Could La Clara condo's builder be eying another waterfront condo in West Palm Beach?

Alexandra Clough, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·4 min read

West Palm Beach's waterfront will not be getting a steel-and-glass fin rising from the edge of the sea after all.

A property once considered for a futuristic apartment complex just sold for $28.5 million to an affiliate of Great Gulf Group of Canada. The real estate development company recently completed the La Clara condominium at 1515 S. Flagler Drive.

Now Great Gulf is the owner of 5400 N. Flagler Drive, home to the 58-year-old old Poinsettia Apartments, according to a deed recorded Feb. 23 in Palm Beach County records.

Could Great Gulf be circling the real-estate waters for another possible condominium?

Company officials were mum, for now.

"We’re keen on the West Palm Beach market and reviewing our options as it relates to the site," spokesperson Amanda Wilson Watkins said on Monday.

Great Gulf was one of the first developers to piggyback on the success of The Bristol ultra-luxury condominium, which opened in 2019 at 1100 S. Flagler Dr.

During the past couple of years, Great Gulf has brought on a new president for its high-rise residential tower division, with plans to grow the business both in Canada and the United States.

With South Flagler Drive out of land for new high-rises, many developers have turned to North Flagler Drive, north of the downtown, for new projects.

Among the condominiums planned or in the works are Olara, Shorecrest and farther north on North Flagler Drive, Alba.

Former futurist plans for the West Palm Beach waterfront land

As recently as 2022, the 2.5-acre Poinsettia Apartments site was being eyed for a different type of housing.

Its former owner, Frisbie Group, envisioned a high-rise rental apartment complex. The Palm Beach-based real estate development firm had purchased the property in 2021 for $24 million.

During a 2022 presentation to the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches, Frisbie Group managing director Robert Frisbie Jr. flashed drawings for a tall and modern apartment building rising about 30 stories.

Touting design by a "world class architect," Frisbie showcased a triangle-shaped building that was wide at the base and narrowed as it rose into the air — and resembled the fin of a spaceship.

A rendering of a futuristic apartment complex once considered for 5400 N. Flagler Dr.
A rendering of a futuristic apartment complex once considered for 5400 N. Flagler Dr.

More: A fin? Space ship? Developer shows off "world class architecture" for affordable housing

The honeycombed-style tower was envisioned to have 400 apartments.

Frisbie stressed that the tower plan, while early in its conception, was intended to help solve the problem of affordable housing for people who live and work in the city.

The idea behind the tower "is not to relegate (affordable housing) to places that people wouldn't consider luxurious," Frisbie said.

But the apartment plan never advanced.

On Tuesday, Frisbie said the company decided to sell the North Flagler Drive property because of other projects "that require our focus."

More: Rooneys strike deal to sell Palm Beach Kennel Club land to developers

An affiliate of Great Gulf Group of Canada in February paid $29 million for the waterview property, which formerly was owned by Frisbie Group of Palm Beach.
An affiliate of Great Gulf Group of Canada in February paid $29 million for the waterview property, which formerly was owned by Frisbie Group of Palm Beach.

The family real estate firm is busy with a number of projects both on Palm Beach and neighboring West Palm Beach.

On the island, Frisbie Group is teaming with Related Cos. of New York to redevelop the landmarked Wells Fargo Bank buildings on South County Road at Royal Palm Way. Developers want to build housing and shops on the 5.8-acre site.

In West Palm Beach, Frisbie Group is seeking city approval for a three-story, mixed-use complex at 319 Belvedere Road. The property now is home to a low-rise strip shopping center.

And in suburban West Palm Beach, Flagler Group last year struck a blockbuster deal to buy the Palm Beach Kennel Club from the Rooney family for an undisclosed price. The site could be turned into a mixed-use complex featuring up to 2,000 housing units, plus garage parking, restaurants and shops. A hotel and a school also are being considered.

The 47.26-acre parcel racetrack property is west of the downtown along Belvedere Road at 1111 N. Congress Ave., on the north side of Palm Beach International Airport. The track is in an unincorporated pocket of Palm Beach County called Westgate.

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Alexandra Clough is a business writer at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at aclough@pbpost.com. X: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Great Gulf pays $29 million for waterfront site in West Palm Beach