The Ritz Carlton Residences are starting to rise along the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach Gardens with a new builder at the helm, and plenty of hope that the coming tourist season will bring cooler air — and more buyers.
Already, the 106-unit, three-building complex has snared one celebrity buyer: golf great Greg Norman and his wife, interior designer Kirsten Norman, according to a Ritz-Carlton Residences public relations firm.
Units at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach Gardens start at $4.5 million and go up to nearly $9 million for one of 16 penthouse units.
The 14-acre project dominates the east side of the Intracoastal Waterway just south of PGA Boulevard, creating a massive modern enclave in an area previously dotted with single-family residences. The land also used to be home to Panama Hattie’s Seafood House and Rum Bar.
More: Why the Ritz Carlton Palm Beach Gardens condo complex could be even bigger than planned
It's not clear what the Normans paid for their pre-construction unit. A Norman spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But the Ritz-Carlton Residences' sales overall stand at about $175 million, or 30% presold, said the project's developer, Dan Catalfumo.
The sales amount is about $75 million more than this time last year but short of what Catalfumo had hoped to hit this past winter season.
With units costing millions of dollars, "at this price point, buyers really want to see (the project) under construction," Catalfumo said.
That's happening now, with construction ongoing on all three towers.
Workers have already reached the fourth floor of the northern tower, "and in about 90 days, it’ll be topped off," Catalfumo said.
Seawood in as general contractor, Suffolk no longer with project
Meanwhile, Suffolk Construction, a national development firm, no longer is building the project, even though the company was listed as part of the team on the Ritz-Carlton website as of July 17.
Instead, Seawood Builders of Deerfield Beach is the general contractor.
Catalfumo said he made a change this year because he and Suffolk "couldn't agree" on certain undisclosed issues. He said Suffolk was only the preconstruction general contractor on the Ritz-Carlton Residences.
A Suffolk spokesperson would only say, “Suffolk is not performing construction management services on the project.”
About 20 years ago, Catalfumo owned Seawood Builders, which was a division of his previous company, Catalfumo Construction.
Seawood once again is independent now and counts among its projects numerous commercial and residential properties. It already has an aerial video of the Ritz project in Palm Beach Gardens on its website.
Buyers want to see the building before they buy, Catalfumo says
Now that the Ritz Carlton Residences' three towers are well underway, buyers can finally see the project coming out of the ground, allaying fears it either won't be built or built on time, Catalfumo said.
The project's completion is set for early 2026, and Catalfumo said he expects this coming winter sales season to be "off the charts."
"When people come back who haven't been on PGA Boulevard, when they see it, they are going to say, 'I need to buy my unit,' " he said.
Peter Zalewski, a Miami-based condo consultant, said problems with aged condos and needed repairs could mean that would-be condo-dwellers are more inclined to buy into new buildings, a trend that would benefit the Ritz-Carlton Residences.
Zalewski and other real-estate experts agreed the condo market was sluggish earlier in the year for some new projects because buyers were anxious about a possible recession.
During the past few months, as fears of a recession receded, other potential buyers have held back because of the typical uncertainty of a presidential election year, said Kevin Dickenson, a real-estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services FL Realty.
Plans for a fourth Ritz tower in the works
Catalfumo's Ritz-Carlton Residences are not hotels. Instead, they are Ritz-branded residences, where the company manages the property under its banner with the level of service typically found in a Ritz hotel.
This Palm Beach Gardens property will be different from other Ritz condominiums because it fits into Ritz’s “estate collection,” a larger and more private level of residence.
Catalfumo not only is moving forward with construction on the project's three towers, but he also is about to submit plans to the city of Palm Beach Gardens for approval of a fourth tower.
That tower would rise on 2.5 acres of land south of the main three-story complex. Catalfumo bought the property from resident Seija Regalmann for $19 million in 2023.
Stay up to date on South Florida's sizzling real estate market and sign up for
The Dirt weekly newsletter, delivered every Tuesday! Exclusively for Palm Beach Post subscribers.
At the moment, the site is home to a giant dirt pile, which Catalfumo said is going away in the next six to eight weeks.
Catalfumo said he's still trying to decide how to design the tower, including whether it will feature 14 or 24 units,. This will depend on whether there is demand for especially large units.
Sales of this fourth tower could begin in mid-2025.
In addition to the tower, plans are to transform the site into additional amenities, including a tennis court, a pickleball court and a dog park three times larger than first envisioned.
With the Ritz-Carlton Residences slated to feature four towers on 14 acres when completed, Catalfumo acknowledged he has sought out other developers willing to buy into it.
But efforts haven't proved fruitful, he said.
Even the largest developers say they need months to raise cash from investors, a process that will take too long, Catalfumo said.
So Catalfumo said he's will complete the project himself.
Alexandra Clough is a business writer at The Palm Beach Post . You can reach her at aclough@pbpost.com . X: @acloughpbp . Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Ritz-Carlton Residences towers are rising in Palm Beach Gardens in time for winter sales season
Most Popular
Comments / 0