Orlando developer Chuck Whittall is under contract to buy out the owners of a waterfront co-op building in West Palm Beach, The Real Deal has learned.
Whittall, founder and CEO of Unicorp National Developments, could pay close to the asking price, roughly $200 million, for the 140-unit La Fontana at 2800 North Flagler Drive, according to sources. The 10-story building was completed in 1961, meaning it’s about 65 years old.
The co-op hired Christian Prakas of Ryan Serhant’s firm, Serhant, to market the building for a bulk sale last year. Owners signed a letter of intent with an unnamed developer in November.
The $200 million asking price breaks down to about $1.4 million per unit. The board unanimously approved the contract to Whittall, according to a source.
Co-op president Paul Moreno did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Prakas, who is brokering the deal, declined to comment.
Whittall confirmed that he is under contract to acquire La Fontana but declined to comment on the price or his specific plans for the building. The deal could close sometime next year. He is “investigating all the development possibilities for the property,” he said.
Whittall and his firm have developed projects that include the Residences at the St. Regis Resort on Longboat Key and O-Town West, a 350-acre master-planned community in southwest Orlando with commercial centers, luxury apartments and an entertainment center.
Developers are increasingly considering buyouts of condo and co-op buildings across South Florida in part due to a lack of undeveloped waterfront land and an increasing willingness among unit owners to sell.
Following the Surfside condo collapse that killed 98 people in June 2021, state lawmakers passed major condo safety laws that require associations repair and maintain their buildings and fund financial reserves for the future, pushing some owners to sell as a result of prohibitive costs.
Next door to La Fontana, BEKO Equities, a joint venture between Immocorp Capital’s Gilbert Benhamou and Hong Kong-based O.D. Kobo offered $295 million for the Portofino South Condominium earlier this year, according to the Palm Beach Post.
More than a dozen luxury condo projects are in the works in West Palm Beach totaling over 2,000 units; many of the developers are Miami-based, including Related Group, Terra and BH Group. Billionaire developer Steve Ross of Related Ross has spearheaded development in the city’s downtown.
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