Reason for Optimism: The Gulfstream Hotel

Frankly, I was beginning to wonder. I hadn't heard much of anything about the rehabilitation, restoration and expansion of the Gulfstream Hotel since the March election. You may recall that the ballot contained a question on whether to amend the city's Charter to allow for buildings to be built to the same height of the historic hotel. This only applied to the block between Lake Avenue, Golfview, 1st Avenue South and Lakeside Drive. That question passed with 65.21% of voters saying "yes."

The date of that election was March 12, 2020. Almost immediately afterwards, we all began to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and we entered a period of stay-at-home orders. Our lives have been altered ever since. 

We also got word through a Palm Beach Post article that Restoration St. Louis, the contract purchaser of the Gulfstream Hotel property, received an extension of their due diligence period until October. Later on, I heard through the grapevine that another extension had been granted until December 2020. The extensions were made necessary due to the pandemic and what appeared to be skittishness on the part of lenders regarding the project.

Other than that information, I heard little about the project or its progress until I talked to someone who had watched a recent Lake Worth Beach CRA meeting. 

It turns out that a lot happened at the August 11, 2020 Lake Worth Beach CRA meeting. Click here for link to the meeting video. I'll do another post on the project north of The Mid, which is under construction now. You'll be excited to see what is planned for that site and the CRA accepted the $2.49 million offer for the 2.3 acre Dixie Hwy. property from Office America Group of Coral Gables, Florida.

I'm going to let the following snippets from the staff report speak for themselves regarding the Gulfstream Hotel project. Suffice to say that project is REAL, the CRA is offering significant financial incentives and the project is about as real as it gets. Check out the following:

Tomorrow night at 7 p.m., a Zoom meeting is being held by the Bryant Park Neighborhood Association. It falls on the same night as their regular monthly meeting. It is my understanding that the developer of the project will be in attendance, make a presentation and answer questions. As there is a limit on the number of attendees, you are asked to email your questions to bryantparkneighborhoodnews@gmail.com. You can ask for the link to the Zoom meeting and you can attend as long as there are enough places.

In the meantime, I plan on attending and will be able to give you a sense of timing and when this will make its way through the Historic Resources Preservation Board for review.

And, most importantly, the CRA board voted unanimously in support of the project.