For the buyer leaving a house with a driveway who wants dinner, a coffee and the water on foot, and wants to know which of the two places delivers that from the front door rather than the brochure.
This page explains. Whether the building suits you is a separate conversation. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier for the current position on any building we cover.
Downtown West Palm Beach, by the published addresses. Banyan Tree Residences at 400 Hibiscus Street is the one building on our file whose developer places it downtown, near Worth Avenue, CityPlace and Royal Poinciana Plaza; Olara at 1919 North Flagler Drive publishes Currie Park and the NORA district as walkable; South Flagler House faces the Norton Sculpture Garden on the waterfront drive. Caretta in Juno Beach answers differently: the developer publishes more than 15 restaurants within two blocks of US Highway 1 and Donald Ross, and then publishes the drives, 10 minutes to Jupiter Inlet, 15 to Palm Beach Gardens, 25 to Palm Beach and the airport. Juno Beach walks to a small town; West Palm Beach walks to a city, from some doors and not from others. Service is the other half, and Caretta publishes the longest list of it.
Five axes, from the developers' published material only.
Caretta. Price point: no published entry price; released on request. Delivery: no date in the intake materials. Unit mix: 95 residences; the bedroom mix and sizes are not published. Position: US Highway 1 and Donald Ross, Juno Beach; more than 15 restaurants within two blocks; 10 minutes to Jupiter Inlet, 15 to Palm Beach Gardens, 25 to Palm Beach and Palm Beach International Airport. Operator or brand: JDL, the Chicago developer of 9 Walton and One Chicago; a 24/7 concierge, beach setup, housekeeping, in-home dining, dog walking, car detailing, dry cleaning, package assistance and lock-and-leave services; a resident lounge, bar and party room.
Banyan Tree Residences. Price point: no published entry price; released on request. Delivery: pre-construction, completion date not published. Unit mix: 88 residences plus a penthouse collection, one to four bedroom corner residences with wraparound terraces and 10 foot ceilings. Position: 400 Hibiscus Street, downtown West Palm Beach, moments from the Intracoastal, near Worth Avenue, CityPlace and Royal Poinciana Plaza. Operator or brand: Banyan Tree, with a dedicated 24 hour host and service team and The Sanctuary Club across more than 100 Banyan Group properties; OMA, Yabu Pushelberg; a full floor of wellness and spa.
Olara. Price point: no published entry price; released on request. Delivery: construction at floor 15 in August 2026, phased delivery late 2026 through 2028. Unit mix: 275 residences, two to four bedrooms plus den, 26 storeys, two assigned parking spaces per residence. Position: 1919 North Flagler Drive on the Intracoastal; Currie Park and the NORA district walkable per the developer; Worth Avenue minutes away. Operator or brand: Savanna; a 24 hour doorman, valet and security, a resident manager and concierge, dining by the Jose Andres Group, a private marina.
South Flagler House. Price point: no published entry price; released on request. Delivery: topped out November 2025, March 2027, reported on track. Unit mix: two 28 storey towers on 3.4 acres; Park Residences of about 1,800 to 3,000 square feet facing the Norton Sculpture Garden; approximately 80 percent sold. Position: 1355 South Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach, with a private porte-cochere. Operator or brand: Related Ross; Robert A.M. Stern Architects; a full spa, two private dining rooms, indoor pickleball.
Read Wynwood or the Design District: walkability and service, Mid-Beach or South Beach and Coconut Grove or Coral Gables for the same question on other pairs.
Only what the developer says it does. Caretta's sentence is the most concrete on our file: more than 15 restaurants within two blocks, which is a town's main street at the door, and the beach setup service in its list says the sand is close enough to carry a chair to without the developer putting a number on it. Banyan Tree's sentence is a downtown one: Hibiscus Street, with Worth Avenue, CityPlace and Royal Poinciana Plaza named as near, the first of them across the bridge on Palm Beach island. Olara's is a park and a district, Currie Park and NORA, named as walkable, with Worth Avenue minutes away, which is a drive. South Flagler House faces a sculpture garden and sits on a waterfront drive where the walk is along the water rather than to a shop. The honest reading is that West Palm Beach has one address on our file that walks to a downtown and two that walk to the water, while Juno Beach walks to a small town and drives to everything else. Read where Caretta is, and is it on the water, where Banyan Tree Residences is and living without a car at Olara.
Caretta publishes the longest list: a 24/7 concierge and maintenance, beach setup, housekeeping, in-home dining, dog walking, car detailing, dry cleaning, a handyman, package assistance and lock-and-leave services, for 95 homes. That is a hotel's menu in a building without a hotel, and the buyer asks which of those are in the monthly fee and which are billed per use. Banyan Tree publishes a dedicated 24 hour host and service team trained in its own hospitality, with The Sanctuary Club as the travelling benefit, for 88 homes. Olara publishes a 24 hour doorman, valet and security, a resident manager and concierge, a medical concierge by Sollis Health and a recovery spa managed by Arch Amenities, for 275 homes. South Flagler House publishes the amenity rather than the staff: the spa, the dining rooms, the business centre. The ratio matters more than the list, and the association budget says who is paid to stand where. Read which West Palm Beach condo has the best service, what the amenities are at Caretta and what the amenities are at Banyan Tree.
On both sides, more often than a brochure suggests. Caretta's own numbers are drives: 10, 15 and 25 minutes to the inlet, the Gardens, the island and the airport. Olara publishes two assigned parking spaces per residence with EV capability, which is a developer saying plainly that its owners drive. South Flagler House publishes a private porte-cochere. Banyan Tree names Worth Avenue as near, and Worth Avenue is across the water. The buyer who means to live without a car reads the published parking as a signal and then walks the block at seven in the evening in July, which is when a walkable address proves it. Read living without a car at South Flagler House, living without a car at Alba and West Palm Beach or Palm Beach for new construction.
Caretta suits the buyer who wants a small town at the door and the longest published service list north of Palm Beach, in a building of 95 homes. You give up a downtown, a date and a published plan mix. Read the Caretta buyer's guide.
Banyan Tree suits the buyer who wants to walk downtown West Palm Beach from a branded building of 88 homes with a host on duty. You give up the water at the door and a published completion date. Read the Banyan Tree buyer's guide.
Olara suits the buyer who wants a park and a district on foot, a marina below and a date on the calendar, in a building that runs on staff. You give up a small building's quiet. Read the Olara buyer's guide.
South Flagler House suits the buyer who wants the waterfront drive and Stern's architecture, delivered March 2027. You give up the shop at the corner. Read the South Flagler House buyer's guide.
Juno Beach or West Palm Beach for a buyer leaving a house and living part-time in West Palm Beach or Juno Beach read the same four buildings for two other readers. The desk walks the blocks with the buyer and reads the service list against the budget before the reservation.
Contact the desk at Miami Dossier for the current plans, pricing and availability as the developer releases them, discussed one to one.
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We hold no listings and we are not the developer. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier and we will tell you what applies to your situation, what does not, and where we would not proceed. Where a question is legal, tax or structuring, we introduce you to advisers who handle that properly rather than answering it ourselves.
Samuel Strauch is the owner of Metrik Real Estate. His team of agents represents buyers in Miami pre-construction.
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