Palm Beach County’s buzzy reputation as a center for business will continue to help the economy, and its commercial real estate, shine in 2025.
This means a continued demand for office space, restaurants, shops, hotels and more.
Business and government leaders ticked off a few features that make the county a very unique spot in the country — and the world.
There’s the COVID pandemic migration of companies and residents to the county, the coming Vanderbilt University graduate business school to West Palm Beach, and the expansion of healthcare companies, including a planned Cleveland Clinic hospital in downtown West Palm Beach.
All these projects “add credibility and legitimacy to West Palm Beach as a hub for fintech and healthcare,” said West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James. “People are looking at us and understanding that there is a bright future ahead.”
Is it time to take a breath and let all that growth settle in?
Not a chance, business leaders say.
“Economic development ebbs and flows, but we don’t want to rest,” said Kelly Smallridge, president of the Business Development Board, the county’s business recruitment arm.
Consider the latest ad campaign by the BDB to lure more Northeast companies to the county’s offices.
The BDB recently teased New Yorkers with a waterview photo of West Palm Beach and a cheeky message: “Dear NYC. It’s not you. It’s me. Love, #WallStreetSouth/#Palm Beach.”
The BDB isn’t just courting New Yorkers, either. Ad campaigns in Boston and Chicago are also set to launch.
Real estate developers in West Palm Beach, led by billionaire Stephen Ross, also are pursuing companies that may want to be near the soon-to-be-built Vanderbilt University graduate school campus downtown.
Palm Beach County’s outsized image is unlikely to diminish during the next four years.
As if anyone could forget when they turn on the television, president-elect Donald J. Trump is conducting presidential planning from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
He’s expected to spend even more time in Palm Beach during his coming presidency than during his last administration.
“We’re the center of the universe,” said Rick Gonzalez, a West Palm Beach architect.
“When you look at the world, everyone wants to be in the U.S.,” Gonzalez said. “And everyone wants to be in Florida. And then everyone wants to be in South Florida, and when they are in South Florida, they want to be in Palm Beach County. We’re it.”
