Attiyya AnthonySun Sentinel
March 9, 2016
Initial plan to redevelop Boynton Beach's Federal Highway gets a green light
Developers are working on a plan that could put an eight-story building and a six-story parking garage in a now-vacant lot at the corner of Boynton Beach Boulevard and Federal Highway.
On Tuesday, at the city's redevelopment agency regular meeting, the board accepted a letter of intent from Ocean One Boynton LLC to purchase a redevelopment agency-owned strip of land at 222 N. Federal Highway as part of a larger mixed-use project.
The redevelopment agency owns that sliver of land on Federal Highway, and developers say that it is needed to connect One Boynton LLC's neighboring properties and bring luxury rentals to the area.
The location has been the subject of redevelopment talks for several years after a Bank of America and a motel were torn down.
"I think this is going to help make downtown Boynton Beach a more significant draw," said Bill Morris, of Ocean One Boynton LLC.
City officials agree. Vivian Brooks, the agency's executive director, said that this project is the "best use of the land," because Federal Highway is crucial to the city's redevelopment.
Morris said that the project is phase one of a two-part development that will include a downtown hotel.
"We're constantly talking about how we want to develop downtown Boynton Beach," board member Mack McCray said at the meeting. "I am favor of accepting their letter of intent to see what they can do."
The board agreed in a 4-1 vote, with board member Mike Fitzpatrick dissenting.
Fitzpatrick said that the redevelopment agency shouldn't sell the land for $10 as part of the development deal.
The redevelopment agency bought the property for $900,000 in 2002; it is currently appraised at $460,000. The completed project will make the land worth more than that, Morris said.
Morris said that "the [redevelopment agency] property on standalone basis is almost unusable, you could get parking spaces on it, but you can't get a building on it if not connected to [the owner's] property because it's not deep enough."
He said, "It will be a U-shaped building with a very large center court with a beautiful pool and landscaped area."
Morris said that some of the units will overlook the Intracoastal and the ocean and the others over developing Federal Highway. And there will also be a beach shuttle for residents to encourage residents to go to the beach.
The city plans to finalize a purchase and development agreement in May, according to city documents. The project could be underway as early as this summer, Morris said.