Palm Beach board clears design for new building at Trump's Mar-a-Lago

• Palm Beach's Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the design of a new building to house two large generators has been approved for construction at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club.
• The U.S. Secret Service said the generators are essential to provide continuous power for security systems.
• The commission approved a revised design after requesting several changes to simplify its appearance.
• The new 763-square-foot structure will replace smaller, temporary generators currently on the property.

The green flag has been waved for construction of a new building at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.

The town's Landmarks Preservation Commission on April 22 voted 6-1, with member Julie Herzig Desnick dissenting, to approve the design of the single-story building that will house two large generators on the south side of the 17-acre property known as Trump's "Winter White House."

The generators are needed to provide around-the-clock continuous power for security and safety reasons, a U.S. Secret Service official told the town in a letter submitted with Mar-a-Lago's application.

Mar-a-Lago "relies heavily on uninterrupted electrical power to maintain essential security systems, including surveillance cameras, alarm zones, access control readers, lighting and communications equipment, all of which must operate uninterrupted and be continuously monitored by the (Secret Service)," Matthew W. Plant, the agency's deputy special agent in charge, wrote in the letter.

The 763-square-foot structure would be home to a pair of 400-kilowatt generators to replace smaller temporary generators that are currently on the northern edge of the property near Mar-a-Lago's neighbors, project representatives previously said.

The Town Council on March 4 approved a special exception and site plan for the structure.

The landmarks board at its March 18 meeting asked architect Rick Gonzalez of REG Architects to revise several items, including the pitch of the roof over the front door and the front door itself. Commissioners asked for a four-pane glass door, instead of the previously proposed five-pane door.

The commission also asked Gonzalez to remove a crest over the building's door and change the design and color of the window louvers to make them look more like shutters.

In returning before the commission on April 22, Gonzalez said the result was a "much simpler look" that addressed all of those requests while also meeting a request of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. That board must approve any new structures at Mar-a-Lago because the property is a national historic landmark.

"In their letter of March 11, one of their final comments was, 'We recommend that the design of the building be simplified to reflect its utilitarian purpose and the character of the immediate surroundings on this part of the property,'" Gonzalez said, reading from the National Trust's letter.

The trust's approval is now final both for architecture and, as of April 20, landscaping, Gonzalez said. The landscape architect on the project is Dustin Mizell of Environment Design Group.

"It's much better for the project," commission member Patrick Segraves said. "I like what you've done."

Before her dissenting vote, Herzig Desnick had asked that the doors be changed from a mahogany color to something brighter. Segraves disagreed, saying the doors match others on buildings at Mar-a-Lago.

Another new building soon will come to the town for review, as the Secret Service hopes to build a new guardhouse inside Mar-a-Lago's gate on Southern Boulevard, Gonzalez said. The architect previously designed another Secret Service guardhouse that was completed in 2024. The application for that has not been filed, town staff said during the meeting.

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at [email protected]. Subscribe today to support our journalism.