Nov. 1--The Seagate Hotel & Spa in Delray Beach threw open its doors this weekend, ushering in a new era of luxury for this increasingly chic seaside town.

In addition to 162 elaborate, expansive rooms, the Seagate boasts an 8,000-square-foot spa, the Atlantic Grille restaurant and access to the nearby Seagate Beach Club on the ocean. And if you like aquariums, you'll love the Seagate: The hotel has several tanks, including an aquarium in the bar filled with jellyfish.

The Atlantic Avenue project, in the works for three years, establishes the city's first luxury boutique hotel. Developer E. Anthony Wilson calls the Seagate "a whole new dimension in hospitality for the city." And the amenities -- and room rates -- are on a par with other luxury resorts in the county. Rooms are being offered at an introductory rate of $160, but they could go as high as the $450-$700 range during winter season, Wilson said.

But is this the best of times to be opening a luxe hotel? "Needless to say, we wish the economy were a lot better than it is now," Wilson said. "But these are cycles, and we've been in them before." And anyway, he added, "There aren't people building new hotels to compete with us in the Delray market for a while."

Although Atlantic Avenue has been an oasis of activity in an otherwise disastrous retail climate, Wilson acknowledges there's no sure bet that the action will spill over to the Seagate. But he's hopeful.

For one, the Seagate is expected to be popular with members of the Seagate Beach Club seeking a place to accommodate visiting family and friends. Then there's the club itself, which hotel guests can visit -- via a complimentary trolley -- to enjoy beachside dining or a dip in the pool.

But even the locals should check out the Seagate, Wilson says. "It's a getaway place. You'll think you're in the Caribbean, but you'll be saving all that airfare."

For Jorge Pesquera, chief executive of the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Seagate is an important addition to the county's hotel inventory: "We're tickled pink. It's in one of the coolest urban centers in the county."

The Seagate also could spur greater interest in the county by leisure visitors, Pesquera said. A number of the area's resorts have switched their emphasis to leisure visitors from corporate patrons because of the decline in corporate meetings and travel. The move has been successful, Pesquera said, and he thinks the Seagate also can win if it taps into this market, too.

For more information, check out www.theseagate hotel.com.

Z

At one time, the property known as The Arches was a beacon of hope for Boynton Beach's downtown revitalization. The ambitious mixed-use condo and retail project even counted former West Palm Beach Mayor Nancy Graham as one of its developers.

But now the Arches property is going begging for a new owner, via a real estate agent who is trying to sell the land. The price?

Make an offer.

That's right, the 4.6-acre vacant property, zoned for 378 luxury residential units and more than 40,000 square feet of space, no longer has a price. An e-mail pitch for the land, on the southwest corner of Ocean Avenue and U.S. 1, shows it once was offered for sale at $18 million. But these days, it's difficult to know the true value of land, especially land set aside for out-of-favor condos.

What a far cry from six years ago, when the $104 million project was considered a linchpin in the city's redevelopment.

Since then, however, most of Boynton's redevelopment dreams have died, right along with the residential real estate market. (As for Graham, she got out of the project early on and sold her interest to another developer. The land's current owner is Centrum Properties of Chicago.)

Jim Kazaros, a CB Richard Ellis associate who is tasked with selling the land, said there is some interest in the site. After all, the property is in a high-traffic spot. But Kazaros said the interest mostly is from developers interested in using the site for retail. That was one of the land's original uses before businesses and shops were torn down to make way for the never-built condo.

--

Meanwhile, the nearby Promenade condominium in Boynton Beach is built -- but empty. That is a problem not only for its developer but for its construction lender, too.

In March 2007, Anglo Irish Bank of Dublin made a $114 million construction loan on the condo project. Typically, construction lenders are paid back by developers through the sale of condo units. But since the twin-tower Promenade received its certificate of occupancy on Aug. 25, no closings have taken place. Promenade officials still are trying to reach 51 percent pre-sales in at least one tower. Fannie Mae requires this threshold before it will buy mortgages made to that condo.

With the Promenade's future uncertain, so is Anglo Irish's loan. Reportedly, the bank has been considering the sale of the loan at a discount, an increasingly common practice for lenders saddled with troubled properties. An Anglo Irish official in Boston did not return a phone call seeking comment.

In the scheme of things, the Promenade loan may not have a big effect on Anglo Irish, which lent heavily to the construction sector and hasn't looked pretty all this year. Anglo Irish was nationalized by the Irish government in January.

Alexandra Clough writes about the economy, real estate and the law. Contact her at alexandra_clough@pbpost.com.

-----

To see more of The Palm Beach Post -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.palmbeachpost.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Palm Beach Post, Fla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. NYSE:STX, NYSE:CBG, NYSE:FNM,