The Dirt: Sean Hannity cozies up to Florida where he says people like him, or at least don't hate him

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

South Florida is a friendly place full of friendly folk who always pick up their dog poop, use their indicator lights to make a turn, and say good morning when they pass each other on the street with heads high and smiles broad. Right? Not really. None of our cars have working indicators, apparently, and everyone's face is buried in their phone! There I said it.

And it's all true, unless you are Sean Hannity. The conservative FOX News host announced earlier this month that he has moved to Florida and people are nice to him here. This is apparently a new sensation for Hannity, who owns a townhome in Palm Beach.

Well, The Dirt welcomes you to the Sunshine State Mr. Hannity! Please use your blinker.

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Readers will be shocked to learn of another new housing development going up along the shores of the Lake Worth Lagoon in West Palm Beach. This is a boon to the lagoon (no rhyme intended) in my mind because rich people don't want toxic blue-green algae floating by their multi million-dollar condos. That means clean-up efforts in the waterway may actually stick this time.

There's also a teeny bit of controversy in West Palm Beach's acclaimed SoSo community, and termites — now deceased — at the Gulfstream Hotel in Lake Worth Beach. Martha Stewart is also in the house! Or at least spotted around town. Is a Martha Stewart spotting as popular as a Guy Fieri spotting? Hey, it's no competition folks.

Is Taylor Swift more popular than West Palm Beach waterfront? Yes, but...

Taylor Swift is probably more popular than waterfront property in West Palm Beach but you wouldn't know it if you asked a real estate developer. There is a lot of doubling down (tripling down?) going on in their frenzy to build along the Intracoastal Waterway in the burgeoning Wall Street South. The newest plan comes from Savanna Fund of New York, which wants to build two 16-story towers on North Flagler Drive.

Lead business writer Alexandra Clough reports that Savanna controls about eight acres in West Palm Beach. That's quite a bounty in an area that could use a little spit shine.

Is there trouble in SoSo land?

An eight-story apartment complex planned for vacant land in the popular South of Southern Boulevard community in West Palm Beach is being heralded as a game-changer for the south end with retail stores, workforce housing and a public walkway along the C-51 canal. There may even still be the potential for a long awaited boutique grocery store, but, shhhh, don't tell anyone.

As noted by the West Palm Beach Planning Board, the project has overwhelming support, but not total support. Some community members are concerned about the building height, increased traffic and whether there will be a fee to use the kayak launch into the canal. (I made that last one up, but you get the picture, the usual concerns).

Work starts at the Gulfstream Hotel with a termite treatment

Residents of Lake Worth Beach are so eager to see their historic Gulfstream Hotel restored that a rollaway trash dumpster seen outside the 99-year-old building was something to celebrate. There was more to it than that though. The restoration firm tented the building for termites, which have eating like ancient Romans at a Sizzler steakhouse for nearly 20 years.

The soon-to-be owners are waiting on an $11 million grant from the state of Florida to start the full renovation. A check is expected any day now.

Small town with 9 homes that sold for $40 million or more in 2023

Ho-hum, another year has flown by in this tiny seaside town with a smattering of homes selling for $40 million or more. No surprise it's Palm Beach, where the record-breaker last year was the secretive near $170 million deal brokered at 589 N. County Road.

Estée Lauder cosmetics billionaire William P. Lauder was no slouch either, buying the late Rush Limbaugh estate for $155 million, and then knocking it down! Fashion designer Tom Ford was also the buyer of a historically landmarked house for a reported $100 million. At the low end of the luxury housing spectrum, Tommy Hilfiger, also a fashion designer, sold a home in May for a measly $41.3 million. Get with the program Tommy, yeesh.

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: Fox's Sean Hannity buys in Florida plus West Palm real estate news