Home Care In Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Wall Street South execs are moving north — but only a few miles.

And they’re not alone, as many house hunters on this end of Florida look to the under-the-radar Palm Beach Gardens — just 12 miles north of Palm Beach, which offers more space and less of a hustle.

As The Post reported in 2023, Wall Street entities like Goldman Sachs have set up shop in new shiny towers in West Palm Beach, and luxury shopping and dining areas are now carved into the coastal Florida city.

But the bustling corporate occupation of West Palm Beach and the billionaire boom in neighboring Palm Beach is making some there seek sanctuary, and lower prices, in this lesser-mentioned neighbor, Palm Beach Gardens — swapping the Palm Beaches’ swinging social scene for the country club lifestyle.

“We put in a tremendous amount of due diligence into finding this place,” Will Weathersby told The Post of his new home in Palm Beach Gardens, purchased last June for $4.35 million.

He and his wife Denise had eyed a move from Florida’s Gulf Coast, and began looking around the Palm Beach area before settling on a newly renovated four-bedroom in the Old Marsh Golf Club.

“We looked around, but ruled out Palm Beach entirely. It’s more crowded; it’s beautiful, but it wasn’t what we were looking for.”

Too touristy?

“Yes,” he said.

“Here we have the upside of a small community, but with everything you need nearby.”

“It’s fun zipping into Palm Beach whenever we want to,” added Denise.

Most people know Palm Beach Gardens as America’s golfing capital.

In fact, the Professional Golfers’ Association of America is headquartered there and PGA Boulevard, the main drag, is Palm Beach Gardens’ dining and shopping hub, with around 100 restaurants and more than 2 million square feet of stores.

It’s a sporty town in general, though, and famous for being home to Olympian tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams.

It’s outdoorsy, even for non-Olympians.

“What’s wonderful about Palm Beach Gardens is that we have designated 50% green space into our city ordinance,” Palm Beach Gardens Mayor Chelsea Reed told The Post.

“We have 10 miles of public access hiking space, and we’re bringing back native Floridian plants and trees there. We’re planting milkweed, and building butterfly and pollinator habitat. Our residents love that they have butterflies and hummingbirds back in their backyards.”

“Right now, we are looking over our backyard onto a wetlands preserve,” added Will Weathersby.

“What’s nice is that Palm Beach Gardens is already built out,” said Janet Lano, who recently returned to the city after buying a condo at Old Palm Golf Club.

Lano originally moved to a four-bedroom house in Old Palm in 2016, and then sold it in 2022.

She left to live in Jupiter and is now heading back to Old Palm Golf Club since she loved the area so much.

She plans to move into her new residence in April.

“Other areas you can buy a mansion and then next door they’re tearing something down. There’s always construction.”

It’s not like living in Palm Beach Gardens is living under a rock, more of a nook.

Two highways provide easy access to West Palm and Palm Beach — it’s a 20-minute commute — and, as with every city everywhere, construction is happening in Palm Beach Gardens.

Development here kicked off in the 1960s after insurance magnate John D. MacArthur bought a vast tract of land devastated by cattle ranches.

MacArthur dubbed his investment Palm Beach Gardens and quickly incorporated the land as a city in 1959 with a population of 1.

“We’re looking at smart development, like redevelopment of empty strip malls,” said the mayor.

“We are addressing workforce housing, which is essential for the community to function.”

Functionality and not wasting time in traffic is a big plus, said the Weathersbys.

“The ease and ability to get around is tremendous,” said Will Weathersby.

“Whoever did the city planning gets an A+.”

The main reason Palm Beach Gardens fell under the radar before is its location, tucked inland about 9 miles from the coast.

Alluring beachside properties ribboned with white sand and sweeping ocean views, to use marketing parlance, are what Palm Beach offers — at a high price.

Palm Beach Gardens doesn’t.

But the city does have the Intracoastal Waterway and a newly booming Marina District.

In January, the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Palm Beach Gardens poured its first concrete for three seven-story buildings that will add 106 spacious three-, four- and five-bedroom residences to the city.

Pricing starts at $4 million and doubles for the larger, high-floor condos.

This is the first non-country club luxury market community in Palm Beach Gardens, clearly expanding its social palette to high-spending boaters.

The Ritz-Carlton’s 29-slip private marina, which can accommodate yachts up to 75-feet long, was completed first in 2023.

“We will be attracting boaters,” said Joey Eichner, senior vice president of Catalfumo Companies, the property’s developer.

“But our buyers are people with second or third homes. They collect country club memberships like they do homes as well. This feeds into the community and we have already built relationships with some of the clubs.”

Another new development, Panther National, is centered on golfing, but also designed to upset the golf-centric condo community model nationwide.

This luxury all single-family home private club development (prices from $4.5 million to $20 million), which boasts an 18-hole championship course designed in partnership with golf champion Jack Nicklaus and current PGA Tour star Justin Thomas, comes from former pro skier and sports agent Dominik Senn, who saw a hole in the local market.

It’s the first golf community to be built in Palm Beach Country in more than 20 years, and edges towards a luxury wellness resort in its style, and includes an expansive Lifestyle Club with fitness rooms and two swimming pools — all in addition, of course, to that golf course.

“There’s a new generation of young golfers who want a more relaxed place, which is why we do not call it a luxury lifestyle gated community. All the young executives working in West Palm will appreciate what we have,” added Senn, Panther National’s president and founder, who’s living at Old Palm until his own home at Panther National is completed.

Is Palm Beach Garden in danger of getting Palm Beached, swallowed up by the fast set pushing up prices?

According to a recent Douglas Elliman Palm Beach Gardens numbers shared with The Post, the third-quarter of 2023 saw the single-family median sales price rise to the third-highest level on record to $957,500; condo prices increased to all-time highs, with median prices reaching $445,000.

Palm Beach Gardens is, however, fitting the national trend in the slight cooling of the red-hot market.

By the end of 2023, at the top end of the market, the average price for a luxury single-family residence fell from $4.19 million to $3.42 million.

But luxury condo prices continued to rise, and average third quarter sales saw a leap from $1.17 million to $1.48 million in the fall-into-winter market.

“Prices are plateauing after the COVID boom,” local Compass real estate agent Dory Faxon told The Post.

“Prices aren’t going down, because there is no inventory. A lot of people are staying put. There might be a little room for buyers to negotiate, but not much.”

Compared to the Palm Beach average single-family luxury home price of $20 million in 2023, Palm Beach Gardens is still very attractive for buyers.

“On the value side of the equation, you still get quite a bit more for your dollar here, especially if you are not directly on the water,“ added Faxon.

While the allure of a Palm Beach beachfront property isn’t going away anytime soon, for some home seekers, it’s not a selling point.

“Some people want the glitz and glam of living in Palm Beach ,” said Will Weathersby, “but for us this is a very sweet spot.”

Sears was an original anchor store when the Palm Beach Gardens mall opened in 1988 but struggled to appeal to shoppers drawn to higher-end retailers.

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Sears, struggling financially for years nationwide, has ended its 36-year run at The Gardens Mall and closed its doors.

The store was one of the original anchor tenants when the mall on PGA Boulevard east of Interstate 95 in Palm Beach Gardens opened in 1988. The others were Burdines, since closed, and the second Macy’s in Florida.

The 147,592-square-foot store was once known for tools, appliances and other household goods, as well as apparel and shoes for the entire family, and even auto repairs.

“A founding department store for Sears Palm Beach Gardens retail destination, Sears will close this month at The Gardens Mall. The Forbes Company, along with their partners, are working together to announce new plans for the repurposing of the two-level retail space,” a Gardens Mall spokesperson said in a statement issued Thursday. Feb. 29.

A sign posted outside the darkened store states the closure was effective Friday, March 1.

Only two Sears stores left in Florida after Gardens Mall store closes

Sears once had stores across Florida as well as the rest of the nation. Only two Sears stores remain open in Florida, one in Coral Gables and one in Orlando.

Sears leases the space at the Palm Beach Gardens luxury shopping, dining and entertainment complex, which is home to 160-plus specialty shops and restaurants.

The mall's anchors are Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, with other high-end stores such as Brooks Brothers, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel and Tiffany & Co.

Gardens Mall shooting:Police arrest suspected shooter amid news conference

Miami firm JLL (for Jones Lang LaSalle) is marketing the leasehold interest and touts it as a “strategically positioned big box opportunity.” The average household income within a 5-mile radius is $111,503, and the mall is one of Florida’s most established and affluent trade areas, the firm states.

The mall’s owner, The Forbes Company, LLC, and Sears' corporate office did not immediately respond to requests for information.

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Sears for years tried to lease second floor to Dick's Sporting Goods

Sears came to The Gardens Mall after closing its store at the old Twin City Mall on Northlake Boulevard, lured there by a 30-year lease with several options to extend it. As the company's finances and shopping habits changed, it began to look for ways to sublease parts of the building, which stands at the mall's east end.

Litigation over Sears’ efforts to sublease part of its space to Dick’s Sporting Goods has been ongoing for years, and issues stemming from that are still being heard in state and federal court, even though Dick's eventually dropped its plans.

In 2011 Sears started preparing its second floor to sublease it and began discussions with Dick’s, according to lawsuits.

Forbes/Cohen Florida Properties opposed the move, and in 2014, Sears’ parent company, Transform Operating Stores LLC, sued, arguing it had the right to sublease the space without Forbes’ OK. Sears officials alleged Forbes blocked the sublease because it wanted the Sears property back.

Sears later added the City of Palm Beach Gardens to the lawsuit because of its 2012 resolution that said mall anchors could not sublease without city approval. In 2017 the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled the resolution unconstitutional and said Sears had the right to sublease.

In 2015 Sears and Dick’s agreed to a sublease. In 2018, following the Parkland school shooting, Dick’s announced it would not sell guns or ammunition at the proposed store, a move some thought might make the deal more acceptable.

But Forbes and the city continued to fight the subleasing. Dick’s officials stated that Forbes executives did not consider Dick’s high-end enough for the mall, court records show.

Court records refer to 2020 emails from a luxury builder to Forbes and a hotel management firm about the possibility of developing a hotel or apartments at the 10-acre Sears’ site. The developer stated that Forbes was waiting for Sears to go out of business so Forbes could redevelop the property.

In 2019, Forbes sued Sears' parent company, asking a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge for a ruling that Transform can't change the mall's longstanding rules about its stores' appearance and design, including the look of anchor retailers such as Sears.

Transform fired back with a counterclaim in 2020, alleging, among things, tortious interference with the company's business dealings.

Transform said efforts to kill the Dick's deal were engineered to get back the valuable Sears space and end the company's below-market, long-term lease at the luxury shopping center. The mall has denied the allegations. A trial is set for August.

Meanwhile, a 2020 federal lawsuit by Dick's Sporting Goods against the mall's owner also continues.

In the U.S. District Court complaint, Dick's seeks lost profits from the never-built store, which it said it could have opened as far back as 2016. Dick's also seeks out-of-pocket costs and punitive damages. The sporting goods retailer does not have a north Palm Beach County store but says it desires one.

Dick's also alleged that Forbes blocked the Dick's sublease because the mall wants the Sears property back, despite Sears' long lease on the site. A trial on the Dick's lawsuit is set for September.

Neither Forbes nor Transform responded to requests for comment.

Sears closed 600-plus stores in 4 years as online shopping rose

Brick-and-mortar retailers have been hurt by the rise of online shopping, and Sears is a prime example.

Once the world’s largest retailer, Sears has 13 stores left in the U.S., according to published reports. The company began in 1886 in Minneapolis as a mail-order watch and jewelry service, and it grew to become famous for its catalogs.

In 1973 Sears completed the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago, where it was headquartered. In 2009, the tower's name was changed to Willis Tower, after London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings.

In 2018, after several years of losses, Sears filed for bankruptcy. At that time, it had 687 stores. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2022 with only 15 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

A former Sears store at Town Center at Boca Raton has been vacant since 2018, and the store at the Boynton Beach Mall closed in 2019. That mall is for sale as a teardown and also is being marked by JLL.

The Sears Town store that opened on South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach in 1956 closed decades ago.

Staff writer Alexandra Clough contributed to this story.

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Voters in five separate zones of northern Palm Beach County all resoundingly said Tuesday they did not want to become a part of Palm Beach Gardens.

The vote came after Palm Beach Gardens City Council approved five annexation plans in December, which would have brought about 3,500 pieces of property into the city limits. Each zone voted in a separate election where a 50% plus one majority was required to join the city.

According to Tuesday's election results, more than 90% of voters in all five areas rejected annexation.

Click here to see the real-time election results for the presidential preference primary.

City staff said the plan would allow the town to increase its tax base, which could potentially allow it to lower the city's millage rate while being able to maintain services for the town. The city has also argued it would lower taxes if a person's home had an assessed value at or lower than $411,250, which it estimates is 70% of properties.

WPTV received the city's data from a records request and found the percentage differs based on the zone. Specifically, a higher percentage of properties seeing their taxes increase are within zones 2 and 3.

A Flourish chart

Celeste Colliton, who lives in Zone 1, said she is excited for a verdict after campaigning against the issue for months. She said those efforts included holding sings and a lawsuit people from her neighborhood filed to stop the vote.

"We all started to work hard in different ways. They got the coalition going, we got the lawsuit from Hidden Key going," Colliton said. "Now we're going to at least find out the main results."

According to data WPTV requested from the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections, most voters and properties are in Zone 1. It also has the biggest difference between the number of registered voters compared to the number of properties in each zone.

A Flourish chart

Before voting to move the plan forward, dozens of people spoke out against the plan to annex Zone 1 at the city's regularly scheduled council meeting.

Colliton said she didn't feel like council understood the public’s opinion about the annexation attempt

"They didn't listen to us," she said. "We would go and you just felt like they let you say anything and they would do what they want. That was the frustrating part."

Opposition against the annexation organized into a political action committee called the Coalition Against Annexation. The group argues property taxes would increase if people joined the city and homeowners would lose rights due to Palm Beach Gardens code enforcement.

Peter Banting, who lives in Zone 5, said in October he supports the project because Palm Beach Gardens completely encloses his neighborhood. He said he's looking forward to receiving assistance to fix roads, which his neighborhood is currently performing rather than a local government.

Banting said he expected the measure to lose. He said he struggled to counter the organized political action committee.

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While the previous air-inflated done could be removed, a metal arena likely would be around for 50 year, so PBSC wants a cut of the profits and an attractive stadium.

Will Tiger Woods' new tech golf league get a metal arena on Palm Beach State College land in Palm Beach Gardens?

The PBSC Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet soon to discuss further a proposal to rebuild the indoor golf arena on the school's campus off PGA Boulevard with prefabricated metal instead of an air-inflated dome.

Proposing is TMRW Sports, which will launch TGL, an interactive golf league led by pro golfers Woods and Rory McIlroy. The original arena was an air-inflated dome structure that broke ground in February 2023 and was nearing completion when a power outage followed by a freak windstorm destroyed it in November.

Now TMRW is proposing a metal arena, one that will likely be there for 50 years.

That plan met sharp resistance last month from the PBSC's Board of Trustees.

Here are important things to know about TGL and the new indoor golf dome

What is TGL, the indoor golf league developed by Tiger Woods?

It is a golf league that will infuse technology with in-person golf. It is expected to consist of 24 players and six teams, each with four PGA Tour players competing head-to-head in 18-hole match play. The original plan was for 15 regular-season Monday night matches, followed by semifinals and finals.

The league was developed by Woods, a Jupiter Island resident who is regarded as one of the best golfers of all time; and McIlroy, a Jupiter resident, winner of four major golf tournaments and the second-ranked golfer on the PGA Tour; and golf executive Mike McCarley, a former NBC Sports executive.

Other players who have committed to playing in the league include: Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, Keegan Bradley, Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Adam Scott, Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Tom Kim, Sahith Theegala, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee, Kevin Kisner and Lucas Glover.

What will the TMRW Sports stadium look like in Palm Beach Gardens?

It will be called the SoFi Center, named after SoFi Technologies. The SoFi name is expected to be emblazoned on the nearly 250,000-square-foot venue that will hold almost 2,000 people.

The original air-supported dome was to reach a height of 79 feet, covering TGL’s near-football-field-sized playing surface of 97 by 50 yards and including a 46-by-64-foot screen. The metal arena would be about 75 feet high.

The SoFi Center was expected to include a 40-yard-wide short-game complex, featuring three dynamic putting surfaces within the 3,800 square-foot green and three sand bunkers where the star golfers would compete.

The arena, built as a TV studio, would have seating for 1,500 fans. With the new metal approach, the backstage area can accommodate 1,000 people, up from 500. But much larger audiences are expected on ESPN, which signed on to broadcast the weekly Monday night matches live.

A college report last year put the cost of the original building at $11 million. With the new approach, that number rose to $50 million in a report submitted to the trustees.

Those figures don’t include $30 million worth of technology that will be added to create the indoor golf course, a TMRW spokesman said.

When will Tiger Woods' indoor golf league start?

Originally, it was expected to start in January 2024, mainly because of the window provided by ESPN to televise the events.

Less than a week after the dome's collapse, TGL decided to push back the start one year after discussions with players, the six-team ownership groups, PGA Tour leadership and TGL's commercial partners.

What was the deal that PBSC made with TMRW Sports?

In November 2022, a lease agreement was signed by Palm Beach State College with NexGen Sports Group, TMRW Sports’s parent. It gave TMRW Sports the use of nearly 11 acres of PBSC-owned land off PGA Boulevard (and seen clearly from RCA Boulevard) for up to 15 years, as well as campus parking lots during events.

TMRW Sports did not have to pay any rent for the land, and were given free use of the parking lots.

In turn, the company was expected to provide a range of contributions to PBSC during the lease term, such as college-student training opportunities, publicity, curriculum development and shared use of the facility. The lease described these contributions as "in-kind rent."

TMRW Sports also made a $1 million donation to the Foundation for Palm Beach State College.

What's the concern now on golf dome?

The air-inflated structure had been viewed in the 15-year lease as removable, meaning TMRW could return the site to PBSC in its former state. That’s less likely with a metal building expected to last 50 years and withstand Category 5 hurricanes.

Trustees, meeting Feb. 27, refused to endorse the metal structure proposal immediately. They cited that the structure would be there for a long time and should be attractive. They also brought up possible profit-sharing.

During the meeting, PBSC trustee Wendy Link, who is also Palm Beach County's Supervisor of Elections, said: "... they have to make this work from a business standpoint. We have to make it work from a college standpoint. But we're also talking about a building that you're saying is going to be here for 50 years. So it can't be just a Costco box. That won’t work.”

During the meeting, trustees also asked about sharing in the golf league’s proceeds, which was not in the original lease. The lease would need to be amended to let TMRW Sports move forward.

“I just want to recognize that the deal has changed and that the terms need to change along with it. And that may include some funding that goes with that,” Link said.

What's happening at the TGL SoFi Center site now?

The collapsed dome has since been removed.

Large metal support beams were the only remaining part of that structure, but those were taken down the week of March 11. Construction is still happening at the site, including the placement of box-like offices.

If the sides agree to the metal structure, the pre-engineered building shell would be fabricated by Allied Steel Buildings and transported to the site in panels. It would cover the same footprint as the dome, allowing for a 135,000-square-foot building.

The goal would be to get the site enclosed by August, a quick but attainable goal because state college construction is faster because it does not have to go through the scrutiny of city zoning and permitting.

What's Palm Beach Gardens' role in this?

Not much, since it's a private enterprise working with a state college; the land just happens to be in Palm Beach Gardens.

But Gardens officials likely will have to address issues related to the arena, such as traffic and security.

Discover events, deals, restaurants and things to do to celebrate Cinco de Mayo on Sunday, May 5 in The Palm Beaches.

There’s no shortage of Mexican restaurants and bars to celebrate Cinco De Mayo in Palm Beach County. Here is a list of fun parties and events for May 5, 2024. Gather your friends, put on your sombreros, and come celebrate Cinco de Mayo in The Palm Beaches!

Locations:

Let’s celebrate Cinco de Mayo at El Camino! Join the Delray Block Party or the West Palm Beach Block Party and enjoy street games, family-friendly activities, dancing, face painting, a mariachi band, a live DJ, and more!

The newest El Camino location in Boca Raton will also celebrate with a mariachi bar and outdoor bars.

Admission is free.

Location: BRK Republic,521 Clematis Street West Palm Beach, FL 33401.

Get ready for the West Palm Beach Official Cinco De Mayo Bar Crawl! From 1 pm to 8 pm, enjoy FREE entry to the best venues in Downtown West Palm Beach, live music, tasty tacos, drink specials, costume contests, and more! Click Here for more information and to register.

Location: Deck 84, 840 E Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach, FL 33483.

On May 5, join the fiesta at Deck 84 in Delray Beach!

This Floridian resort-style dining venue right on the water offers local and seasonally inspired dishes, as well as tiki cocktails and craft beers. But for Cinco de Mayo, Deck 84 will prepare a menu with festive food specials ALL DAY. The Cinco de Mayo menu includes enchiladas de tinga, loaded nachos, and ceviche mixto. Drink specials are also available, including micheladas and margaritas.

And don’t miss live music from Bruja from 2 pm to 5:30 pm.

Location: Bodega Taquería y Tequila, 118 S Clematis St, West Palm Beach, FL 33401.

Bodega is a taco and tequila spot with six different locations in South Florida. The West Palm Beach location is conveniently located on Clematis Street and offers nearly 20 different types of tequila and over-the-top Mexican street food.

Join Bodega’s annual Cinco de Mayo blowout party and get ready to celebrate all day with tacos and, of course, lots of tequila. There will be Corona samples, drink specials, giveaways, entertainment, and music by Kuya Trey.

Reservations.

Location: 5250 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33486.

Rocco’s Tacos and Tequila Bar is a popular Mexican restaurant with four locations in The Palm Beaches. With a large menu featuring a wide variety of margaritas and other cocktails as well as Mexican specialties, Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar is a vibrant place to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

Mark your calendars for Sunday, May 5 and get ready for the ultimate fiesta of the year. Rocco’s Tacos is hosting a block party at the Boca Raton location, featuring endless live entertainment, fantastic giveaways, mouthwatering bites, and cocktails that will keep the festivities going all day long!

Location: 11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Drive, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410.

Join the Cinco de Mayo festivities at Avocado Cantina located in Palm Beach Gardens. Enjoy an outdoor pop-up taco stand, all-day drink specials, games, face painting, and live music featuring DJ Kozmo Koz, DJ James, and the Mojito Latin Band. Avocado Cantina offers handcrafted dishes made with sustainable ingredients in a uniquely vibrant atmosphere. Adorned with hand-painted murals and colorful decor, every detail contributes to an unforgettable dining experience.

Location: Hilton West Palm Beach, 600 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach.

On Cinco de Mayo, set your celebratory sipping and sun-drenched pool partying GPS for Hilton West Palm Beach. La Playa, the hotel’s funky pool bar, will sling high-concept drink specials all weekend long, including $16 Patrón Reposado Palomas and Margaritas, and a Patrón cocktail tree (Silver, $60 and Reposado, $75). Nosh on specialty appetizers including homemade tacos (3 for $20, includes carnitas, grouper, and carne asada), corn chips and salsa ($14) and a grilled citrus octopus tostada ($16) while a local DJ drops vacation-vibe beats poolside. Hilton’s new, gold-hued lobby bar, Palma, will celebrate the festive fiesta starting April 30 through May 4 with “Flights de Mayo,” a premium tequila flight ($50) paired with elegant light bites to enjoy while soaking in the glamourous pool views.