(Crystal Proenza is associate editor of Real EstateFlorida.)

Gazing out at a sweeping view of West Palm Beach from the 15th floor of CityPlace Tower, amidst a dripping ice sculpture, food samples from local restaurants, plenty of drinks and live music, it's easy to forget the everyday stories about the faltering economy and real estate downturn.

More than 250 community leaders, brokers and signed tenants took in these sights and sounds at the building's grand opening reception May 14. During the celebration, New York City-based developers Related Cos. admitted that they were aiming to reach a new level of office space with this project—not just in Palm Beach County, but the entire state of Florida.

Standing tall at the corner of Okeechobee and South Quadrille boulevards, the 18-story CityPlace Tower sits in the center of Downtown West Palm Beach at the edge of CityPlace, a 72-acre, $600 million mixed-use retail and entertainment complex. The building contains 300,000 sf of office space "in its highest quality," as its developers tout, and is the city's first class A building to open in the last 20 years.