Palm Beach 2023-2024 Season Preview: Here's what's on tap in the coming months
With the busy fall and winter season dawning in Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Daily News' exclusive "Season Preview" story package offers the scoop on what to expect on the island in the coming months — and a recap of what happened during the off-season summer months. Here's the rundown of stories.
Higher real estate prices are likely here to stay, agents say
As Palm Beach real estate agents and brokers prepare for the winter season, they appear to be resting easier with the notion that home prices generally have reached highs that won’t drop anytime soon, barring any unforeseen shake-up in the market.
To be sure, the days of the frenzied price escalation that accompanied the coronavirus pandemic sales boom of 2021 and 2022 — when a Palm Beach home’s value could sometime double within six or nine months — are over, agreed several real estate professionals who spoke to the Palm Beach Daily News.
But a key effect of the boom lingers: Asking and closing prices have settled into a range far higher than before the pandemic began tightening its grip on the island in the spring of 2020.
Town to tackle traffic, parking, code reform, water quality
The Town Council expects to tackle a number of pressing issues as the winter season gets underway on the island.
With concerns mounting over traffic congestion, parking scarcity, code reform and water quality, council members have planned an aggressive agenda for the coming months.
In addition, discussions will continue about modifications to the approval process for redevelopment projects that involve landmarked buildings. Earlier this year, both the Royal Poinciana Playhouse and North Fire Station underwent more extensive demolition than had been anticipated, prompting a public outcry, particularly over the theater.
Column: Blame the town's growing pains on the guy in the bronze suit
Blame it on Henry.
If only his newly discovered tropical paradise and his much-younger third wife had been enough for him — as it is for so many other Mr. Moneybags who have come after — Henry Flagler might have kept this hidden Eden to himself and nobody else would ever have known about it.
But no.
Wifey needed friends to keep her occupied while Henry was doing heaven knows what, so people came.
What off-season? A look at the biggest real estate sales of the summer
Palm Beach saw a summer marked by sizable sales, with eight single-family houses selling for $30 million or more since May 1. In the third-quarter alone, 66 percent of all single-family sales in town closed at prices above $30 million, according a new report issued by the Corcoran Group’s Frisbie Real Estate team, headed by agent Suzanne Frisbie.
Here’s a look at all the deals since May Day that hit at least $30 million, along with the biggest condo and commercial sales.
Robert Matthews granted delay to enter prison in Palm House fraud case
After he cited upcoming medical appointments, former Palm Beach hotel developer Robert “Bob” V. Matthews has been granted a delay to report to federal prison by the same Connecticut judge who in July sentenced him to more than five years in prison for fraud, money laundering and tax-evasion.
Much of the criminal case centered on Matthews’ role as the de facto former owner of the never-completed Palm House hotel renovation project at 160 Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach. The case involved the illegal transfer of funds between bank accounts in Florida and Connecticut, where he had residences.
In Memoriam: The Palm Beachers who left us this off-season
Robert Eigelberger, a 45-year resident and first winner of the Ballinger Award, died July 26.
After a winter vacation to Palm Beach in 1978, he fell in love with the what he called the town's "tropical cosmopolitan" vibe and, more importantly, the plethora of aging Mizner homes crying out for some Eigelberger TLC.
He moved his family permanently to Palm Beach in 1978, and got started. His first two projects, the mansion-to-condo refiguring of Warden House at Root Trail and North Ocean Boulevard, and Bienestar, a block south on Grace Trail, won the inaugural Ballinger Award from the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach for outstanding historic restoration.
A look ahead at the Palm Beach arts and culture season
Palm Beach may be a small town, but it’s big on culture.
The coming season’s arts offerings reflect the abundance of opportunities on and within a short driving distance of the island, with exciting lineups of exhibitions, performances and more.
Here’s a look at what patrons of the arts can expect for the coming year.
Worth Avenue, Royal Poinciana Plaza, other retailers expecting a 'very strong season'
With residents returning from Europe and other destinations and tourists from around the globe descending on the island, Palm Beach retailers from Worth Avenue to South County Road and The Royal Poinciana Plaza say they are looking forward to a stellar season they expect to be one of the busiest ever.
“The island is crazy. You can already start feeling the energy that is coming into the island. It is going to be a very strong season. They say when you see the auto carriers, they are here,” said Frank Steinhart, president of the Worth Avenue Association.
Wine dinners, new menu items, events this season at Palm Beach eateries
Wine dinners, afternoon tea services, tasting events and new menu items are among the fare set for this season at Palm Beach’s restaurants.
“This is always an exciting time of year as we look ahead to a new season,” Trevini Ristorante co-owner Gianni Minervini told the Daily News. “Every new season feels like it will be better than the last.”
Palm Beach hotels and resorts ready for season with new looks, amenities
Redesigned interior spaces and new amenities are gilding the start of a new season at Palm Beach’s resorts and hotels.
Among them, an interior-design transformation at The Breakers is poised for completion at the Flagler Club, a private-access boutique hotel on the top levels of the resort’s main historic building.
The club’s new look encompasses a full-scale renovation by esteemed New York-based Tihany Design, a Breakers partner for more than a decade.
Editorial: It's the season and more changes are brewing for Palm Beach
Welcome to season!
This town tradition that began with Henry Flagler has taken on a life of its own, and makes this island a unique place to live and visit.
But, as has as happened periodically in the past, the town now is faced with changing times that we think can be captured with three words — preservation, progress, problems. The word one chooses mostly depends on how one views the changes.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach Season Preview 2023-2024
