Al Adelson played a significant role in ushering in a new era of luxury condominiums in West Palm Beach. With The Bristol, a pre-pandemic building, he proved that buyers were willing to pay $1,000 per square foot for residential units west of the Intracoastal Waterway. Now, Adelson is developing The Berkeley Palm Beach, a residential tower at 500 South Australian Avenue, on the western edge of Downtown West Palm Beach. With prices ranging from $2 million to over $10 million, Adelson is once again pushing pricing boundaries.
Regarding the initially aggressive pricing strategy for The Bristol, Adelson commented as follows: He had closely observed the market in Florida for 25 years and conducted extensive studies. Through interviews with almost 100 different estate agents from Palm Beach to West Palm Beach, he gained a very good understanding of the local conditions and the mentality of Palm Beach Island residents. Adelson recognised that a hardcore 20 percent of Palm Beach Island residents would not leave the island under any circumstances. This group even endorsed the rules and regulations there, such as the prohibition of high-rise buildings over six storeys.
Given thousands of very old residential units on the island and the difficulty of demolishing and rebuilding them – due to prohibitively high land costs and height restrictions that make it impossible to distribute costs across a large number of units – Adelson saw a great opportunity for West Palm Beach. This potential convinced him to invest in The Bristol, which proved exceptionally successful. He considers it one of the most exclusive condominiums in South Florida and ranks it among the top five on the entire East Coast.
The Berkeley, Adelson’s current project, resembles The Bristol in its pricing strategy, which brings a higher price segment to a previously undeveloped location. While The Bristol is situated on the Intracoastal, The Berkeley is on Clear Lake. Although it is a lake, boats, swimmers, jet skis, or other watercraft are not permitted there, as it serves as a water supply for West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island. Adelson emphasised that the only drawback of West Palm Beach is the traffic, which presents a real problem due to the many new developments in the area, especially during the season when traffic on Okeechobee Road is significant.
Adelson referred to crucial infrastructural improvements and new projects nearby: Fern Street will receive a new crossing over the railway tracks to Australian Avenue. Furthermore, Vanderbilt University is constructing a graduate school directly behind The Berkeley’s site, and the Cleveland Clinic is building a 200-bed hospital on Australian Avenue. Stephen Ross is developing another high-rise residential project also on Australian Avenue. All these changes make the location extremely attractive. The construction phase has commenced, and sales launched extremely successfully, as these developments were recently announced, leading to a significant increase in sales figures. Currently, over 20 percent of the units have been sold.
When asked about differences from The Bristol, Adelson stated that he aims for a similar appearance to The Bristol, but at significantly lower costs. However, the services, design, and interior layouts are intended to at least match or even surpass the standard of The Bristol. Thanks to new products that were not available at the time The Bristol was built, such as Dekton, a US-made material that visually resembles marble but is more durable, costs can be reduced without compromising quality. In terms of fittings and fixtures, such as sound systems or sculptures, technological advancements also enable high-quality options at lower installation costs.
Al Adelson also commented on the ongoing real estate boom in West Palm Beach. Although he has typically experienced boom and bust cycles during his 57-year career in the industry, Palm Beach County has seen a continuous increase in property prices, land values, and inward migration. He attributed the success to the excellent development of the state of Florida and the outstanding weather conditions.
