The Bristol, a luxury condo tower under development in West Palm Beach, has opened a sales center in Bridgehampton as it zeroes in on wealthy New Yorkers summering in the Hamptons.
Chris Leavitt, who said he acts as the “brand ambassador” for the Bristol, told The Real Deal that he opened the center last week at the Douglas Elliman office. The sales center will operate there until Labor Day.
The Bristol was approved in October 2015 by the New York Attorney General’s Real Estate Finance Bureau to market condos in the state, according to its website. The sell-out value is $581 million, according to documents filed with the state.
At least four other South Florida condo projects have also received approval to market to New York buyers in the past year: 1 Hotel and Homes in Miami Beach, Canvas Miami in Miami’s Arts & Entertainment District and Turnberry Ocean Club and Jade Signature in Sunny Isles Beach. Turnberry Ocean Club and Jade Signature even hosted parties this summer for Hamptons revelers.
The Bristol is being developed by Flagler Investors, a three-way partnership between principals Golub & Company LLC, Commercial Financial Management and Elion Partners.
The 25-story, 69-unit project at 1110 South Flagler Drive is nearly 50 percent sold, including one $6 million sale made in the last few days since the new sales office opened, Leavitt said. Prices start at $5 million.
The Hamptons are a common denominator among all the buyers, he said, so marketing in Bridgehampton makes sense.
“They all have ties to Palm Beach — a home on the island, an apartment, or they stay at the Breakers and never found what they were looking for — but also have second homes in the Hamptons,” Leavitt said. “And they know each other.”
While the luxury condo market in Miami has slowed, in large part due to foreign economic and currency woes, he said the West Palm Beach market conditions are different. “We’re not suffering at all, because we are catering to a very Palm Beach-centric clientele that no matter what happens to the economy, the market, they are still going to buy.”
Flagler Investors paid $21 million for the Bristol development site in July 2014. The 3.21-acre property is directly across the street from the First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, which had previously used the property as an outdoor stadium, according to Palm Beach County property records.
The Bristol broke ground in May and construction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018.