Gulfstream Hotel owner blames city for not attracting investment, considers sale

The owners of the Gulfsteam Hotel in Lake Worth are considering selling the property and are blaming city officials for not doing more to attract investment to downtown Lake Worth.

Delray Beach-based Hudson Holdings placed a sign from Talon Point Capital that read “site development opportunity” in front of the Gulfstream, the Palm Beach Post reported.

Hudson co-founder Steven Michael told the Post the hotel’s ownership wants “to be part of a city that is moving forward,” adding that, “It’s not just about our investment. It’s important that investors follow us and I feel that Lake Worth isn’t promoting that.”

City manager Michael Bornstein disagreed, telling the newspaper that more than $100 million of new investments and projects are in the works for Lake Worth.

If Hudson were to sell the historic hotel, built in 1925 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, that would likely mean it would not go ahead with its $70 million plan to renovate the property at Lake Avenue and South Lakeside Drive, a block from the Intracoastal Waterway. Those plans include restoring the crumbling, six-story hotel, shrinking its room count to 87 from 106, and knocking down two nearby buildings so it can erect a five-story, 87-room annex to the hotel instead. Both buildings will carry Hilton’s upscale Curio Collection brand.

The Lake Worth City Commission approved the required zoning change for the renovations in December 2015. The city has been criticized for being inconsistent in its development, because of staunch political opposition to building plans. [Palm Beach Post] – Katherine Kallergis