Updated 2:45 p.m., March 7: The developers of the Bristol in West Palm Beach have closed a $206 million construction loan.
Records show Flagler Investors LLC secured the financing from the Blackstone Group’s BREDS III Loan Holdings LLC. The developers are Al Adelson, principal of Flagler Investors, and Gene Golub of Chicago-based Golub, who broke ground on the 25-story tower at 1100 South Flagler Drive in May.
“Financing for a condo project in South Florida is not easy when part of the Miami market, the Fort Lauderdale market. The fact that they were willing to lend us a construction loan really speaks to the project, to how good it is and well respected it is,” Adelson said.
HFF’s Scott Wadler along with Jim Dockerty arranged the loan on behalf of Golub. Wadler said the project had interest from multiple lenders, and that it was successful in securing a large construction loan because West Palm Beach has high barriers to entry. “It’s the only luxury high-rise development getting developed in Palm Beach County,” Wadler told The Real Deal.
In West Palm Beach, other projects under construction include the Banyan Cay Resort at 3200 North Congress Avenue, which will feature residences.
Flagler Investors LLC closed on the financing on Friday, he said.
The 69-unit building is selling at prices ranging from $5 million to $30 million with sales pushing 70 percent, Adelson said. Buyers hail from Palm Beach, West Palm, Jupiter, Wellington and Boca Raton, and from the East Coast, Chicago, Detroit and other U.S. cities. It’s following the standard 50 percent deposit structure seen in most Miami projects and many in Broward County, and has more than $300 million in sales so far, Wadler said. The total sellout is $551.5 million, according to the New York Attorney General’s Real Estate Finance Bureau.
In an effort to attract new buyers, the developers spent $100,000 to run a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl. Adelson said he plans to run a similar commercial costing $150,000 to run during the Masters Tournament in April.
The Bristol is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018. Douglas Elliman is handling sales. Units range from 3,700 square feet to 14,000 square feet, and the building will front the Intracoastal Waterway.
Suffolk Construction is the general contractor. Willoughby Construction and Shapiro Pertnoy were both tapped to handle custom buildouts.
Flagler Investors paid $21 million for the waterfront development site in July 2014. The 3.21-acre property is directly across the street from the First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, which had previously used the property as an outdoor stadium, according to Palm Beach County property records.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the general contractor. Suffolk is the general contractor.