West Palm Beach Area Experiencing Downtown Boom

By Debra Wood

There's an upbeat mood in Palm Beach County.

Downtown West Palm Beach is showing off its recently completed convention center, an expanded performing arts center and the CityPlace shopping and entertainment complex, and an avalanche of new upscale, multifamily residential projects are proceeding or in the works.

"It's phenomenal what is happening and what will be happening here," said Brian L. Kelley, executive director of the East Coast Chapter of Associated General Contractors in West Palm Beach. "We saw tremendous growth six or seven months ago, before Scripps was part of the growth potential."

The Scripps Research Institute of La Jolla, Calif., announced plans last fall to establish a major biomedical science center on 100 acres of former grove land in the northwestern part of the county. The campus will include a 200-bed research hospital.

Palm Beach County provided the land, $137 million toward construction and the cost of temporary facilities until the permanent structure is built. Scripps also received $310 million in federal economic development funds for start-up costs, which were made available from the state.

Scripps selected Fluor Corp. of Aliso Viejo, Calif., as its program manager to oversee development and construction.

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The campus is expected to open in late 2006. During the next two years, the county will build and widen roads and add water and sewage lines.

In announcing Scripps' plans, government officials said they hoped it would bring more high-tech jobs to the county and diversify its tourism-dependent economy. Several developers and the county have announced plans for mixed-use projects near the new research institute, including one in adjacent Martin County.

"The climate is right in Palm Beach for continued development and construction," said Dan Shaw, president and CEO of ABC-Florida East Coast Chapter in Coconut Creek. "Most of it is residential, and commercial reacts to residential."

Downtown, high-end condominium projects dominate the landscape. Hank Huisman Jr., senior vice president of Pompano Beach-based Current Builders of Florida , said people's desire to be close to shopping, eateries and the Intracoastal is driving the city's growth.

Current is building the Prado, a multi-family condo project for The Related Group of Florida of Miami.

The city has initiated infrastructure improvements downtown, including replacement of sewer and utility lines. Crews are busy installing curbs, sidewalks and landscaping on some streets, which has necessitated road closures.

Also snarling traffic is work on the bascule Royal Park Bridge connecting West Palm with Palm Beach. The bridge should partially open later this year, but work is scheduled to continue into spring 2005.

The Urban Land Institute evaluated the area and submitted a report outlining needed upgrades. As part of its recommendations, the city of West Palm Beach also is seeking developers to design and construct a city center, which will include a new City Hall, public library, commons area and waterfront park.

"It's bustling, and we love it," said Mayor Lois Frankel. She said private investment is flooding into the city that will make it more livable and safe.

"I see [building activity] continuing for the next year and a half to two years," said Huisman, adding that his firm recently signed contracts for two projects, totaling $75 million, that have not yet broken ground. "The attitude is going away from rental to condo. The interest rate has to be dictating that."

Taras Diakiwski, business acquisition manager for The Weitz Co. of West Palm Beach, said his firm has witnessed tremendous growth and has a good backlog. The company is starting work on two condo projects in West Palm Beach, the Whitney and the Metropolitan, and is well under way on the Slade, another multifamily condo project, for The Related Group.

Barbara Salk, vice president of The Related Group, said her firm has introduced and sold 670 residential units valued at approximately $190 million to the West Palm Beach marketplace during the past 15 months.

"West Palm Beach is one of the fastest-growing cities in Florida and is at the epicenter of all the growth in South Florida," Salk added. "Our market research tells us that people want to live downtown, in the center of all the action."

Following is a look at two multifamily projects currently under construction in downtown West Palm Beach.

One City Plaza

Suffolk Construction of West Palm Beach has several projects under way, including the 16-story, $24.7 million Esplanade Grande and One City Plaza.

Suffolk began working on the 16-story One City Plaza in April 2003. The building was 40 percent complete one year later. Barry Craft, senior project manager, expects to top out in September and finish on time in May.

The $63 million, 350-unit One City Plaza boasts a two-story lobby and an interior-core nine-floor parking garage surrounded by seven floors of residential units. The first six residential levels contain two-story loft units. Brito, Cohan & Associates of Coral Gables designed the building, which is owned by Kolter Property Co. of Toronto.

The concrete and masonry structure sits on an auger-cast pile and pile cap foundation. The exterior will be stucco with architectural foam and precast concrete.

The downtown location has required quite a bit of logistical planning. Crews work out of a trailer across the street on the site of a planned second tower.

"We're building from property line to property line," Craft said. "We have to schedule everything that shows up to go into the building and be hoisted into place."

He said the interior-core parking garage represents the most challenging aspect of the project. The floors do not match up with the residential floors, necessitating the use of ramps and stairs to reach the elevator lobbies.

Another complicating factor is the number of unique unit types, which are designed to appeal to an upscale clientele. While attractive, the design slows construction progress.

"Fifty-two different types in the building make it hard to coordinate and hard to get production," Craft said. "Trades production usually increases after they do a floor and are used to the layout. When it changes every floor, it makes it extremely difficult."

The Prado

The eight-story, concrete-and-block Prado has a more traditional design, with 304 residential units rising above the parking garage. General contractor Current Builders began construction in February 2003 on the $30 million, 700,000-sq.-ft. project.

"The schedule was aggressive," said John Cline, senior project manager.

As with other downtown projects, there were site constraints.

"It requires a lot of coordination of deliveries and trash removal," said Eric Herlihy, project manager. "The coordination for who needs the crane to off-load the material and during concrete placement days has been a nightmare."

The fifth-floor has an elevated structural pool and amenity deck. Above that the residential units rise in a U shape.

Workers also had to deal with West Palm Beach's requirement to mitigate water intrusion and prevent mold.

"We have to implement a dry-in plan to maintain the integrity of the building envelope, so we ensure that no material that is absorbent or corrosive is in the building until the integrity of the envelope is there," Herlihy said.

Current Builders expects to complete the Prado later this year or early in 2005.

Useful sources:

City of West Palm Beach - http://www.wpb.org/city_main.htm