How Tequesta is growing: One condominium tower nearly done on beachfront; two more may follow

TEQUESTA — The skyline along Tequesta’s beachfront is changing, and the construction of the 10-story SeaGlass complex near Coral Cove Park is only one part of it.

The next changes will occur closer to Cato’s Bridge, where developers are planning to build new luxury condominiums on the site of two older buildings.

Two Miami-area developers this summer acquired the Regency condominiums at 250 Beach Road for about $100 million. They have informed the village that they want to build 34 residences at the site, all with more spacious floor plans than the 40 there now.

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The Tequesta village council on Oct. 13 approved plans for a similar transformation just to the north at the Island House building at 300 Beach Road, where the same team is set to build The Savoy Jupiter Island, a 10-story building with 26 condo units.

The existing Island House Southeast building has 27 condos.

Those developers, Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Development and Perko Development, also are partners in the SeaGlass and Savoy Residences on Beach Road, immediately north of the Regency site.

As its name suggests, Soffer’s firm also owns one of South Florida’s signature hotel properties, the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Resort.

The Regency, Savoy and SeaGlass buyouts are indicative of a larger culture shift in the area, as luxury developers look for places to land in a rapidly growing Palm Beach County: a step toward replacing existing older structures with newer, more marketable ones.

According to former Tequesta Mayor Abby Brennan, the buildings at 300 and 250 Beach Road are outdated. And rent doesn’t currently reflect the skyrocketing property values of the beachfront properties. The goal in these projects is to make the building quality match the property value.

“It is such a welcomed change, in my opinion,” Brennan said. “The two buildings [will be] in the same place where other buildings were already. I believe that they’re higher, but still within code.”

SeaGlass spans two parcels which once were home to the Blowing Rock Club condominiums and a residence owned by the Roman Catholic Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. When work began in 2019, SeaGlass’ 21 residences each were expected for prices near $5 million.

Most existing buildings along Tequesta's beachfront date to 1960s

Prior to approving these acquisitions, the Village Council held a workshop with residents of the Beach Road Corridor and the Village to hear their concerns and ideas on June 29.

This mile-long strip of South Beach Road is evolving and experiencing redevelopment, according to the village’s recap of the workshop. Of the 12 condo buildings along this corridor, only one was built as late as the 1990s. The other 11 are older, dating to the 1960s.

While the village said SeaGlass is nearly complete, it’s unclear how quickly change will come to the other sites along Tequesta’s beachfront.

The Savoy at 300 South Beach Road only needs a building permit to proceed, Village Manager Jeremy Allen said.

The developers only have made a conceptual presentation on their plans for the Regency site at 250 South Beach Road. They are working with the Jupiter consulting firm 2GHO on the project.

“I find (the developers) to be very receptive to what council is saying,” Brennan said. “I think that’s what we have had in Tequesta. Responsible developers, who will come into council with a conceptual design and then listen to what council has to say…I find that exceptional, quite frankly, because that’s not the way it is in every community.”

Tequesta’s Development Review and Planning and Zoning committees would need to approve the work before it would reach the village council for site plan approval, Allen said. “This process has not been initiated.”

Lianna Norman covers northern Palm Beach County for the Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media @LiannaNorman on Twitter. Support The Post's local journalism: Subscribe today!

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tequesta's beachront: Two luxury condominium buildings planned