What's the Deal? | Inside the $16.95M Record Penthouse at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, West Palm Beach with Related Group's Amro Zakarni

A penthouse on North Flagler Drive has gone under contract at a number the corridor has never seen. Penthouse A at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, West Palm Beach is under contract at $16.95 million, which the developer says is the highest-priced condominium sale ever recorded on North Flagler Drive by both total price and price per square foot. The sale was brokered by Chris Leavitt and Joe Columbo of Douglas Elliman.

The 27th-floor residence spans 4,897 square feet of interior space plus roughly 1,200 square feet of wraparound terrace, with four bedrooms, five-and-a-half bathrooms, a private elevator entry, 12-foot ceilings, and unobstructed southeast views across the Intracoastal Waterway, Palm Beach Island, and the Atlantic. That works out to over $3,000 per interior square foot. The buyer is a Palm Beach resident trading up to a larger primary residence without leaving the area.

Related Group and BH Group are developing the 134-residence, 27-story tower located at 1717 N. Flagler Drive, with architecture by Arquitectonica, interiors by Rockwell Group and sales led by Douglas Elliman. Delivery is slated for 2028, and three units remain.

Traded spoke with Amro Zakarni, Senior Vice President of Development at Related Group, about the transaction, the absorption behind it, and what a three-handle price per square foot signals for the West Palm Beach market.

A Double First

For Zakarni, the significance is in two numbers at once.

"So to have a three-handle price per square foot on a sale on North Flagler Drive is probably something that the market has never seen. And a chunk price that large is also a first. So it's like a double first, if you will."

The pace preceded it. The tower moved more than $450 million of inventory in roughly six months, a run Zakarni calls "a great, great pace" and credits equally to his team and to the city itself.

"Every other day you have a new hospital, a new school, a new restaurant, a new hedge fund. It's humming, and it doesn't feel like it's stopping at all."

The residence was reworked before contract, though less than one might expect. The only structural change was combining two bedrooms into a single large suite at the rear. Zakarni declined to take personal credit for the result:

"There's no one person that does this. It's the whole team. And including the buyer."

Why This One

Asked what separates the penthouse from anything else a buyer at that level could choose in South Florida, Zakarni ran the list: unobstructed Intracoastal views, walking distance to the offices, shops and restaurants, Arquitectonica architecture, Rockwell interiors and Ritz-Carlton service.

"It's very tough to beat. If you could name me one more project in that jurisdiction or in the county that has that, there are none. You're swimming in a lake of your own."

The brand premium, he said, is measurable, not theoretical. Run the comps on absorption and location, and the difference in execution and project timeline shows up plainly.

"We are watching what's selling on a weekly basis across all the projects and even across the resales. It's very obvious, at least to us."

Who's Buying

Demand is coming largely from high- and ultra-high-net-worth individuals relocating to the market and setting up offices, usually at partner or owner level. A second cohort is already local: buyers who landed in Palm Beach three to five years ago and are now either trading into an ultra-luxury condo or adding one as a second home for family.

Job market, lifestyle, water views, weather and office presence are the common drivers, Zakarni said, though "the whys of each buyer are very unique."

He believes there is room for more.

"The level of absorption has certainly exceeded expectations, and I think the market is poised to absorb another few ultra-luxury projects," he said, provided location, offering, brand, design and team all line up. "I do feel that it hasn't evolved to its maximum capacity just yet."

The Lesson in the Price

With only three units left, the record does little to reprice this building. It will inform the next one.

"Had I had a crystal ball and someone told me, hey, you're going to sell the penthouse at this price, yeah, probably the rest of the building wouldn't have sold at the prices that they did. Which is all know-how and a lesson learned."

The discipline, he argued, is research, identifying which clientele is underserved and still has real depth behind it.

"And thankfully, The Ritz-Carlton Residences was that one. I think that's what sets us apart."

Post-contract, most of the work has run through the buyer's interior designer, translating changes into building plans and permits.

"It's been extremely seamless, to be honest. I don't think there were any hiccups at all."

The relationship is meant to outlast the closing; Related sees repeat buyers move from project to project.

"It's really nice to see some familiar names from one project to the other."

Interview conducted by Traded for its What's the Deal series. Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.