Unicorp under contract to buy West Palm co-op for $200M
A 1961 waterfront co-op on North Flagler Drive draws a nine-figure bet as scarce Intracoastal land pushes developers toward buyouts.
Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments is under contract to buy out La Fontana, a 140-unit waterfront co-op on West Palm Beach’s North Flagler Drive, for roughly $200 million, one of the largest South Florida buyout bets aimed at redeveloping an aging building on scarce Intracoastal land.
Unicorp founder and CEO Chuck Whittall has the 10-story property, built in 1961 at 2800 North Flagler Drive, under contract at about $1.4 million per unit. The co-op board unanimously approved the deal, and owners first signed a letter of intent with a developer in November 2025. The sale is expected to close in 2027.
Why it matters
The deal underscores a defining trend in Palm Beach County and across South Florida: with waterfront land nearly built out, developers increasingly buy entire aging condo and co-op buildings to assemble redevelopment sites. Post-Surfside safety reserves and inspection mandates have raised the cost of owning in older towers, nudging longtime owners toward collective sales, and handing well-capitalized sponsors a path to prime parcels they otherwise could not buy.
The numbers
At about $200 million, or $1.4 million per unit for 140 apartments, the contract prices the 1961 building far above its use as housing, the math of a land play, not an income buy. The building sits directly on the Intracoastal Waterway, a stretch where comparable development sites almost never trade.
What’s next
Whittall said he is “investigating all the development possibilities for the property” but has not disclosed a plan, and any redevelopment would still need city entitlements. With a 2027 close targeted, the buyout adds to a steady run of capital chasing redevelopable waterfront across South Florida even as financing stays selective.