By: KeyCrew Media
The offer works out to $2.4 million per unit. Portofino South faces a $12 million repair bill. And just five holdout owners can kill the entire deal.
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – A developer has placed a $430 million offer on two aging Intracoastal condo buildings in West Palm Beach – and some owners are still saying no.
BEKO Equities, a joint venture between Miami-based Immocorp Capital and Hong Kong’s O.D. Kobo, is targeting Portofino South at 3800 Washington Road and Flagler Yacht Club at 3701 South Flagler Drive. The offer breaks down to $250 million for Portofino South’s 140 units and $150 to $180 million for Flagler Yacht Club’s 39 units – roughly $2.4 million per unit across both buildings, making it one of the largest condo buyout offers in the city’s history.
The two buildings sit on seven acres of prime Intracoastal waterfront, directly across the water from Mar-a-Lago, adjacent to the El Cid and SoSo neighborhoods. That location is the driving force behind the offer. Land like this simply does not come to market through conventional means.
But the deal has a significant obstacle. Under Portofino South’s governing documents, just 5% of owners – five out of 140 – can block the sale. BEKO needs near-unanimous agreement, and the building’s association president has publicly opposed the transaction, describing Portofino South as a “jewel” worth preserving.
The challenge facing that position is financial reality. Portofino South was built in 1971. Under Florida’s post-Surfside safety legislation, the building now faces a $12 million repair bill to meet inspection requirements. Owners must weigh their share of that assessment against a buyout price of $2.4 million per unit.
Larry Mastropieri, broker and founder of The Mastropieri Group, explained the dynamics of deals like this on the Discover South Florida podcast. “How it works is they propose a number. And then the owners vote. And then if the vote doesn’t go through, maybe they propose another number.” He also noted a common developer tactic: “These guys who are buying these buildings, a lot of times, like the way Related Ross did it, they had bought a bunch of units already. So they were a big owner in the building already.”
BEKO has stated that it wants all owners on board before proceeding, citing the Biscayne 21 situation in Miami, where holdout owners kept a buyout tied up in court for years as the kind of outcome they want to avoid.
The corridor surrounding these buildings is already in motion. Fort Partners paid $100 million for Harbor Towers at 3901 S. Flagler Drive. Related Ross is closing on Southbridge, a 63-unit building at 3915 S. Flagler Drive. The Kolter Group purchased a 38-unit Intracoastal building for $37.6 million. And Kolter and Perko are building Maison d’Or, a 39-unit luxury project on a 1.4-acre lot situated between Portofino South and Flagler Yacht Club.
Mastropieri notes the broader pattern for Palm Beach County condo owners: as repair costs rise and developer demand concentrates along South Florida’s most desirable waterfront corridors, buyout pressure on aging buildings will only increase. For owners in older buildings, the question is increasingly not whether an offer will arrive – but whether they’ll be ready when it does.
Larry Mastropieri is the founder and broker of The Mastropieri Group, a luxury real estate firm serving Palm Beach and Broward Counties. He hosts the Discover South Florida podcast at discoversouthflorida.com or can be reached at (561) 556-9853.
Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is based on publicly available reports and commentary at the time of writing and is intended for general informational purposes only. The referenced property values, financial figures, and market conditions may change, and actual outcomes or metrics may vary. Statements from individuals quoted reflect their personal observations and professional opinions.
