Condo supply dwindling in West Palm Beach

Only about 115 downtown West Palm Beach condominiums built during the housing boom remain unsold, according to a report from the CondoVultures.com consulting firm.

From 2003 through the third quarter of 2013, more than 3,310 units have traded hands for nearly $1.27 billion, CondoVultures said. The firm includes the island of Palm Beach in the downtown West Palm Beach market.

The dwindling supply is why builders are launching a handful of projects in the area. Still, developers have been slow to embrace the market because demand from international buyers isn't as strong as in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, says Peter Zalewski, principal at CondoVultures.

Realty adds seven agents in Palm Beach

Luxury real estate powerhouse Brown Harris Stevens has added seven agents to its Worth Avenue office, doubling the size after less than a year.

The agents are: Sabra Kirkpatrick, Ben Stein, Christopher Dooney, Stuart Reid, Kim Waters, Clay Hyslop and Harold Paull.
Brown Harris Stevens, founded in 1873, also has an office on Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach.

Firm to market Fort Lauderdale condos internationally

Peggi Olin Fucci is about to hit the road.

Fucci, chief executive of One World Properties, has scheduled a series of workshops during the next six months promoting the Fort Lauderdale condominium market to international buyers. Fucci will meet with brokers and buyers in Sao Paola, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Stockholm, Moscow and other locales.

Fucci said her goal is to tout the revival of the Fort Lauderdale beach and show buyers how much less expensive it is to buy there than in Miami.

For instance, condo-hotel units at the new Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach Residences are selling for about $850 a square foot – roughly half the price in Miami. "That's a big value difference," Fucci said.

One World is heading sales and marketing at the Conrad, formerly the Trump International Hotel and Tower. A group that owns the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort recently paid $115 million for the former Trump property at 551 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard.

Fucci's firm also will market and sell the Paramount Fort Lauderdale Beach – the site of the former Howard Johnson's. Prices in the 94-unit luxury condo start at $1 million.
Plantation building wins TOBY award




The Balfour Beatty Center in Plantation won The Outstanding Building of the Year award from the Building Owners and Managers Association of Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beaches.

The 80,000-square-foot Balfour Beatty was recognized in the under-100,000-square-foot category.

Balfour Beatty Construction Co. and Solstice, an insurance provider, are the largest tenants in the 13-year-old building. It's owned by TA Realty Associates and managed by Pointe Group Advisors.

The annual TOBY awards honor the top commercial real estate properties and industry professionals.