PBSCV1599
Gen. James Patton Anderson Camp 1599
Celebrating 34 Years 1992 - 2026
Alhambra Hotel
The Palm Beach Post
Wed, Apr 09, 1924
Page 2
OFFER $195,000 BUILDING BONDS
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Alhambra Apartment Concern Selling Eight Per Cent Gold Securities
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An offering of $195,000 first mortgage, 8 per cent. serial gold bonds of the Alhambra Investment Company, secured by the Alhambra apartment building on North Olive street, was announced yesterday by the Palm Beach Guaranty Company.
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Construction on these apartments was begun on March 1, and completion is guaranteed by September 1.
L. Phillips Clarke, president of the Alhambra Investment Company and a member of the well known architectural firm of Harvey & Clarke, returned recently from a trip to Spain and Italy, where he studied new styles of architecture in those countries. As a result the influence of the architecture of old Spain is shown in design of this structure, its owners declare.
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This bond issue has been underwritten by the Palm Beach Guaranty Company. The normal federal income tax of 4 per cent is to be paid, according to officials of the guaranty company. It is reported that a fair-sized portion of these bonds already have been sold and the remainder are finding a ready demand now that the building is well under way.
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The Alhambra apartments are to occupy the southwest corner of Olive street and Second avenue, within one block of the lake front and three blocks from the Clematis avenue business district. The building will face north on Second avenue and east on Olive street, a desirable exposure for this climate. Two and three room suites with accommodations including kitchenette are included in the plans.
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These apartments are to be almost identical to the Lake Court apartments, at Evernia and the lake front, it is pointed out by members of the guaranty company, who underwrote bonds for that apartment building also. Automatic sprinklers are to be installed, which will reduce the insurance premiums. The furnishings and equipment are expected to surpass in quality the equipment of any similar building south of Jacksonville.
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Principal stockholders in the Alhambra Investment Company, in addition to Mr. Clarke, are Henry Stephen Harvey, Mr. Clarke's partner in the local architectural firm bearing their names, and recently elected mayor of West Palm Beach; Julius J. Lax of the Palm Beach Plumbing Company, and E. H. Barto, a leading builder and substantial citizen of West Palm Beach. The building is to be operated by the owners.
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The Palm Beach Post
Sat, Sep 20, 1924
Page 6
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E. T. Byrd has been appointed as manager of the Alhambra hotel for the coming season. Mr. Byrd has been conected with the Highland Lake Inn, at Hendersonville, N. C., and is well known in West Palm Beach, having been connected for several seasons with the Palms hotel and the Hotel Salt Air.
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The Palm Beach Post
Sun, Nov 08, 1925
Page 22
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ALHAMBRA APARTMENTS TO HAVE SUNDAY MUSIC
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Folks who do their residing at the Alhambra apartment hotel are going to be in a position to lean the noble ear in the general direction of some soothing strains of music these Sabbath evenings. Something new, an innovation one might say, in the operation of an apartment hotel here and hereabouts has been decided upon by the Alhambra management.
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A contract, it was announced yesterday, has been signed with a leading local orchestra and each Sunday evening the boys will tune up and spew music all over the immediate vicinity. The first concert is scheduled for tonight, starting at 8:30 o'clock and continuing until 11:30 o'clock. These concerts will continue throughout the present season.
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The Palm Beach Post
Sat, Nov 01, 1952
Page 13
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77 - RENT - HOTEL ROOMS ALHAMBRA HOTEL Hotel rooms $12.50 weekly. 10 efficiency apart-ments $15 weekly. Corner suites from $25 and up. Full hotel service. Phone 9155.
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The Palm Beach Post
Sun, Dec 14, 1958
Page 66
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Alhambra Hotel Landmark of Distinction Steam Heated A dignified place for all. Full hotel service from $50 a week up per couple. Double room, private bath, including 2 full course meals. Also available, 1 and 2-room efficiency apts. for season or any period. 4th St. and No. Olive Ave. - TE 2-4138.
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The Palm Beach Post
Sun, Nov 02, 1952
Page 32
The Palm Beach Post
Sat, Jul 10, 1937
Page 1
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INJUNCTIONS HALT HOTEL TAX SALES
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Temporary Writs Filed For George Washington, Alhambra Hotels
Temporary injunctions, halting sale for 1936 taxes of the George Washington and Alhambra Hotels, were allowed Friday in circuit court here by Judge George W. Tedder, of Fort Lauderdale, who sat in chambers in the absence of Judge C. E. Chillingworth.
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The restraining orders were granted to George C. Eppleman, owner of the Alhambra, and the Florida Beach Hotel Company, owner of the George Washington, who brought the actions against the city. Both maintained the 1936 taxes were unjust and un- reasonable, and had filed in the registry of the court the amount of taxes held to be equable. The bonds were set at $1,000 each by Judge Tedder.
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Under these orders, the city, which had halted its tax sale pending the outcome, is enjoined from selling the properties.
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The opinion of the court in the Eppleman case stated in part: "The defendant submitted evidence on the question of estoppel raised by defendant in opposition to said application. Evidence to the effect that the plaintiff having agreed to purchase the property at foreclosure sale just prior to due date of the taxes in question and the sale consummated December 9, 1936, and plaintiff by his bid having agreed to pay said taxes, is now estopped to deny the validity of the tax . . . If the tax is void for any reason . . . plaintiff is not estopped from asserting its validity. Tender having been made into registry of court of sum admitted to be due, relief sought should be granted .." The other opinion was along similar lines. City Attorney Paul W. Potter represented the city; Beacham & Gaulden, the plaintiffs in both cases.
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The Palm Beach Post
Fri, Oct 29, 1978
Page 33
By David Palleson, Post Staff Writer
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DEMOLITION ORDERED FOR ALHAMBRA HOTEL
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Saying the only occupants of the deserted Alhambra Hotel are termites stacked in inch thick, West Palm Beach building officials convinced a city board yesterday to put aside objections from the owner and have the hotel demolished.
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Philip Crenshaw, one of the owners of the downtown Olive Avenue building, pleaded with the building Board of Adjustments and Appeals to give him a year to begin restoring the building, saying it has historic value. He also denied the degree of termite damage.
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“The termites were so active I practically had to push my way through them. They were an inch thick on the floor,” said building inspector Rocco Lozito.
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Crenshaw said after the meeting he plans to seek an injunction halting the demolition. He called the inspector “biased” and said the termites aren’t that bad.
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“It seems to me it would be to the benefit of the city to allow the building to be renovated,” he said. “it’s a question of preserving a historic building with a gorgeous courtyard.”
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Unless he is successful in court, the city will open bids to demolish the 55-year-old, three-story building on October 30. Six years ago, the city declared the building unsafe but repairable, citing 16 deficiencies and 7 electrical violations. The owner was given 60 days to make repairs or demolish it. “In 1972, the roof was 60% deteriorated,” city building director, Joe Hughes said yesterday.
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No permit was ever issued for the work. Then in April 1975, the appeals board gave the owners one year to repair the roof, turn off the gas and electricity, install fire sprinklers, and a security system.
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During September 1976, the board granted another one-year extension, saying it was the final one unless repairs were made.
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“I’m just a guy who lives next door,” said County Court Judge James Carlisle, who appeared at the meeting as a private citizen. “Since it’s been boarded up, I haven’t been bothered by drunks or vagrants. I think something could be done with the hotel to make it an asset.”
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“We aren’t champing at the bit that the building be destroyed. At the present time, I’m simply not bothered by it.”
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The judge said several years ago, before the hotel was boarded up, there were drunks crawling out of the place right and left, and vagrants lighting fires in it to keep warm at night.”
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Crenshaw said he and four other owners had been considering turning the building into offices which might mean tearing half of it down to provide parking.
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