Prime West Palm Beach Land Sells at Auction

A notable stretch of vacant land in downtown West Palm Beach sold on Wednesday, May 14, at auction. An bidder paid $3.47 million for the parcel of land located at the southeast corner of Banyan Boulevard and Rosemary Avenue. The identity of the buyer has not yet been made public, and a new deed has not yet been recorded.

The prime piece of real estate, which is located behind and to the north of such local hot-spots as Hullabaloo and O’Shea’s, is zoned for residential, commercial, or even hotel use.  In fact, a 296-room hotel called Place Via Clematis was once slated for the location. The luxury condo was marketed for sale during its design stage in 2004, but design challenges and fluctuations in the economy kept the project from going forward.

It remains to be seen what the new buyer will have planned for the highly visible space. Clearly, the downtown area lacks hotel units, with only the Hyatt Place on Lakeview and the Marriott at Okeechobee and Australian offering significant numbers of beds. That problem will be at least somewhat alleviated when the Marriott Residence Inn is completed between Hibiscus and Gardenia off Dixie Highway. The Residence Inn will feature 152 rooms, each with kitchens, and a substantial amount of meeting space. Marriott expects that the hotel will appeal to business travelers, vacation travelers, attorneys engaged in lengthy trials at the courthouse, and families of folks requiring long stays at Good Samaritan Hospital. Completion of the hotel is expected by Thanksgiving of this year.

As downtown West Palm Beach continues to grow, both as a vacation destination and as a business hub, further expansion and development is all but a certainty. So keep your eyes and ears open for further news on the Banyan Street property, and by all means get in touch with us if you’re thinking about making this thriving neighborhood your new home.