Compass is taking over sales for Savanna’s waterfront Olara condo project in West Palm Beach, The Real Deal has learned.
The move follows two years after the New York-based developer launched sales for the planned two-tower complex slated for 1919 North Flagler Drive with Douglas Elliman Development Marketing at the helm. Compass’ sales team will include Alison Newton and Chris Deitz, according to a press release. Newton joined Compass earlier this month, after working with Elliman for eight years, her LinkedIn shows.
Sources say the project, which will include 287 condos and 170 rental units in its 26-story towers, is about 50 percent presold, a number that has underwhelmed market insiders.
“You would expect to have better sales or sales further down the road at this point in Olara,” Erin Sykes with Sykes Properties told TRD last month.
Billionaire Jeff Greene pointed to Olara’s sales velocity as explanation to why he has not launched sales for his planned Herzog & de Mueron-designed condo project.
“If Olara was at 75 percent, and South Flagler was 80 percent sold, of course we would just do whatever it takes [to launch],” he said.
The sales were at least enough to satisfy lenders. In March, Savanna, led by Chris Schlank and Nicholas Bienstock, landed a $380 million construction loan for Olara. Zeckendorf Development, Sculptor Real Estate, One Investment Management (OneIM) and Octo Capital provided the financing.
Savanna tapped Bernardo Fort-Brescia’s Arquitectonia and interiors firm Gabellini Sheppard Associates to design the tower, with landscapes by EDEA. Units in the project will span between two- to four-bedrooms and range from 1,500 square feet to 4,200 square feet. Prices start at $2 million. Amenities will include a 13,000-square-foot fitness center, a juice bar, two pools, spa facilities and a Japanese onsen, the release shows. Savanna has also been offering buyers a one-year membership to the concierge medicine provider Sollis. Olara is also slated to have a José Andrés Group restaurant.
Olara is one of more than a dozen condo projects planned in West Palm Beach. More than 2,000 units are in the pipeline, predominantly in the waterfront Flagler Drive corridor.
