Shiny. Modern. Massive.
These words describe the twin, 30-story towers billionaire Jeff Greene plans to build on land he owns in downtown West Palm Beach. Twin-tower, 30-story complex planned by billionaire Jeff Greene for West Palm Beach. One tower is office and the other is hotel/condo.
The property, at 550 Quadrille Blvd., is slated to be an office/hotel/condo complex that would total 829,000 square feet. Architectural plans for the project were submitted to the city on Wednesday. One tower would consist of 410,000 square feet of Class A office space. The other tower would consist of 419,000 square feet. A 200-room hotel, with about 96,000 square feet would take up part of the tower. The rest would be for 84 residences.
Developers, city leaders and businesses all have been crying for months that downtown West Palm Beach needs new, modern office space, and Greene, the Palm Beach investor, has pledged to build it.
Harvey Oyer, the West Palm Beach attorney hired by Greene to shepherd the project through city hall, said the plan’s submittal signaled Greene’s commitment to getting the project done. “It’s a massive and expensive undertaking to get this package together,” Oyer said.
Oyer said Greene was well aware that the city is in need of new Class A office space. The last new office building completed was CityPlace Tower, and that was in 2008.
For Greene, height is important for his West Palm Beach project: “At that height, you still get some (water) views,” he has said.
Planned amenities include a health club, a restaurant, and outdoor and indoor tennis courts. In addition, a living wall, featuring plants growing along the exterior of the building, also is highlighted, according to the drawings.
Oyer said the next step is working with city staff to fine tune technical elements of the project. After that, the drawings will go before the city’s Downtown Action Committee for approval.
In addition to Greene, other developers are starting to express interest in building new Class A office space downtown. The Related Cos., for instance, is working to assemble land around its existing CityPlace mixed-use center for a new office tower.
Related had planned to build a tower on land it owns in the median of Okeechobee Boulevard, known as the “triangle” site, but canceled the plan due to difficulty leasing the space. Related now plans a Restoration Hardware furniture gallery on the site. But in recent months, as the economy has continued to grow, and more companies seek out Florida for its low taxes and inviting business climate, Related’s interest in building an office tower has been revived.
Source: Palm Beach Post
