Three West Palm Beach real estate deals head to court, and a price cut in Palm Beach

Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post
·3 min read
A rendering of Transit Village, a mixed-use development with nearly 1,000 residential units, which is planned for the western edge of downtown West Palm Beach.
A rendering of Transit Village, a mixed-use development with nearly 1,000 residential units, which is planned for the western edge of downtown West Palm Beach.

Welcome to The Dirt! I’m real estate reporter Kimberly Miller with the latest developments in the sizzling market.

It was lawsuits galore last week in the Palm Beach County real estate world with wealthy business people doing what wealthy business people do when there's a disagreement ― hire attorneys.

Actually, not everyone is supercalifragilistic rich in the swirl of lawsuit news. The owners of the Kitchen restaurant live in a normal house in a middle- to upper-income area of West Palm Beach and just want to keep their restaurant where it's been for the past 10 years.

Developers have other ideas.

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The long-planned Transit Village is battling to break ground to offer some affordable housing and traffic relief to downtown West Palm Beach.

And the owners of The Square (I hope they know everyone still calls it CityPlace) are scrapping with tenant L.A. Fitness about what defines a place where people go to sweat and burn off calories so they can eat and drink more at El Camino's happy hour. It's hard to beat $3 tacos and $6 margaritas.

Let them eat coconut cake! (at the Kitchen)

Aliza Byrne and Chef Matthew Byrne own and operate Kitchen restaurant in West Palm Beach. [Photo by LILA PHOTO]
Aliza Byrne and Chef Matthew Byrne own and operate Kitchen restaurant in West Palm Beach. [Photo by LILA PHOTO]

Gentrification has been a big part of the story in West Palm Beach post-pandemic and that goes for residential and commercial real estate. The Kitchen, which opened a decade ago in an aging plaza south of downtown, wants to keep its anchor location at 319 Belvedere Road, but Frisbie Group wants to raze the plaza to build a mixed-use development.

The spot is a prime area for development as the entrance to the El Cid Historic District, across from the Hotel Biba, which is getting a major upgrade, and near a Joseph's Classic Market, Starbucks, Pink Steak and an Advance Auto Parts (one of these things is not like the others). 🚘

Is a gym by any other name still a gym?

Construction continues on Related Companies' The Laurel, a new apartment building in The Square on March 7, 2024, in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla.
Construction continues on Related Companies' The Laurel, a new apartment building in The Square on March 7, 2024, in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla.

When L.A. Fitness opened at The Square (CityPlace) it planned ahead to have the monopoly on fitness centers in the development, making sure its lease spelled out that it would be the one and only fitness center available.

So, when new Class A office space and apartments started springing up with their own rooms that had torture fitness equipment, L.A. Fitness cried foul and....filed a lawsuit. Now the very top executive billionaires at Related Cos. of New York are embroiled in legal action about whether their "building amenities" are really fitness centers in disguise.

Long-planned Transit Village in West Palm Beach hits another snag

A rendering of Transit Village, a mixed-use development with nearly 1,000 residential units, which is planned for the western edge of downtown West Palm Beach.
A rendering of Transit Village, a mixed-use development with nearly 1,000 residential units, which is planned for the western edge of downtown West Palm Beach.

Transit Village, which would bring nearly 1,000 apartments, a 275-space parking garage, a hotel, offices and restaurants to downtown West Palm Beach is a 12-year-dream that is struggling to come to fruition.

In its latest speedbump, outlined in a lawsuit filed last month, it alleges Palm Beach County went back on its agreement to sell land to the Village for $3.6 million. Now, the suit says, the county wants a whopping $35 million for the land. Twelve years ago, maybe the land was worth just $3.6 million, but now? Well, a judge will sort out whether a $3.6 million deal is a deal.

Not a lawsuit, but a markdown in Palm Beach

At 584 Island Drive in Palm Beach, a just-completed lakefront house on the east side of Everglades Island has entered the market at $39.999 million.
At 584 Island Drive in Palm Beach, a just-completed lakefront house on the east side of Everglades Island has entered the market at $39.999 million.

Breaking news! There's been another (gasp) price cut in Palm Beach and this one's on the toniest of tony Everglades Island on a brand new house in the Estate Section. Quelle horreur! But before the garment rending and teeth gnashing begin, there's a perfectly good explanation for the teeny $5.5 million price reduction.

The owners, whose identity is super secret, bought another house on the island and are ready to sell the Everglades Island estate at the discounted price of $34.5 million. Nothing to see here folks, the price cut is good strategery, Realtors said.

Live lightly.

Kimberly Miller is a veteran journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate and how growth affects South Florida's environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County real estate deals head to court and price cut in Palm Beach