Carolyn DiPaoloNew York developer proposes 298-unit condominium building on east side of Blue Heron Boulevard bridge, near famed dive spot.
A New York-based developer is proposing a sweeping 28-story luxury condominium on Singer Island at the eastern edge of the Blue Heron Boulevard Bridge.
Representatives of The Continuum Co. filed site plans last month with Riviera Beach for a building called Singer Island Gateway to contain 298 residences and a restaurant and stores on the Intracoastal Waterway west of 2525 Lake Drive.
Miami-based Arquitectonia designed the project. It would include a 25,000-square-foot public open space on the north end of the site along Blue Heron Boulevard and a marina, to push the building farther from the internationally renowned Phil Foster Park dive site under the bridge.
The scale of the project would dramatically change the look and feel of the low-rise neighborhood on the west side of the barrier island, just feet from Riviera Beach’s boundary with tiny Palm Beach Shores. It would also provide a significant boost to the city’s budget with property taxes and developer impact fees.
City and property records show the developer purchased six parcels south of Blue Heron and west of Lake Drive in 2019 and 2021 for $20.3 million. The developer plans to buy a seventh property for a total of about 3 acres.
If the project receives city approval, multifamily units will range from one bedroom to four bedrooms. As proposed, a parking garage on levels two through five would be lined with townhouses.
The project’s amenities would include a fitness center, lap pool, padel court and two pickleball courts.
Vehicle access to the property would be on Lake Drive.
Powerhouse developer
Continuum, known for high-density projects, is led by CEO Ian Bruce Eichner. In addition to the company’s large portfolio of buildings in New York City, Eichner developed The Continuum beachfront gated community in South Miami Beach.
His firm served as a development partner for The Cosmopolitan, a 6.5-million-square-foot resort and casino on 8.5 acres on the Las Vegas Strip.
In their application to the city, developers pledge that “one of the greatest contributions to the area will be a world-class marina, which will accommodate and benefit the local scuba diving community” by providing access to the dive site.
The developers noted that Riviera Beach’s 2023 Community Redevelopment Plan expressed community support for more intense and dense development on properties fronting the north and south sides of Blue Heron Boulevard, east of the bridge, reinforcing its role as the gateway to Singer Island.
Their plan to participate in the city’s minority hiring program allows for increased density and height.
Community reaction
Even though the proposal has not yet been the subject of a public hearing, residents are divided on it.
Susan Melamud, a Riviera Beach resident, spoke out against Singer Island Gateway at the March 4 City Council meeting.
She said she is concerned about potential damage to the popular snorkeling and diving reef around the bridge and excessive traffic from hundreds of new residents.
The building’s shadow over the Intracoastal Waterway would harm the endangered and threatened wildlife that gathers there and draws tourists from around the world to dive nearby, she said.
“The impact will be irreversible,” she said. “The casting of shadows from a high-rise building cannot be mitigated.”
A lively debate about the project is unfolding on the social media site Nextdoor.
“Construction of some kind is bound to happen there,” Riviera Beach resident JB Dixson wrote last week. “Some people, I guess, miss the ratty old Days Inn where the Ritz-Carlton now stands and the ‘hot sheets’ motel and dive bar that I remember where the Amrit now stands. The good old days.”
Continuum has created a website about the project called 2525lakedrive.com. A representative of the company could not be reached for comment.
The website contains renderings, economic impact and traffic reports and a study of the shadow the building would cast on the Intracoastal Waterway.
The Singer Island Gateway proposal is undergoing city staff review and would require approval by the Planning and Zoning Board, the Community Redevelopment Agency and the City Council.
I am a co-founder, writer and editor for Stet News. I am also a former senior editor at The Palm Beach Post. For 20 years, I oversaw some of the most consequential stories published by the paper, including the “Corruption County” reporting project that led to multiple arrests of elected officials. I am a member of the Leadership Palm Beach County Class of 2013. I live in West Palm Beach with my husband, Bill DiPaolo.
