Canadian developer Great Gulf is launching plans for a 25-story luxury condo tower in West Palm Beach.
Sales for La Clara, an 83-unit development planned for 1515 South Flagler Drive, will officially launch in the first quarter of next year, said Douglas Elliman’s Chris Leavitt, director of sales. Elliman’s Alison Newton and Joey Columbo will also work on sales.
Leavitt said he’s received interest from buyers in Toronto, where the developer is based, as well as from the Northeast, and from residents on Palm Beach Island looking for “a more contemporary option.” Zoning only allows for up to eight-story buildings in the town of Palm Beach, Leavitt said. “They can’t live in these high-rises because they don’t exist.”
An affiliate of Great Gulf paid $24 million for the waterfront 2.5-acre development site in September 2016, according to property records. The company is led by Niall Collins, president of Great Gulf Residential.
Rendering of La Clara
The developer plans to break ground in March and deliver the building about two years from then.
The deposit structure requires buyers to put down 10 percent at contract, an additional 10 percent six months later, another 5 percent a year from then, and so on. Leavitt said the deposit schedule allows buyers to invest a majority of their money elsewhere and pay in an extended pattern.
The Palm Beach and West Palm Beach luxury condo markets are not nearly as saturated as those in Miami-Dade or Broward counties. In West Palm, developers Al Adelson and Gene Golub are completing the Bristol, a 25-story, 69-unit tower at 1100 South Flagler Drive. Buyers are already closing on their unfinished units, and are expected to move in next year. Prices at the Bristol range from about $5 million to more than $40 million.
At La Clara, units will range from 1,500 square feet to more than 4,000 square feet with prices starting at $2 million and going up to $5 million, excluding penthouses. The building is being designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects and will feature a fitness center with a yoga studio and spas, an outdoor garden and walking area, a dog spa, a club lounge, theater, conference room and business center, and wine tasting and storage areas.
Leavitt said the units will each come with two parking spaces, which can be self parking. Units will be delivered finished.