The Dirt: Thunderdome in West Palm suburbia, and Fox News' Bret Baier moves up in the world

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

The Dirt has empathy for the Banyan Cay Resort & Club. The West Palm Beach development is like the awkward middle-schooler at the roller-skating rink who really wants to get picked for a couples skate but is stuck with her unicorn shirt in the video game room playing Galaga (not that The Dirt has any personal experience with that). 🦄

A deal to sell Banyan Cay and end its pain and suffering fell through late last month when the date to cough up the $102.1 million to buy it came and went.

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But other real estate deals are still pushing through this hotter-than-the-surface-of-the-sun summer including celebrity purchases by former Dolphins football coach Nick Saban and Fox News host Bret Baier. Speaking of celebrities, if anyone has the 411 on Lionel Messi's home search please fill me in.

And there was some blockbuster breaking news from Alexandra Clough last week about the Boynton Beach Mall being up for sale. Yes, other news outlets may follow her, but she got the scoop on what may be next for the dying museum to when we went to stores in person to buy things.

Also, long-time Palm Beachers Richard and Ellen Rampell sold their island home for a whopping 5,500% increase in price, and a community is at war in West Palm Beach with neighbors acting like it's Thunderdome in suburbia.

Banyan Cay Resort & Club is the everlasting gobstopper of real estate projects

The Dirt had prophesized (hoped for) the end of the Banyan Cay Resort & Club drama when an investment company said it planned to buy the whole shebang as part of the resort's bankruptcy reorganization. Company execs sweet-talked the deal, cozying all up to the resort and what not.

But, nope, it didn't happen. Like a bride left at the altar, Westside Property Investment Company broke up with Banyan Cay just hours before a key hearing. Lead business reporter Alexandra Clough has all the sordid details.

Nick Saban buys art-deco home on Jupiter Island

Miami Dolphins fans are still not over the 2005-2006 football fiasco when Nick Saban wasn't going to Alabama. Not at all. Definitely not. Maybe? OK, yes. But, that was nearly two decades ago and can't we all just get over it already?

Anyway, Saban bought a home on Jupiter Island where lots of celebs have passed through or put down roots. It's a beachfront manse with art deco flair, which doesn't seem very footbally, but not judging. Not at all. Definitely not.

Bret Baier buys estate on Palm Beach Island

In keeping with the theme of celebrities buying on islands, Bret Baier of Fox News fame bought a $37 million home in Palm Beach. It was only $37 million because it's three homes away from the beach and on the same street as a — gasp! — public beach entrance at Wells Road. Although that public entrance is locked sunset to sunrise there is still some X-rated tomfoolery happening over there.

Look folks, Palm Beachers have cameras that can see at night. Don't think you're hiding anything in the dark. Just keep your clothes on, for Bret's sake. 🩲👙😮

West Palm Beach community ready to rumble over historic status

A fight has been brewing for a while in Northwood Shores, which was once known as Mangonia because this guy came from Kansas and planted a lot of mango trees in South Florida before air conditioning. Everything was going along just peachy until the pandemic hit and everyone decided to move to South Florida.

Now, the community has to decide if it wants to become a historic district to mitigate rampant growth or continue status quo and allow for properties to be razed and redeveloped. It's a nail biter for sure.

Boynton Beach Mall on its farewell tour

Everyone knew it was coming. The Boynton Beach Mall hit middle-age, if middle-age is still considered 40. I heard 70 was the new middle-age, but aside from all that, the aging mall is up for sale and it's likely going to be razed for housing. Too much asphalt, too few shoppers, and, let's face it, malls are so 1980s. Sigh, I, like, so totally miss the 1980s.

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: West Palm Beach community at odds over historic status and bret baier on Palm Beach