Palm Beach Reopens (Gently) and Braces for a Strange Summer Season
From the moment it was developed in the late 1800s by Standard Oil tycoon Henry Flagler, the Florida barrier island known as Palm Beach has been the winter getaway of choice for a certain set of .01 percenters. In early years, it was Marjorie Merriweather Post, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and various Kennedys. Today’s list includes Kochs, Rosses, the rockstar Rod Stewart, and of course, the President of the United States.
The Palm Beach “season” used to run from Christmas until Easter, but it has lengthened in recent decades due to Florida’s alluring lack of income and estate taxes (those declaring the state their primary home arrive in early November, since voting records are a significant piece of the puzzle in establishing residency, and stick around past Mother’s Day).
This year started with some promising bashes, but by mid-March, when the town should have been overflowing with visitors, restaurants were shuttered, condo buildings were placed under strict lockdown, with only residents and immediate family allowed on premises, and barricades and security vehicles blocked the grand promenade leading to the Breakers resort
And while many of the bold-faced names associated with Palm Beach decided to shelter-in-place among the sheltering palms—as evidenced by wistful Instagram posts of Palm Beach locales from folks like socialites Hilary Geary Ross and Sharon Bush, Broadway producer Catherine Adler, telecommunications entrepreneur Don Burns, and fashion designer Tomas Meier—there were no glittering black tie balls, beach-side parties, or firework-capped galas.
Indeed, aside from a few shell shocked zombies wandering the streets in Lilly Pulitzer get-ups or tennis whites, the only notable social activity was a trickle of Range Rovers and Bentleys making pickups from the restaurants and clubs that offered takeout food.
The Reopening
Palm Beach’s infection and death rate have been mercifully low, thanks, many believe, to the town’s early intervention and strong leadership. But Florida governor Ron DeSantis has been more aggressive in his re-opening strategy. Following White House guidelines, he lifted the stay-at-home order for much of the state on May 4 and the rest, including Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties on May 11.
That meant Palm Beach restaurants could open with 25% capacity indoors along with socially distanced tables outdoors. Within days, those limitations were relaxed to 50%. Tennis courts were re-opened (singles only) as were golf courses. Community and condo pools were allowed to reopen, with restrictions on capacity.
The Breakers announced it would start accepting reservations on May 22 and, in anticipation of seeing at least half of its 538 rooms occupied, the hotel gussied up for Memorial Day Weekend, illuminating its twin bell towers in red, white, and blue.
In the days leading up to the weekend, Palm Beachers began to appear at their favorite haunts for alfresco or socially distanced dining. Venues such as The Colony Hotel and newcomer LoLa 41 saw brisk business on their terraces. Eric Lemonides, the genial co-owner of Almond, the Hamptons hotspot that just unveiled a Palm Beach outpost, was particularly thrilled to welcome diners again, even though it meant setting up elaborate barriers between tables.
“The town has been awesome, temporarily allowing us to expand onto sidewalks and streets,” he said. Mar-a-Lago’s beach club has been up and running since May 16, although the main mansion, home to the Trump apartment, remains shuttered.
Meanwhile, Palm Beach’s real estate market has had both brokers’ and buyers’ heads spinning. “April saw a significant downturn in activity. However in early May the floodgates opened,” said Douglas Elliman’s Burt Minkoff.
“There’s increased activity in product, especially for next fall and winter, due to the uncertainty of a possible second wave. City dwellers are very concerned about being confined to their apartments again, especially those with school age children. So we’re seeing young families looking to completely relocate to Palm Beach, along with empty nesters and, honestly, anyone who doesn’t have to physically work in an office. There’s a general fleeing of the cities. The values are being rewritten on a weekly basis.”
Last week, the Palm Beach Daily News reported record-breaking deals, including the late shopping mall developer Alfred Taubman’s estate, which just sold for $46.75 million, and another newly built spec house near the Everglades Club, that went into contract for $45 million.
Now that Memorial Day has passed (sadly, it rained all weekend) some of Palm Beach’s well-heeled migratory denizens have begun their annual “When” and “Where” conversations, although this year they’re also peppering in, “Want to share a chartered jet?”
But many who usually hightail it out of town around now have turned their eye on outbreak rates at summer vacation hotspots like the Hamptons, Tuscany, and the Greek Islands, and are contemplating staying put well into June, if not July. As one pragmatist put it, “It’s probably better here than there, at least for now.”
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