Palm Beach real estate: Waterfront condo in West Palm opens island sales office

At Royal Poinciana Plaza last week, a Douglas Elliman Real Estate sales team headed by agent Chris Leavitt hosted the grand opening of the sales office for a waterfront condominium building slated to rise across the bridge.

The 25-story, 83-unit La Clara tower will be built on the west side of Flagler Drive, less than a half-mile south of Okeechobee Boulevard on the site of the long-gone 1515 Tower.

Scheduled to be completed in 2021, the project is being developed by Great Gulf, a Toronto company with 18 high-rise projects in the pipeline across North America.

The name La Clara translates from the Spanish “clear” – and that reference is reflected in the model of the building that provides a focal point in the sales center. Sleek walls of glass and stepped-back design give the tower a transparent feel.

“The objective was to provide every owner with a significant, expansive corner window and large terrace,” architect Siamak Hariri, co-founder of Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects, said in a prepared statement.

The building is the company’s first residential tower in Florida, although it has developed other projects in the United States.

RELATED: Website, sign promote newly named La Clara waterfront condo

La Clara will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom condos ranging from1,500 square feet to more than 3,000 square feet. Most of the units are priced between $2 million and about $3.5 million. Apartments will come with Snaidero contemporary-style kitchens and Miele appliances. The sales center features a full-size model kitchen and bathroom.

Drawing on its experience marketing condominium towers in Miami and New York, Douglas Elliman is handling sales for other waterfront buildings near Palm Beach. Those are The Bristol tower, nearing completion on South Flagler Drive, and the 3550 Building in South Palm Beach.

La Clara may be part of a new wave of condominiums on South Flagler Drive. Just down the street from La Clara’s lot, plans for a new 24-story condominium tower at 1309 S. Flagler Drive late last month won the initial approval of the West Palm Beach City Commission. If built, the as-yet-unnamed 42-unit tower would be among the tallest in the city. The developers are Two Roads Development and Alpha Blue Ventures, according to reporting by Tony Doris of The Palm Beach Post.

La Clara’s developer and Douglas Elliman are taking a page from The Bristol’s marketing playbook by opening a sales center on the island. The La Clara office is on the south side of Royal Poinciana Plaza in the space once occupied by the defunct Michael McCarty’s restaurant. The Bristol’s sales center is on Royal Palm Way, just across the Royal Park Bridge from the building.

Leavitt holds the title of La Clara’s director of sales, and his team includes agents Alison Newton and Joey Columbo.

On hand at the Jan. 30 grand opening were Great Gulf Chief Financial Officer Mike Kirchmair; Niall Collins, president of Great Gulf Residential; and Jerry Patava, CEO of Great Gulf Group of Companies. Also attending were Geoff Matthews, vice president of development, and Amanda Wilson Watkins, chief marketing and sales officer.

For details about the building, call 557-3113 or visit LaClaraPalmBeach.com.

*

Darrell Hofheinz writes about real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes news items about Palm Beach real estate for this column. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz.