📸 Exclusive: City offers $1 million to retake Photo Centre spot
The deal hinges on a concession by Palm Beach County.
The days of the Palm Beach Photographic Centre in downtown West Palm Beach appear to be numbered.
The key numbers: $1.09 million and 365 days.
That’s how much the city of West Palm Beach has offered to pay to make the Photo Centre give up the remaining 15 years on its 30-year, $10 lease on Clematis Street at the base of the city library.
The second number is how many days the city is giving the nonprofit to get out once the deal is formalized.
But there’s a catch. The deal hinges on Palm Beach County.
The county gave the Photo Centre $500,000 in 2008 with the warning that the money would be returned if the Photo Centre left its Clematis Street home before the lease expired. If the county doesn’t agree to give up its claim to the $500,000, the settlement becomes “null and void.”
How we got here: West Palm Beach sued in June 2022 to evict the Photo Centre from its 26,000-square-foot space.
City officials haven’t said publicly what they want to put there but in legal papers, the attorney for the Photo Centre said officials wanted to get market-rate rents for the prominent Clematis Street location.
The Photo Centre maintains that it draws tourists and visitors, generating economic impact akin to the Kravis Center.
The two sides came to terms during mediation in March.
On Monday, the settlement goes to the West Palm Beach Commission.
Officials expect to know the county’s answer before the meeting.
But, this. Since the settlement paying the Photo Centre $1.09 million can’t go forward without the county giving up its claim to $500,000, the county’s answer is critical.
Of note. In 2006, when considering whether the city could do better leasing the space at market rates rather than luring the Photo Centre from Delray Beach, a city official estimated the site could bring in $670,000 a year in rent — or $10 million over 30 years.
ICYMI: Read Joel’s original story on the city’s move to remove the Photo Centre.
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