Briny Breezes Proposal May Change the Face of Palm Beach County Real Estate

A piece of South Florida real estate that was one of the last glimpses into the coastal lifestyle of a bygone era may soon be leveled to make way for high-end retail and commercial space, townhomes and condos in Boynton Beach.

Briny Breezes, the 43-acre oceanfront mobile home park in Boynton Beach, has a deal on the table from Boca Raton developer Ocean Land that will make some of the trailer residents millionaires. Ocean Land has proposed paying $510 million for the land and the trailers. If the residents accept the deal, the mostly retired homeowners who live in Briny Breezes would receive $750,000 to $1 million.

Briny Breezes is a municipality located between the intracoastal and the ocean. The homeowners are shareholders in the corporation that owns Briny Breezes. Homeowners shares are based on the size and location of their property. Residents have until January 10 to decide whether or not to accept Ocean Land’s offer. A consensus of 67 percent is needed to sell.

While many residents are thrilled with the offer, others are skeptical. Consider this: Briny Breezes predominantly consists of retired full-time and seasonal residents who probably bought their trailer in the first place because it was an affordable way to live on the beach in Florida, enjoy the sunrise over the ocean from their own homes, and to live in paradise without paying a high price. The windfall might sound great, but let’s face it: $750,000 just doesn’t go as far as it used to, especially if they want to stay in the area and maintain the quality of life and the perks they’ve enjoyed living in Briny Breezes.

In use as a trailer park since the 1930s, the Briny Breezes land was bought by residents in 1958. Many of the current residents are second and third generation, or visited the park as children. Besides being one of the most iconoclastic communities that make up the South Florida real estate scene, the trailer park was the location for the 2005 movie “In Her Shoes”, which starred Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette.