My Palm Beach Post: Sales effort ramps up for luxury oceanfront condo south of Palm Beach

By Darrell Hofheinz – Daily News Staff Writer

Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016

The developer of a luxury oceanfront condominium just south of Palm Beach is gearing up its pre-construction marketing efforts with the launch Wednesday of a revamped website at 3550SouthOcean.com.

The 30-unit, seven-story building at 3550 S. Ocean Blvd. in South Palm Beach will occupy the site of the Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn — nicknamed “The Hawaiian” — that was demolished last year. The narrow one-acre lot is about a third of a mile from Palm Beach town limits.

With pre-construction prices for apartments starting at $2.3 million, the building will be the first new oceanfront condo to rise on the barrier island comprising South Palm Beach and Palm Beach in about a decade. That’s when the much-larger Bellaria condominium building opened near the bridge to Lake Worth.

The 3550 South Ocean project is scheduled to break ground during the first quarter of 2017 and finish construction in 2018, said developer Joseph A. McMillan Jr., chairman and CEO of New York City-based DDG.

“The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” McMillan said. “We have a third of the units under reservation, and we haven’t yet opened the sales gallery.”

With stepped-back units configured in a sawtooth design to maximize ocean views, the 30-unit 3550 South Ocean building is scheduled to break ground early next year. (Rendering courtesy of DDG)

Those soft reservations are being converted into hard deals, which require buyers to put 20 percent down at contract signing, McMillan said.

Buyer interest has come from Palm Beachers who want to downsize; condo residents looking for state-of-the-art amenities and high-end finishes offered in a new buildings; and people who have never before owned property in the area, he added.

The two- and three-bedroom units have ceiling heights approaching 10 feet and large expanses of glass. Apartments range from 2,500 square feet to more than 3,400 square feet. Prices will top out at about $1,700 a square foot, said McMillan, whose firm also is serving as construction manager and design director for the buidling. The building was designed by Kobi Karp Architecture of Miami with Garcia Stromberg GS4 Studios of West Palm Beach serving as project architect.

The sales center is slated to open within the next two weeks at 205 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan. A “viewing pavilion” has already been built at the construction site, McMillan added.

The sales effort is being led by agent Kerry Warwick of Douglas Elliman’s Palm Beach office. The same agency also is marketing The Bristol, an ultra-luxury tower under construction on South Flagler Drive south of the Royal Park Bridge.

McMillan’s company, which has previously focused its efforts in New York and California, has partnered with investor Gary Cohen of Boca Raton-based Paragon Acquisition Group on the development. Other investors also are involved, although McMillan declined to identify them. This is the first South Florida project for McMillan’s company, he said.

“Coming into a local market is always unique,” he said. “You need to spend the time upfront to really understand what the local market wants.”

The New York City-based firm of Champalimaud is providing the interior design for the common areas, which will feature chiseled limestone, travertine, coral stone and white oak, according to a statement from the developer.

The sales center will include a full-size installation of a kitchen along with examples of wall and other finishes. “You’ll be able to get a sense of what your condo will look like,” McMillan said.

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