Posted July 17, 2007 20:21

Phillips Point, the prestigious waterfront office towers on Flagler Drive, has sold for a record $200 million or $470 per square foot in one of the richest real estate deals in Palm Beach County history. The price represents a 45 percent increase over what the complex fetched just four years ago.

Even as Palm Beach County home values slump, prices of offices, warehouses and shopping centers soar, lending credence to what analysts claim is evidence of froth in the commercial real estate market. From Publix shopping centers to industrial land, investors have been throwing cash at Palm Beach County real estate. A Publix center in Greenacres sold earlier this year for $67 million, and 537 acres at the former Palm Beach Park of Commerce changed hands last month for $162 million. From Publix shopping centers to industrial land, investors have been throwing cash at Palm Beach County real estate. A Publix center in Greenacres sold earlier this year for $67 million, and 537 acres at the former Palm Beach Park of Commerce changed hands last month for $162 million. The 423,000-square-foot complex at 777 S.

Flagler Drive last sold in late 2003 for $138 million, when The Winter Organization and Heller Properties, both of New York, bought the property.

The $470 fetched by Phillips Point topped the $462-per-square-foot deal for the Grand Bank building on PGA Boulevard. Two office buildings on Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach this year sold for $600 per square foot, but $470 is the peak for properties west of the Intracoastal. With commercial properties showing strength the housing market can't be that far behind it.