The Huizenga family and Integra Investments scored initial approval for changes to their long-planned $2 billion mixed-use development at the site of the Safe Harbor Rybovich, better known as Rybovich Marina.
The partners are planning a massive redevelopment of the 19-acre waterfront site, spanning from 4000 to 4300 North Flagler Drive, adjacent to the superyacht marina. The West Palm Beach Planning Board rubber stamped the developers’ requested changes to the design guidelines and site plans at its meeting Tuesday. The updated plans still need approval by the West Palm Beach City Commission.
The new site plan calls for 20,691 square feet of office space, 37,445 square feet of retail, 14,376 square feet of restaurants, 12,750 square feet of crew amenities and 3,355 square feet of marine storage.
The plan limits the total number of residential units allowed to 1,059. Of that allotment, Related Group’s Icon Marina Village already accounts for 399 apartments. For the remaining allowed 660 units, Huizenga and Integra are planning four waterfront condominium towers, the highest of which will be 445 feet tall. So far, the developers are only seeking approval on plans for two of the towers, totaling 259 units. One is slated to span 34 stories with 147 units, and the other 36 stories with 112 units, a spokesperson for the developers confirmed.
The updated site plan also adds 60,937 square feet for a private or semi-private club, which will be aimed at residents of the planned condominiums and will allow for 250 non-resident memberships, planning documents show.
The addition of the private club comes as demand for members’ clubs has surged in Palm Beach County, with limited availability creating yearslong waits.
The Rybovich Marina redevelopment has been in the works for more than a decade, and was first approved in 2014. The city created the Marina Commercial Marine Planned Development (CMPD), allowing for 1,059 residential units, 35,000 square feet of offices, 10,000 square feet of retail, 15,000 square feet of restaurants, 45,000 square feet of marine industrial space and 10,000 square feet of crew amenities, planning documents show.
The site is rare for both its size and its water frontage, in a city where developers are racing to snap up the last buildable properties along the Intracoastal Waterway.
“You’re not going to find a 19-acre private property with waterfront that you see here today,” said Brian Seymour, an attorney for the developers.
Huizenga Holdings is led by H. Wayne Huizenga, Jr., the son of late billionaire H. Wayne Huizenga who is best known for building up companies like Waste Management, Blockbuster Video, Extended Stay America and AutoNation. The Huizengas are the longtime owners of the Rybovich Marina site, and also have an ownership stake in Safe Harbor.
H. Wayne Huizenga, Jr. and his wife own the nearby waterfront house at 3100 North Flagler Drive, which they bought for $5 million in 2018. Property records show the county estimates its market value at $26.6 million.
Integra is led by Paulo Tavares de Melo, Nelson Stabile and Victor Ballestas. The Huizengas and Integra tapped architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, known for its role in Related Companies’ Hudson Yards megaproject in New York City, to design the marina district.
The planned Rybovich Marina condos are among the more than 2,000 units planned for West Palm Beach. Since the 2014 approval, the pandemic triggered a dramatic wealth migration to Palm Beach County, transforming the region and its real estate market.
