WCI to sell 858-acre Jupiter parcel

By Brian Bandell

04/08/2005

"It's very valuable land - the next logical developable large parcel in north county," said Bill Hall, director of new homes and communities for Jupiter-based Illustrated Properties, and chairman of the Palm Beach County Land Use Advisory Board. "If they can take a pretty good profit just off the unit price of the dirt, rather than developing it, that would be a good move."

Hall estimated the value of the vacant Jupiter office building WCI wanted to throw into the county deal at about $3.5 million. With that, WCI's asking price for Parcel 19 would have been about $146.5 million.

There's tremendous demand for new single-family homes in northern Palm Beach County, but little inventory, Hall said.

The Florida Association of Realtors report for February showed a 35 percent increase in the median price of Palm Beach County homes, to $352,900, while sales declined 15 percent to 908.

New homes on Parcel 19 could sell for well above the median price, especially if they're built well, Hall said.

However, he'd recommend ditching the golf course plans for the site in exchange for more homes because a golf course wouldn't help solve the issue of residential demand and would create fertilizer runoff too close to the Loxahatchee River.

"Look at the number of golf courses we have in Palm Beach County," he said. "We don't need another one."

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