UPDATED, Feb. 25, 10:48 a.m.: BGI Companies kicked off sales of its planned West Palm Beach condo tower, betting on continued demand in the city’s limited new condo market.
The 22-story Alba Palm Beach is expected to have 55 luxury condos and four townhomes, with prices starting at $2.5 million, principal Kenneth Baboun told The Real Deal. The majority of units will average $3.5 million, and penthouses will be released at a later date.
Douglas Elliman was tapped to lead sales and marketing of the project. Buyers have reserved 30 percent of the building since reservations opened last week, Baboun said.
The Miami-based developer said the project is meant to appeal to buyers outpriced in the market, where the newest condos on the water are trading for roughly $8 million and up. Though few other new development condo buildings have launched in West Palm Beach, they include Two Roads Development and Alpha Blue Ventures’ Forté at 1309 South Florida Drive. Prices there range from $7.4 million to more than $30 million. (Elliman is also leading sales of Forté.)
“We saw a hole in the market and got [plans for Alba] approved in record timing,” Baboun said, adding that BGI secured entitlements for Alba in 14 months.
Listing inventory of condos in West Palm Beach fell 73 percent, year over year, in the fourth quarter to 281 condos on the market, according to the Douglas Elliman reports. The luxury sector, defined as the top 10 percent of sales, experienced a 68 percent decline in inventory in the fourth quarter, down to just 53 listings.
Alba, planned for the 1.7-acre site at 4714 North Flagler Drive, will include a private dock with boat slips for residents, as well as a 25,500-square-foot sixth floor of amenities with two pools, a grill and lounge area, fitness center and business center. It’s in the Northwood area of West Palm, overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.
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West Palm Beach-based Spina O’Rourke + Partners designed the building. Units will feature glass-framed terraces with summer kitchens, Italkraft kitchens with SubZero and Wolf appliances, and smart-home technology.
Records show the Baboun-led Scuba Club WPB LLC paid $5.8 million for the property in November 2020.
Baboun said construction could begin by the end of the summer and the building is expected to be completed in the spring of 2025. The developer expects to secure a construction loan in less than two months.
“Right now financing is readily available. For the West Palm Beach market, it’s much easier because there is no competition,” Baboun said. “It was a perfect storm if you will.”
Area condo sales began to rise, following the huge surge in single-family home sales in Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and overall countywide during the pandemic. In January, Palm Beach County condo sales jumped 22 percent to 1,123 compared to January 2021, according to MLS data provided by the Miami Association of Realtors.
The Bristol, a 25-story, 69-unit waterfront condo tower at 1100 South Flagler Drive, marked the first new luxury condo building in West Palm Beach in a decade when it was completed in 2019. Flagler Investors, led by Al Adelson and Gene Golub, developed the project.
Developers in Miami have been launching projects at a much faster clip, ranging from more affordable condo towers with short-term rental components to ultra-luxury boutique developments on the ocean.