The 55-unit tower is the only finished building on a West Palm Beach corridor where everything else is still a construction site. Now open, with most of its water-view homes already claimed.
Key Takeaways
- Alba is the first newly completed waterfront condo tower on West Palm Beach's North Flagler corridor.
- The 22-story building holds 55 residences starting at $2.5 million, with 95% of its water-view homes sold.
- Bigger towers like Olara and Shorecrest are still under construction nearby, leaving Alba the finished outlier.
Let's zoom out on West Palm Beach for a second. For the last few years, the waterfront north of downtown has been one long construction zone, with crane after crane going up along Flagler Drive. Most of those towers are still a year or two from move-in. Alba is the exception.
According to Florida YIMBY, Alba Palm Beach has opened at 4714 N. Flagler Drive in the Northwood section of West Palm Beach, and it is the first newly completed waterfront condo building on this stretch. It is small on purpose: 22 stories, 55 residences, with prices that start at $2.5 million.
The developer says 95% of the direct water-view residences are already sold. This is the real story: it tells you what buyers actually want right now.
What exactly is Alba, and who built it?
Alba is a 22-story tower with just 55 residences, making it tiny compared to the buildings rising around it - a boutique condo. It was designed by Spina O'Rourke + Partners, with Tammy O'Rourke leading the architecture and interiors, and developed by BGI Companies in partnership with Blue Road. Moss handled construction, and One Sotheby's International Realty is running sales.
The developer behind it, Kenneth Baboun from BGI, says he spotted this piece of waterfront about six years ago and bet on two things:
- The Northwood neighborhood turning a corner, and
- Demand for a smaller, finished waterfront product instead of another giant high-rise.
Northwood is a historic West Palm Beach neighborhood with a growing arts and dining strip, and it now sits right next to multimillion-dollar towers.
Alba amenities: every residence has a water view, most floor plans include a den or media room, and the kitchens come from Italkraft. The building has more than 25,000 square feet of shared space, including private dining with wine storage, a Technogym fitness center, separate sunrise and sunset pools, and day docks on the Intracoastal. Buyers also get a Mount Sinai medical concierge service and a one-year Palm Beach Yacht Club membership. At the top, six residences make up the Horizon Penthouse Collection on floors 19 to 21, priced from $6.95 million, with 11-foot ceilings and private elevator access.
Why did the water-view units sell first?
The best units went first: 95% of Alba's water-view residences are sold already. The ones without a wide water view are harder to sell.
Larry Mastropieri has talked about this pattern on the Discover South Florida Podcast: developers price and release the best units early, and the buyers who move fast get the cream of the building. As Larry put it, "You kind of want to be early with the best unit if you can".
And that is how it went at Alba: the lower-cost street-view units tend to sit, while the water-view units in the middle of the building move the fastest. Makes sense, right? If you are buying into a brand-new build, you want those water views.
The other thing buyers like about Alba is its size. A 55-unit building has more character than a 300-unit tower, and it does not feel like a vertical city the way some Miami high-rises do.
The trade-off is cost. Smaller buildings spread their operating expenses across fewer owners, so the monthly fees tend to run higher. Larry's read is that fees in a building like this can run $5,000-plus, so that is a number worth pinning down before you choose a unit.
What does a finished tower tell us about the market?
A finished, mostly-sold building is a real demand signal, especially when the rest of the corridor is still pouring concrete. Put Alba next to its neighbors on Flagler:
- Olara (1919 N. Flagler): 26 stories, 275 condos plus 210 rentals, from roughly $1.7 million, under construction with completion around 2027 to 2028.
- Shorecrest (1865 N. Flagler): 28 stories, 98 units, from about $3.5 million, under construction with completion around 2027, by Related Ross.
Both of those are bigger than Alba, and both are still a year or two from being finished. Alba's pitch is the opposite of scale: a finished boutique you can move into now, in a building where the best units are mostly gone. For a certain buyer, that scarcity is the entire appeal.
Here's the honest part: this is not the 2021 or 2022 market, when prices seemed to climb every month. West Palm Beach has had a remarkable run, but things have cooled. We have clients who bought pre-construction thinking they locked in a steal, and some are finding that reselling is harder than they expected. A premium product in a strong location can still be slow to resell if you bought at the peak and prices have since leveled off. That is worth remembering whether you are looking at Alba or anywhere else on this coast.
Wondering whether a finished boutique tower or a pre-construction unit makes more sense for you? Talk to a real estate agent in West Palm Beach who tracks every new building on the Flagler corridor and what they are actually selling for. Reach out to The Mastropieri Group or call (561) 556-9853.
What is coming next on this stretch of West Palm Beach?
Just north of the building, GL Homes is assembling about 100 parcels to tear down and rebuild as new single-family homes starting around $1.5 million, a project called NOMAR. That is a national master-plan builder doing something it almost never does: buying up a neighborhood lot by lot. It is a strong signal about where this part of the city is heading.
The thing to keep in mind is that this stretch is still in the middle of the transformation. You could own a $5 million condo and still pull out of the building onto a block that is actively under construction. The arts strip and the new homes are coming, but a lot of it is not here yet, so buying now is really a bet on the corridor's future, not its present. For some buyers, that is the appeal, getting in before the area catches up to the price tag; but for others, it is a reason to wait.
One thing working in Alba's favor: the Intracoastal is wider here than in much of West Palm Beach, so the water views are genuinely wide. If the view is what you are paying for, this stretch delivers it, which is a big part of why the best units did not last long.
Want to see what else is selling nearby? Start with homes for sale in West Palm Beach.
Watch More on This Topic: Watch this segment | Full Episode | Watch Last week's recap
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Alba Palm Beach located?
Alba sits at 4714 N. Flagler Drive in the Northwood section of West Palm Beach, on the Intracoastal just north of downtown. It is the first newly completed waterfront condo tower on the North Flagler corridor.
How much do Alba Palm Beach condos cost?
Prices started at $2.5 million. The 22-story building has 55 residences, including the six-home Horizon Penthouse Collection on floors 19 to 21, priced from $6.95 million, which features 11-foot ceilings and private elevator access.
Is Alba Palm Beach sold out?
Not the whole building. The developer says 95% of the direct water-view residences are sold, which is not the same as 95% of all units. The four-bedroom townhomes are sold out, while some units without a direct water view may still be available.
Can you keep a boat at Alba Palm Beach?
Alba sits directly on the Intracoastal and offers day docks for residents, which are built for short-term use rather than permanent slips. Buyers also get a one-year Palm Beach Yacht Club membership. For full-time boat storage, you would still look to a nearby marina, but day-to-day water access is part of the building.
What other condo towers are being built nearby?
Several. Olara and Shorecrest are larger waterfront towers still under construction on North Flagler. Just north of Alba, GL Homes is also building roughly 100 new single-family homes in its NOMAR project.
Local help for buyers and investors in West Palm Beach
If you are buying, selling, or investing in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, or Palm Beach Gardens, it helps to work with a team that follows every new tower and what it means for nearby values. Reach out to The Mastropieri Group, Realtors®. For practical, hands-on support across West Palm Beach, call (561) 556-9853.
Posted by Larry Mastropieri
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