After more than three years of construction, One West Palm still a year away from completion
One West Palm was supposed to be a signature development for a growing city, a mixed-use project in the sky featuring tall towers, soaring views and the finest amenities for residents and businesses.
But nearly 3½ years after One West Palm began construction, the apartment, office and hotel project remains unfinished. One tower still is a concrete shell lacking windows.
With no quick completion in sight, residents and real estate experts worry, is the unfinished complex becoming a signature eyesore?
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In an interview last Monday, Jeff Greene, One West Palm's developer, offered reassurances. He said the complex's construction is about to speed up after delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as technical and labor issues.
Greene said windows finally are being installed in the east tower, a move that will allow interior work to begin once the floors are closed up.
But he acknowledged the complex at 550 N. Quadrille Blvd. still will take another year to complete.
Barring any unexpected construction delays, fall 2023 is the targeted completion period, Greene said.
Construction experts aren't so sure.
An opening in late 2023 might be true of the western apartment tower, which has windows and is the subject of interior work. But the east tower's shell condition means completion could stretch into 2024, or beyond, others said.
"It should be 18 months," said Larry Zabik, founder of project management firm Zabik & Associates, which is not working on the project.
Zabik is a project manager on a number of Palm Beach County commercial and residential construction jobs, including Nautilus 220, a twin-tower, 24-story condominium complex being built in Lake Park.
Zabik said once One West Palm's fire safety system is working, Greene will be able to obtain a temporary certificate of occupancy for the portions of the building that are finished.
One West Palm's sluggish pace has left city officials frustrated but without much sway.
As long as work is ongoing, the city can't force the project to move faster, said Rick Greene, the city's development services director. "We'd love to see it finished," he said.
One West Palm's slow progress also is frustrating to residents and businesses that have had to live in the shadow of the unsightly complex at a time when efforts continue to boost the city's image as an appealing destination.
"It's a blemish on all of us. Come on, Jeff. Finish the building," said Andrew Goodman, a resident of the Waterview Tower on South Flagler Drive.
Goodman said his condo's western view faces One West Palm.
Greene pays $10 million for former condo site in West Palm Beach
Greene is a Palm Beach billionaire who went on a land-buying spree in West Palm Beach after the 2007-08 recession.
Since then, he's developed selected sites.
He bought a former car dealership on South Dixie Highway and turned it into The Greene School, a private school for advanced children, ranging in grades from pre-school to ninth grade. He built a luxury apartment complex near The Palm Beach Outlets, and a warehouse complex near Florida's Turnpike.
He also picked up a number of other properties in West Palm Beach, many of them parcels that once were slated for luxury residential condominiums.
A 3.3-acre property at 550 N. Quadrille Blvd. was one such site. In 2014, Greene paid $10 million for the formerly planned 550Q condominiums.
By 2016, Greene had obtained city approval to punch through 10-story height limits on the property, a move that would allow him to build 30-story towers and offer unobstructed water views of the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean.
In exchange for tall towers, Greene agreed to build office space and hotel rooms, which at the time city leaders said were badly needed downtown.
One West Palm is slated to feature 328 apartments in one tower, and 200,000 square feet of office space and a 201-room hotel in another tower. The complex also is expected to feature a number of amenities, including a day care center, a 34,000-square-foot fitness center with a putting green, an upscale restaurant, and indoor and outdoor tennis courts.
Market prompts Greene to pause West Palm Beach tower complex
Even as he planned One West Palm, Greene fretted about the tepid office market. This led him to delay construction.
His concerns were based on downtown West Palm Beach's long history as a move-around market, where tenants for new buildings usually come from old buildings, and not from out of the area.
That trend began to change as the city matured and a 2017 federal tax law change eliminated the ability of people living outside of Florida to deduct state income taxes from their federal returns. Companies in the Northeast began heading for states with no state or local taxes, including Florida.
Construction on the $250 million One West Palm finally began in May 2019, with completion initially expected sometime in the first half of 2021.
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The project kicked off around the same time that a new office building dubbed 360 Rosemary began construction at The Square, the dining, shopping and entertainment district formerly known as CityPlace.
One West Palm's buildings soon created a new landmark on the north side of downtown, away from the high rises of the central business district.
But when the pandemic hit in March 2020 and work-from-home became the norm, Greene got nervous again and he halted One West Palm's construction.
Fearing the office and hotel market were deeply impaired, Greene also sought a zoning change that would let him build apartments where offices and hotel rooms had been planned. But the city wouldn't budge on the zoning change, noting office space was a requirement for One West Palm's extra-tall height.
The city urged Greene to be patient.
The towers remained vacant concrete skeletons until December 2020, when construction revved back up amid a surprising pandemic-inspired migration of companies to Florida from crowded, cold climes in the Northeast.
At that time, Greene predicted the towers would be open by summer 2022. That hasn't happened.
Work moves forward amid shifting pandemic demand for real estate
In a recent interview, Greene said the window installer has had "technical" issues with the east tower job. Interior work can't begin until the building is sealed in with windows.
Other work needs to be done, too.
Greene acknowledged he hasn't yet inked a deal with a hotel operator.
Greene said he's also feeling iffy about the economy even as he plows forward with construction. With the U.S. central bank raising interest rates in a bid to offset inflation, Greene said a recession is possible.
He's also still uncertain about the demand for office space, which he thinks is exaggerated. Compared to demand for office space in Manhattan, "this is a slow-moving city," Greene said.
Meanwhile, just west of One West Palm, the 360 Rosemary office building was finished last year. Tenants, including several financial firms, have moved in.
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That tower's developer, Related Cos., is already is building another office high-rise, One Flagler, near Flagler Drive. This month, The Related Cos. announced plans to build yet another office tower, this one near the Brightline train station on the north side of The Square.
Greene has other West Palm Beach projects he wants to build, too, including residences on land he owns near Currie Park, on the city's north end.
He remains optimistic that One West Palm's amenities and views will allow him to be "competitive in a tough market."
And Greene assured that when finished, One West Palm will be a landmark property sought after by tenants. The views, he said, "are just breathtaking."
Still, he added, "I'll be gratified when it's done."
Alexandra Clough is a business writer at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at aclough@pbpost.com. Twitter: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jeff Greene's One West Palm in WPB a year away from finish line
