Mar-a-Lago Proposes 60-foot Helipad Upgrade

President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club has submitted plans for a new helipad, four years after the original pad was demolished at the close of his first presidency. The proposed design, filed with the city August 21, calls for a 60-foot-diameter concrete pad on the estate’s west lawn, 10 feet wider than the previous structure.

Harvey Oyer, the project’s attorney, told the Palm Beach Daily News that the larger size is required to accommodate the Marine Corps’ VH-92A Patriot helicopters, which have replaced the older VH-60N and VH-3D aircraft. 

The previous Mar-a-Lago helipad was constructed in 2017 after Palm Beach’s Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the project with conditions, including demolition once Trump left office. The 50-foot pad was used sparingly; its first recorded use came in April 2017, when a Trump-branded helicopter landed there for about 24 hours, raising questions about how the facility would be used.

Trump stirred up local frustrations when the pad was used for personal use during the holiday season in what appeared to be a violation of the Commission’s conditions. In keeping with the conditions, the pad was demolished in February 2021.

When first proposed, the helipad generated debate in Palm Beach. Coverage by Collective Magazine in January 2017 described the exemption from the town’s longstanding helicopter ban as unusual, while the Palm Beach Post reported a month later about objections from neighbors, citing noise and security impacts. The U.S. Marines argued the pad was needed for presidential security.

The new helipad plan was designed by Rick Gonzalez of REG Architects, who also led the 2017 project. Town records indicate the Landmarks Preservation Commission could take up the matter at its October 22 meeting.