Mandarin Oriental Residences will open a 31-story tower in West Palm Beach
Great Gulf President of luxury residences Neil Vohrah speaks exclusively with Fox News Digital about the new Mandarin Oriental Residences group in West Palm Beach, the first independent residences of its kind in South Florida.
INTERMEDIATE: Florida’s seasonal resident is becoming a thing of the past. High net worth individuals are now moving all business infrastructure to West Palm Beach, requiring a new class of real estate that serves as a year-round primary residence.
“People actually want to live and move to West Palm Beach, especially in this type of area because of the good business and maybe the political climate. And we love it,” Great Gulf President of High-Rise Development Neil Vohrah told Fox News Digital.
“It’s not just about the billionaires themselves, but more importantly, it’s about the businesses they bring, the companies they bring, the people they inspire and the opportunities they create,” Cervera Real Estate principal and managing partner Alicia Cervera Lamadrid also told Fox News Digital.
“There is a lot of economy coming to this area,” he added. “And, of course, it should be included.”
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On Thursday, the real estate juggernauts announced that they are launching the Mandarin Oriental Residences in West Palm Beach – the first freestanding residence of its kind in South Florida. Located on North Flagler Drive in the booming “Billionaire Corridor,” the building will eventually be 31 stories tall and feature 87 residences with all the usual luxury that Mandarin Oriental has to offer.
Aerial view looking north of downtown West Palm Beach, Florida, at sunset. (Getty Images)
The project’s unveiling comes on the heels of other major brands announcing their entry into the South Florida market, including Mr. C Residences in Boca Raton, Ritz-Carlton Residences in Fort Lauderdale Beach, Delano Residences Miami and Kempinski Residences in the Miami Design District.
Gearing up for “Wall Street South”, Mandarin prioritizes extreme privacy, resort-style amenities and combines space for domestic workers with executive offices. Residences range from 2,100 to 6,300 square feet, and feature two- to four-bedroom units.
The biggest draw, in terms of development and sales leads, would be the building’s distance from a thriving business-oriented city.
The residential-only tower will stand 31 stories high and offer a variety of floor plans among the 87 units. | FOXBusiness
“This is not available anywhere else in the West Palm Beach area,” Vohrah said. “The North End was once a quiet and largely overlooked part of town, but now it’s emerging as the next part of town that defines the waterfront. West Palm Beach is also rapidly evolving into an international luxury destination, driven by wealth and immigration, corporate relocations, major investments in lifestyle and medical districts, and new luxury products entering the market.”
This investment is large in scale: Vanderbilt University is moving forward with a $300 million campus that is expected to generate more than $7 billion in economic impact. Right next to the “New Billionaire Way,” Tenet Healthcare recently announced the $3 billion renovation of Good Samaritan Medical Center, a brand new campus designed to cater to the longevity and health needs of the C-suite crowd.
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“Both Ken Griffin and Steve Ross have come together to promote that corridor between Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Miami-Dade County as a place to hire companies and talent to support the billion-dollar framework,” Cervera said, referring to the ongoing “Ambition Accelerated” campaign.
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“So what’s happening in West Palm Beach is just an evolution to meet the needs and wants and lifestyle of these billionaires, millionaires coming into this area,” he explained.
Demand for West Palm properties has remained largely unchanged from rising interest rates and a cooling national housing market, which is reportedly due to high shortages and a global buyer profile.
“The West Palm Beach market is not slowing down,” Vohrah said. “The North Flagler Corridor is largely shut out of national housing initiatives because… at this level… that combination of unimproved watersheds, limited supply and proximity to all that the city has to offer is what continues to support this demand.”
“When you see the office towers that are full and the prices that people are paying to be in those office towers… all this assembly that is done there is a long-term game. This is not a short-term investment,” Cervera noted. “They have seen that the tipping point is now, and there is still a good chance to enter because it is still early in that cycle, but it is clear that it is something that no one can stop.”
Ross Related Vice President Jordan Rathlev and Visium healthcare company CEO John Rajchert spoke with Fox News Digital about the influx of businesses and workers moving to West Palm Beach and how their companies are leading the charge.
The “Billionaire Corridor” population is increasingly trading up for mansions, high-end condos for “sky residences,” as Cervera calls them, such as those offered at the Mandarin West Palm.
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“Time is the only thing you can’t buy, give, exchange, etc. It’s limited, we all know that. And when you buy the Mandarin Oriental experience, you save time. Why save time? Because all those [lifestyle amenities] brought into your house.”
“West Palm Beach is different because the boom has been coming for a while,” said Vohrah. “The city and the developers have been building this area for years and now, as more people are moving to West Palm, the infrastructure and the attractive quality is already there. So I think this tower will be recognized as one of the pioneers of this post-COVID boom.”
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