Berkeley Breaks Ground in West Palm Beach With $125M Presold
The 25-story Clear Lake tower moved past $125 million in sales before its groundbreaking cleared the ground floor.
The Berkeley Palm Beach, a 25-story condominium tower at 550 South Australian Avenue in West Palm Beach, has broken ground with more than $125 million in sales already closed or under contract, developer Australian Properties Group said. The project is led by veteran West Palm Beach developer Al Adelson, who built the nearby Bristol tower on Flagler Drive.
Why it matters
A tower clearing $125 million in sales before its groundbreaking finishes is a demand read for West Palm Beach’s luxury pipeline, not just one building’s marketing win. Adelson sold out the 68-unit Bristol in 2019 and is now testing whether that same buyer, the full-time Northeast transplant paying cash for a second or primary home, still shows up at nearly triple the unit count. Early results say yes: more than $40 million of the total sold since April alone, according to Behind The Hedges. For other developers underwriting sites in the South Florida market, a presale pace this fast ahead of vertical construction argues for pulling forward launch timing rather than waiting for shovels in the ground to prove demand.
The numbers
The tower will hold 193 residences, including four penthouses, priced from roughly $2.5 million to more than $12 million, with two- to five-bedroom layouts and 9- to 11-foot ceilings. Units above the 15th floor get dual water views, sunrise over the Intracoastal and Atlantic on one side and sunset over Clear Lake on the other. Arquitectonica designed the building. Completion is expected in 2029.
What’s next
Construction continues on the Clear Lake site through 2029, with sales activity expected to keep building as floors rise and buyers can walk finished model residences. Douglas Elliman is handling sales and marketing, led by Florida region CEO Jay Phillip Parker. The broader West Palm Beach pipeline, including Adelson’s own two-tower track record, will be the test of whether $125 million in day-one demand for The Berkeley reflects a durable local buyer pool or a ceiling for how much ultra-luxury inventory the Clear Lake corridor can absorb before it competes with itself.