20 News
The COASTAL STAR
December 2016
South Palm Beach
3550 Ocean project to give South Palm a luxurious windfall
By Dan Moffett What may be the quietest real estate boom in Florida is soon to start shaking South Palm Beach to its economic core. The developers of the muchanticipated 3550 South Ocean condo project have begun selling luxury units on the property once occupied by the ramshackle Palm Beach Hawaiian Inn, a forlorn icon that stood long beyond its useful years until demolition last year. “This is opening my eyes up to a whole new realm in South Palm Beach,” Mayor Bonnie Fischer said after touring the project’s sales office in Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar. “This is totally amazing. It’s wonderful to see something exciting in the town after things being dead and the property vacant for so long.” It will take only several dozen new residents to usher South Palm into its whole new realm — enough to occupy the 30 units in the six-story 3550 building.
The 30 units in the 3550 Ocean building all will have ocean views. Rendering provided By the town’s standards, the math is, as Fischer suggests, totally amazing: Preconstruction prices will start at $2.3 million for 2,500-squarefoot units and likely climb over $5 million for 3,400-squarefoot penthouse digs, topping
out at around $1,700 per square foot. Consider that the median market price for condos in the town is about $260,000, according to tax records. Not only will 3550 South Ocean become the priciest building
in town, it could account for as much as 30 percent of the town’s total taxable value — some windfall for a built-out, five-eighths-mile-long condo enclave that is just now getting over the real estate collapse of nine years ago.
“The increased tax revenue is something we can really use,” said Fischer, who has pushed plans to repair the town’s eroding beach and its aging Town Hall. “I had some reservations about the project earlier, but after seeing what they’re doing, I think this is gorgeous and the people in charge are very interested in getting the town and residents involved in what they’re doing.” New York-based developer DGG, which joined forces this year with investor Gary Cohen of Boca Raton’s Paragon Acquisition Group, is intent on putting some Palm Beach style in South Palm Beach. The building features a sawtooth design that gives each unit an ocean view through floor-to-ceiling windows. The project has formed a partnership with Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa to allow memberships for owners. Douglas Elliman of Palm Beach is in charge of sales. The project’s groundbreaking is scheduled for early next year and completion for 2018. Ú
Along the Coast
Coastal Star brings home 10 press awards By Ron Hayes The Coastal Star has been honored with 10 awards for writing, photography and design, including six first-place winners, in the Florida Press Club’s 65th annual Excellence in Journalism competition. Writer Sallie James took a top honor for her coverage of the “Homeless in Boca Raton.” First-place recognition for feature page design went to Scott Simmons for a trio of entries. Photographer Tim Stepien won a first for his photos of an “Underwater Swimmer.” In the health writing category, Lona O’Connor won first place for “Cancer survivor climbs mountain.” Sports columnist Willie Howard won a first-place award for his coverage of “Delray’s Sailing Beach” and “The West Palm Boat Show,” and Ron Hayes for a trio of light features. Among second-place prize winners were Nick Madigan, in the Lucy Morgan Award for InDepth Reporting, for his article
Delray Beach
“Xanax addiction and death.” For environmental news writing, Howard also took a second-place award for “Changing tides: A look at the impact of climate change.” Dan Moffett earned second place in the public safety category for “Fire district proposed along the coast.” Cheryl Blackerby earned a third-place award for her stories “Shrinking habitat for foxes” and “Temperatures control sea turtle hatchling sex.” The paper was honored for stories published between June 1, 2015, and May 31, 2016, in the category of non-daily newspapers. The winners were announced Nov. 5 during a dinner at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in St. Augustine. Founded in 1951 as the Florida Women’s Press Club to promote the advancement of women in journalism, the club was renamed the Florida Press Club as so-called “women’s pages” were eliminated and female journalists moved into more prominent positions. Ú
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