Editorial: Word's out and Palm Beach is no longer a well-kept secret

Palm Beach is not Brigadoon, Broadway's fabled island hidden in time and set apart from the changing world. Still, through much of its history, the town has been a small, close-knit community with tight social circles and ritualistic pastimes — a place primarily reserved for insiders. As the 2023-24 Palm Beach season comes to a close, it is clear that a perfect wave of events have aligned to change almost everything about that tradition.

With a former U.S. president using Mar-a-Lago, the town’s most iconic landmark, as grandiose headquarters to publicly cry foul about elections and campaign for a return to power, the tiny island has notoriously caught the attention of the world.

“Palm Royale,” a new 1960s period drama featuring Kristen Wiig, Carol Burnett and Ricky Martin, from Apple TV+, has also piqued global interest.

Missed an episode? Get 'Palm Royale' recaps of the Apple TV+ series set in 1960s Palm Beach

And then of course, there was the phenomenon of northern city dwellers taking flight from pandemic lockdowns and finding year-round refuge on the island. Seasonal homes became family centers, while many businesses, including much of the financial industry, moved here and to West Palm Beach as well.

Predictably, this caused a real estate boom that drove prices of multimillion-dollar homes sky-high in bidding wars. Though real estate activity has tapered a bit, Palm Beach properties routinely list above $50 million now. Tarpon Island and the mansion on it recently went under contract after it was relisted at $187.5 million. And a concept mansion design is currently being floated for a vacant ocean-to-lake parcel of land abutting Sloan’s Curve, priced at $150 million.

Worth Avenue was reportedly 100% leased this season, and many new shops have opened in Midtown and in the Royal Poinciana Way commercial district. Despite heavy downpours during the wettest fall and early winter in recent memory, retailers experienced a banner year.

The island’s tourism, retail and property windfalls have led to traffic and parking woes, however. Seasonal visitors arrived to find hastily changed traffic patterns, a smart-technology traffic-light system being tested and unprecedented requests to the Coast Guard from town officials for reduced bridge openings during peak hours. The town also instituted a new parking-sticker system designed to give island residents some relief. All of these were mitigating measures taken while a comprehensive traffic and parking study was underway.

Town officials had hoped the year-long study would be completed in February, but sent it back for revisions when they realized that key issues had not been addressed and surrounding growth was already outstripping its viability.

Another boom effect has been increased redevelopment and renovation applications. As with traffic, town officials realized earlier that its decades-old and often contradictory zoning ordinances needed a comprehensive overhaul. Town officials have been loath to move ahead with requests for large redevelopment projects until the new codes are in place. Patience on the part of property owners and developers has been required, but not always exhibited.

The need for clearer regulation and oversight of development was demonstrated last summer when residents were shocked by the near-total demolition of the landmarked Royal Poinciana Playhouse. Though the contractor claimed the condition of the building was such that a drastic tear-down was necessary, miscommunication between the developer and the Landmarks Preservation Commission turned out to be a key issue with the discontent.

Fortunately, as this season draws to a close, progress on rebuilding the Playhouse is on track for tenants to move in this fall, and Palm Beachers will soon be able to enjoy a cultural asset that has long been empty and derelict.

With all of this growth and change taking place, some residents are calling for a clampdown on permits and ideas to reduce access by the surrounding population. This has been an underlying sentiment on the island for years. Redevelopment has historically met with some opposition on the island, and even the town’s own projects, such as the Mandel Recreation Center, the Par 3 Golf Course and the expanded Town Marina, had their detractors.

But once completed, those facilities have been embraced by the community. The Par 3 Golf course keeps breaking its previous records, with 55,481 rounds of golf played in 2023 and revenues topping $5.09 million. Likewise, the recreation center offered more than 200 programs with a high level of participation.

Local hotel and restaurant renovations also were often met with opposition by residents anticipating increased traffic and parking issues. But once completed, they have proved to be popular patrons, attracted an influx of celebrity chefs and sommeliers, and enhanced the diversity of experiences available to full-time and seasonal residents.

Everyone knows that change is unavoidable. Sometimes it can be disconcerting, especially when too much happens too quickly. Given all of the positives and negatives of this last season, perhaps the lesson for officials and other residents to take home is that to embrace change, one must manage it effectively. With the wealth of talent and expertise in this community — on the town’s appointed boards and the elected Town Council — we are increasingly confident that Palm Beach is responding well to these unprecedented challenges. And we hope that will continue for many seasons to come.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Editorial: Palm Beach is not a well-kept secret anymore