Ultra-luxury Palm Beach condo in the works for site of The Ambassador hotel on South End

An ultra-luxury condominium development could rise in the South End of Palm Beach on property now occupied by the oceanfront Ambassador hotel and an adjacent building on the Intracoastal Waterway, an attorney representing the owner has confirmed for the Palm Beach Daily News.

Plans are still in the early stages, but if the mid-rise project is built in the 2700 block of South Ocean Boulevard, the development would be first new South End condo in more than 15 years.

The property’s owner — a Miami-based company affiliated with super-high-end resort owner Aman — has asked the Town Council to informally review a proposal to revise parts of the zoning code that govern what could be built on the 4½-acre property, land-use attorney Harvey Oyer said Monday.

Those revisions would allow the condo project to proceed without a surge of requests for zoning-code variances, Oyer said, adding that it’s possible some variances might still be needed, once the development plans are firmed up.

The site is about a half-mile north of the Lake Worth Beach Pier on the stretch of South Ocean Boulevard dubbed by locals as Condominium Row, thanks to the many multifamily buildings there.

On Feb. 14, the council is expected to hear a presentation about the zoning change request during its monthly Development Review meeting. Council members will not cast any vote during the “review and feedback” session listed on the meeting agenda.

But the proposed zoning change has already riled the leadership of The 2770, a beachfront condo building next door to The Ambassador. The board of directors at 2770 S. Ocean Blvd. has written and circulated a letter to its residents opposing the zoning proposal.

“Simply put, (The Ambassador’s ownership wants) to have the zoning ordinance amended, which will affect the entire town, in order to achieve their individual needs. In our view, this would be a very bad future outcome for the South End of Palm Beach,” the board’s letter said.

Details about proposed condo are still being developed

Details about exactly what the condo development being considered for 2720 and 2730 S. Ocean Blvd. would look like have not been set in stone.

“We haven’t fully developed the project,” Oyer said.

But the condo, he added, would be a “higher-value, lower-density and lower-intensity development” with larger residential units “than what is there today.” The project would include an underground parking garage, which would allow much of the existing hardscape to be removed and the area planted with green space, he said.

The existing hotel use also would be eliminated, he said.

The number of stories in the oceanfront building would drop from the current seven stories to five, Oyer said. The new version of the lakefront structure would have five stories rather than the existing three.

The town is already working on a plan to overhaul and update its zoning code, which is nearly 50 years old. But that process won’t be completed until at least the fall, officials have said.

A joint venture between Aman developer and owner Vlad Doronin’s OKO Group of Miami and London-based Cain International paid a recorded $147.6 million for The Ambassador and the building on the other side of the coastal road in October 2022.

Doronin founded OKO Group and owns the Aman brand, according to the website. There are Aman-branded properties worldwide, which are described on OKO Group's website as “a distinguished collection of resorts, hotels and private residences.”

The condo project in Palm Beach, however, would not be affiliated with the Aman brand, according to a spokesman for the project.

Proposed zoning text change would allow rooftop decks in some cases

Wednesday’s presentation will focus on the merits of a proposed “text amendment” to the zoning code governing the “high-density” zoning district that includes The Ambassador and the lakefront building. Some of the affected items would be front-yard setbacks, balconies, underground garages and the amount of lot coverage allowed.

The amendment also would allow rooftop decks and amenities under certain conditions.

Oyer said Monday the changes also would make the code far better suited for building modern condos with state-of-the-art architecture and features.

“The (current) code provides no flexibility for creative design,” he said. “You are given a box and you have to build with that box” unless the Town Council grants requests for code variances.

The easternmost parcel consists of The Ambassador Hotel & Residences, which has 97 units. The development was built in 1947 but expanded in the 1960s. On the lakefront is the 36-unit former co-operative building.

Oyer said the text amendment would accommodate and encourage better-quality redevelopment along other parts of the town’s beachfront in light of new state rules governing the condition and maintenance of aging condo and co-operative buildings.

“Part of our reason (in proposing the text amendment) was to codify what Aman is doing for the benefit of posterity,” he said.

He also said representatives of the owner had met with residents of the three condo buildings that border the property — including The 2770 condo — and one consensus among them was a desire to no longer have a hotel next door.

Board at condo next door opposes change to Palm Beach’s zoning code

Although it opposes the zoning change, the board of The 2770 building — which stands immediately south of The Ambassador — is not necessarily against a high-end condo next door. Such a project could be “a favorable resolution to the uncertainty surrounding the fate of these properties,” said the Feb. 8 letter, which was provided to the Palm Beach Daily News by board vice president Clay Lifflander.

But the letter strongly opposed the proposed text amendment, citing, in part, concerns about opening a door to higher density, increased traffic and rooftop decks.

The letter urged residents “concerned about allowing this one project to rewrite our zoning laws” to contact members of the Town Council or attend Wednesday’s meeting about the proposal.

Oyer stressed that the property’s ownership is “trying very hard to work with the neighbors and to deliver a use and buildings that are additive to the neighborhood.”

A message left for a spokeswoman at OKO Group was not immediately returned.

The last Palm Beach condo to be built on the South End was Bellaria, completed in 2006 at 3000 S. Ocean Blvd.

In January, the Town Council held a similar workshop to informally review preliminary plans for an extensive residential redevelopment project proposed by Frisbie Group and Related Cos. for nearly 6 acres in Midtown that are home, in part, to a collection of landmarked Wells Fargo Bank buildings on South County Road and Royal Palm Way. In that case, the developers asked the council to consider designating the site a “planned unit development” — a zoning tool that outlines what could be developed on the site by defining more specific uses than traditional zoning rules.

Wednesday’s meeting begins in Town Council Chambers at Town Hall at 9:30 a.m. But the zoning amendment will be discussed immediately following a different agenda item scheduled for 11:30 a.m., the town has announced.

dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com

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Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Ultra-luxury condo in discussion for site on South End of Palm Beach