The former City Hall site in West Palm Beach gained $3.6 million in appraised value in the last 13 months.
Anderson & Carr assessed the property at $16.8 million and subtracted $1 million from the final figure to account for the cost of asbestos removal. A July 2013 appraisal pegged the site’s value at $12.2 million. The city is looking for someone to redevelop the property into a hotel or condo with ground-floor commercial space.
The appraisal firm cited several recent downtown West Palm transactions and expected developments in its valuation. That includes the planned Chapel-by-the-Lake condo project and land acquisitions by Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene.
West Palm opened a replacement City Hall at 401 Clematis Street five years ago, according to the Palm Beach Post. The former venue, which is located east of Olive Avenue between Banyan Boulevard and Second Street, has been vacant since then. [Palm Beach Post] — Eric Kalis