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Not so long ago, the Intracoastal was the Berlin Wall. On the island side, charity luncheons in mega-villas flashed with Tory Burch and tennis bracelets.
And on the mainland, West Palm was known largely for its dog track. Then, mega-developer Related Ross came and tore down that wall. The developer is behind a massive redevelopment of West Palm that includes the construction of homes so luxurious they’re luring persnickety island buyers across the water.
For now, the action is concentrated on South Flagler Drive.
“When we broke ground on South Flagler House, no one had tested whether an entire building could be absorbed at this price point in the West Palm Beach market,” says Bryan Cho, executive vice president, Related Ross, of their 105-unit, 28-story towers designed by Robert A.M. Stern at 1355 S. Flagler Drive. “What we’ve learned is that buyers respond to quality … and we’re on pace to sell out before we open early next year.”
But act quickly and you can still nab the south tower’s duplex penthouse, on the market asking $70 million with Suzanne Frisbie of the Corcoran Group.
Spanning the 27th and 28th floors, it has seven bedrooms and eight full baths spread over 13,904 square feet, with nearly 2,000 additional square feet outdoors.
Three miles down the coast, at 6315 S. Flagler Drive, a newly built modern mega-villa is ready for those who don’t need to live above it all and can’t stomach the $100-million-plus asks across the Intracoastal.
“People are leaving the island to come to West Palm Beach looking for similar estate-style homes at a much lower per-square-foot price,” says Hilary Musser, star of Netflix’s “Members Only: Palm Beach” and developer of the seven-bed, nine-full-bath home. She’s selling it alongside Douglas Elliman superstar Fredrik Eklund for $42.5 million.
“At South Flagler, they’re getting upward of $6,000 a square foot. I’m running at $3,100 a foot, making my $42.5 million look like a bargain,” she says. Located directly on the water with a dock that can handle a 90-foot yacht, it’s 13,370 square feet of “full-blown luxury” inside, Musser says, with a private cinema, fine art and furnishings by Poltrona Frau.
Musser also handled the home’s interior design. “I think that there’s a lot of upside to West Palm over Palm Beach,” she says. “For instance, if you live in the estate section of Palm Beach south of Mar-a-Lago, you can’t drive north when Trump is in town. You have to cross the bridge, and then turn around and go back. It’s sort of ridiculous. From this location, it’s actually much faster to get to Worth Avenue.”
Steps down the street is 6709 S. Flagler Drive, a traditional mansion that hit the market after a meticulous redesign last year by Caroline Rafferty Interiors.
With 120 feet of water frontage, the five-bedroom, five-full-bathroom home has 6,706 square feet, a pool, a garden and, most importantly, a private dock.
It’s asking $19.95 million with Brown Harris Stevens’ Whitney McGurk and Liza Pulitzer. That’s roughly a decimal place less than what a home could cost half a mile across the waterway.