Developers are considering investing more than $10 million in a vacant building in downtown West Palm Beach after the investors plan to buy the property, at 314 Clematis St., outright over five years for another $7.6 million, according to city documents.
The West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Authority purchased the building for $7.5 million in 2019. After a previous deal to buy the property fell through, Brand Atlantic Real Estate Partners and Blue Water Advisors LP plan to renovate it into a restaurant/bar with a second-floor terrace.
The Palm Beach and Boca Raton-based developers, records show, plan to equip the space with ping pong tables, golf simulators, a bowling alley, an arcade and tables, details of which were revealed in a presentation to the city of West Palm Beach earlier this month.
“Downtown West Palm Beach is very much a resort environment,” says Andrew Dance, managing partner at Brand Atlantic. “It feels like you have free reign. Mom and Dad can have dinner at Linola’s, but there aren’t a lot of opportunities or activities for the kids right now.”
He argues the proposal would allow kids to have fun without having to use fake IDs.
As WPTV previously reported, a nonprofit dedicated to developing small businesses attempted to purchase the building for $10 million in 2022. Though it won the bidding process, the purchase fell through and was never completed.
After the deal fell through, the city contacted Brand Atlantic about a proposal for the building, but Brand Atlantic argued that the proposal was invalid given the construction and financing costs. The city has been trying to sell the building for more than a year.
West Palm Beach Commissioner Christy Fox expressed frustration at not being able to turn the property over to a developer during a July 2023 construction meeting.
“This feels like a third time through this process,” Fox said. “Many of the options we’re discussing are the same ones we already considered twice last year.”
The property at 314 Clematis Street is one of the few vacant properties in the area, and it’s dilapidated, with holes in the walls and ceilings, peeling paint, and is home to people experiencing homelessness.
The Amir Amid Holocaust Museum also applied to renovate the building, but city officials said it did not meet the requirements.
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