Singer Island gets $300M Catalfumo condo project

[bobliocatt]

Ed Duggan

Dan Catalfumo calls 2700 North Ocean the ultimate condominium project on Singer Island.

The setting is 8.8 acres on the ocean and each unit in the project designed by architect Robert Swedroe will have a private elevator and ocean-to-Intracoastal views.

Pre-construction prices for the 264 units in twin 27-story oceanfront towers will start near $750,000 and top out at more than $3 million.

"We are charging more than anyone else because we are giving more than anyone else," said Catalfumo, president of Palm Beach Gardens-based Catalfumo Construction.

Projected sellout is $300 million for the project, located on the former site of a Days Inn.

One interesting twist - which will cost Catalfumo an extra $1 million - is that all apartment emergency lights and refrigerator-freezers will be double-wired to a back-up generator in case of power failure.

Singer Island, at the northern tip of Palm Beach County, was raked by hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, with the 42-story Tiara condominium next to Catalfumo's project suffering more than $50 million in damage, a federal report said.

But the hurricanes didn't blow away buyer interest in the island, laughed Realtor Richard L. Sites, a waterfront condo specialist with John Nugent's office in North Palm Beach, and not connected with Catalfumo.

"His sense of timing couldn't be better," Sites said. "Singer Island is a tremendously good market and the pressure for prime waterfront properties hasn't abated, even after the hurricanes."

Catalfumo has been responsible for much of the construction on the island over the past decade, but it's the first residential community where he will be both the developer and builder.

"We love what we do. Building is our passion," Catalfumo said. "Now the bar is raised with a project that we will have both conceived and built."

On Sunday, Catalfumo threw a VIP friends-and-family unveiling party for the new project at the Ritz-Carlton Clubhouse and Spa in Jupiter. The elegant setting underscored what may be in store for 2700 North Ocean buyers.

"When I'm asked what quality they'll be getting, I just point around here at the Ritz-Carlton, my company built this," Catalfumo said.

When asked to predict when the project would be sold out, he estimated February.

"More likely in a week," Sites laughed.

If the VIP party is any indication, sellout in a week may indeed be possible, as one-third of the units were already reserved.

There has been some criticism of the waterfront gentrification of the predominantly African-American populated Riviera Beach.

Riviera Beach Mayor Michael Brown has a different take.

"The tax revenues from this $300 million project will help us do many things for the community's other residents. It's a delicate balancing act between the wealthy and the evolving middle class," he said. "We feel it's the job of government to provide a climate in which the business community can do what it does best, while at the same time protecting the interests of those who truly need protection."

E-mail residential real estate writer Ed Duggan at [email protected].

[Urban_Legend]

To think that they're building this huge, expensive project on the former site of a Days Inn, lol. This is pretty impressive for Singer Island!