In 2002 we started work on the renovations for the Palm Beach Airport Hilton.
The hotel was required by corporate to modernize and we proceeded with planning for renovating their lobby, dining room and bar. After some false starts, the client brought in AES interiors and the design went through a major transformation. We enjoyed working with AES as Annette Smith and Carrie Bollella are talented designers. When the project was finished it won a prism award.
Toward the end of the year, we were introduced to Scott Thomson and Gary Goldstein who had a great waterfront site on the end of Flagler drive near 58th street. They wanted to put townhouses on them and we began the design and site planning for the project. “Flagler Beach Club” as it was later called went through several different iterations. Initially it was to be an Italian street scape with three story townhouses. Then it became two story townhouses with detached homes on the water.
When we moved our offices to the Comeau building and had our opening party, Mr. Thomson met my father who mentioned that he thought the Flagler Beach Club site would be a great tower site. Though I wouldn’t say that my father gave him the idea, eventually Mr. Thomson and Mr. Goldstein decided to change the project to a tower. The real estate market was white hot and such a building offered the prospect of fabulous profits. The fifteen-story Flagler Beach Club was our first condominium high rise design.
During the course of working through the site plan process, it was decided that the best approach was to build a smaller footprint building closer to the water.
The only problem was that we needed significant variances to do it. It was tough but eventually we did obtain site plan approval that allowed us to move forward with the tower. The design is five units per floor and each one will have great intracoastal views. Currently the townhouses are finishing up on the street but the current economic conditions have postponed the tower for at least a few years.
During the rest of 2003 we were starting getting great projects. We got our first shopping center in Jupiter. It was a Florida Vernacular style shopping center for Selim Habib. He eventually sold it to another developer who let the approvals expire. By the time we got the approvals reinstated the market was so hot and construction prices were so high that it put the project costs beyond profitability.
At the time, the real estate market was going crazy. There were jokes about contractors doing “drive by bidding” and the escalation of construction prices made it impossible to hold costs in line. There were some contractors that were so busy that they wouldn’t even bid work. They would provide you with a budget and if you thought that was o.k. they’d do it cost plus. I’m sure that those contractors would be glad to bid work today.
This was the year we did our first single family housing subdivision called "Eagle Trace". It really is great to drive through a neighborhood where you designed all the buildings. We were starting to build the momentum for a good practice. At this point I had two employees (both good solid producers) who could get the projects out. As we got busier I began to hire more people. In the process of staffing up, I made some good and bad hires. Some of the people that worked for me were good and some were just awful though sometimes took a while to realize it. After ten years of being a boss, I now know quickly if someone is going to work out.
2003 was also a good year as it was the first time we were on the design team of a published project. That year we were commissioned by Dr. and Mrs Mordes to convert a dental manufacturing facility along Australian Avenue into their residence and private art gallery which they call "Whitespace". For more information about whitespace here is the link.
entrance canopy
The front of the building was left as windowless gallery space and the rear opened out onto the lake for some great views. It was published in Cottages and Gardens. A prospective client saw the publication and retained us to help renovate her apartment at 400 south Ocean Blvd. 
0 comments:
Post a Comment