The Breakers Palm Beach is ripping out its longtime family activity building, clearing prime oceanfront real estate for a sprawling new entertainment complex aimed at resort guests and club members. Crews have already taken down large sections of the older structure, kicking off the latest phase of a multi-year revitalization of the 140-acre property.
According to town records, a demolition permit issued last month allows the resort to swap its roughly 12,100-square-foot family facility for about 46,800 square feet of entertainment space. The town pegged the demolition cost at $124,570 and estimates the tear-out is already about 45 percent complete. Those specifics were reported by The Real Deal.
What's being built
The approved concept calls for a mix of indoor and outdoor attractions, casual dining and what the resort has described as immersive programming. Town records and earlier coverage outline plans for a mini-golf course, bocce area and playground as part of the package.
When the council signed off last year, officials framed the new center as an amenity geared primarily toward resort guests and club members, with the possibility of testing broader public access after an initial season. As the Palm Beach Daily News noted in May 2025, that earlier version clocked in at roughly 16,675 square feet. The latest permit significantly ups that footprint.
Resort-wide renovations
The entertainment complex is only one piece of a larger face-lift. Plans also call for upgrades to the Mediterranean courtyard, a roughly 16,000-square-foot space the resort intends to pair with a new 1,800-square-foot glass conservatory, creating a more formal event and gathering area.
The town has already approved another major change: replacing the central surface parking lot with an underground garage and a smaller surface lot above it. The resort told officials it expects to debut the new family facility in spring 2028, although reopening timelines for the courtyard and other projects have not been publicly pinned down. Those project details and the construction schedule are laid out in town permits and reporting by The Real Deal.
Worker housing tie-in
Behind the scenes, the Breakers is also working on where its people will live. Offsite, an affiliate of the resort paid about $9.1 million in March for roughly 2.4 acres along North Australian Avenue in West Palm Beach, then combined that land with an adjacent parcel it picked up in 2024 to assemble a larger site for housing.
The combined property is slated for an eight-story, 155-unit apartment building described in city filings and local reports as an employer-based workforce housing development intended for staff. Commercial Observer reviewed the planning documents and property records.
Timeline, neighbors and design
On the island, town leaders attached strings to their approval. The Breakers must sign construction management agreements and a traffic plan that incorporate feedback from nearby Main Street residents, and the project still needs final design approval from the Architectural Commission before the new center fully takes shape.
Resort executives told the council the facility will initially be reserved for guests and club members. As Palm Beach Daily News reported, CEO Paul Leone told officials, "I would love for it to be open to the public, but I think it's a very different program in this building."
For now, demolition continues on the oceanfront campus while the Breakers and town staff work through a stack of permits and design reviews that will determine how the expansion fits into the island streetscape. Founded in 1896 by Henry Flagler and still family-owned, the resort operates from One South County Road in Palm Beach, according to the resort’s site.
