with the area’s vacancy rate continuing to drop, according to Marcus & Millichap. West Palm Beach’s rents also rose for the ninth consecutive quarter, as an expanding number of property owners are successfully imposing higher rents as lease roll over. [more]

Wells Fargo has sold a two-story office/flex building in West Palm Beach, according to Berger Commercial Realty’s Keith Graves, who represented Wells Fargo in the deal. The property, which is located at 1711 Worthington Road in West Palm Beach, was purchased by Bearcash, a limited liability company, for $1.01 million. The bank-owned property was being managed by Berger Special Assets, the company’s receivership division. “The property management expertise of Berger Special Assets certainly contributed to the building’s value,” Graves said. “We were able to market it effectively to qualified buyers and secure a fair selling price for the bank.” — Alexander Britell

The medical office market in West Palm Beach continues to outperform, according to a report from Marcus & Millichap. With increased demand for medical services from Palm Beach County’s older and affluent population, the area could see significant net absorption in the near term. Vacancy is also projected to drop more than 100 basis points to the low-12 percent range, according to the report. [more]

CRA of Florida CEO Martin Larsen

After a decade of blunders marred its housing department, West Palm Beach has decided to lean on external help to reinvigorate the agency. The Palm Beach Post reported that city commissioners agreed to a three-year contract with Pembroke Pines-based Community Redevelopment Associates of Florida to run its housing department. It performs similar duties for Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Coconut Creek and Plantation. [more]

Redemptive Life Fellowship Church and its Bishop Harold Ray

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development wants West Palm Beach to fork over nearly $650,000 for failing to prove it used taxpayer funds to perserve low income housing, WPTV reported. The city requested federal funding to finance low income housing projects, but HUD said the money was not properly administered. [more]

101 Lofts in WPB

Sales of new-construction condominiums in downtown West Palm Beach increased by 17 percent in 2011 compared to the previous year, according to a report from brokerage and consultancy Condo Vultures. The Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach market saw an average of 10 new condo sales per month, although 620 unsold developer units remain on the market. [more]

A new ordinance in West Palm Beach aims to address the number of foreclosed homes in the city, WPTV reported. The plan, which was approved unanimously by the city commission Tuesday, requires banks to use property managers to maintain foreclosed homes and will ultimately create a database of foreclosed homes in the city. “Foreclosures are actually up this year, now that laws are more refined at the federal level,” said Doug Wise, director of development services for the city. See more in the video after the jump. [more]

Morton's is closing tonight in WPB

The Morton’s steakhouse in West Palm Beach is closing its doors, the South Florida Business Journal reported. “Over time, demographics shift —and so do the areas in which businesses thrive — and it’s because of this that we must close the Morton’s location in Palm Beach, said Kris Guthrie, VP of marketing at parent company Landry’s Restaurants, which bough the steakhouse chain last month. The restaurant is set to shutter tonight, according to an employee. [SFBJ]

West Palm Beach could be renamed Trader Joe's

If Trader Joe’s comes to West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach would become Trader Joe’s.

So desparate are West Palm Beach city commissioners for the discount grocer to continue its South Florida expansion to their city that a 24-hour name change is just one of the measures they’re considering to lure Trader Joe’s, the Sun-Sentinel reported. [more]

Downtown West Palm Beach Tri-Rail station

Bowing to nearby property owners, Palm Beach County commissioners told developer Michael Masanoff he needs to scale back his plans for a massive mixed-use complex near the Tri-Rail station in downtown West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Post reported.

Commissioners have continuously pushed the “transit village” plan through over the objections of the community, but stopped short of approving a plan that calls for 775,000 square feet of retail and office space, 120 apartments, 40 condominiums and 400 hotel rooms on a six-acre site along Tamarind Avenue, between Banyan Boulevard and Fern streets.  [more]