Art deco-style building pitched for blighted North End of West Palm Beach under Live Local Act

An art deco-themed apartment complex with 160 units is being proposed for long-vacant land along Broadway in West Palm Beach in what the builder’s representative called a “game changer” for the bedraggled corridor.

The project called “Deco Northwood” is the first pitched to the city under the state’s Live Local Act, which was designed, in part, to motivate developers to create more affordable housing by awarding incentives such as higher building heights.

For Deco Northwood, the Kansas-based developer is asking to go to eight stories in an area limited to five stories and would set aside 40% of the apartments for lower rental costs.

“This is a game changing project for Broadway,” said Rebecca Miller, president of Miller Permitting and Land Development, which is representing the developer. “It’s the beginning of bringing class A architecture to Broadway and offering workforce housing.”

Because the developer wants to use the Live Local Act, Miller said the discounted rents will be based on the county’s area median income, which most recently was $104,000.

The Act allows for affordable housing to be offered to families making up to 120% of the area median income, or $90,000 for a single person. Depending on a person's earnings, rents for a one-bedroom unit would be between about $1,200 for someone making 60% of the median income and $2,400 based on someone making 120%.

The project, whose address is 2900 Broadway, didn’t pass its initial assessment this month by the city’s Plans, Plats and Review Committee. But Miller said the suggested changes were mostly technical ones that she could work through without drastically changing the plan, and included some design and landscape concerns.

“It’s tricky because we have a very narrow site,” Miller said.

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Squeezed between 28th and 29th streets, the property is just 0.72 acres, and abuts the Old Northwood Historic District. It's about three blocks west of the Intracoastal Waterway and 2 miles north of downtown.

There would be one level of underground parking, street-level retail space and six stories of apartments that would be tiered so as not to overshadow the nearby homes. On the eighth floor would be an amenities deck with a shallow sunbathing pool and views of the Intracoastal.

The art deco theme would include rounded balconies and strips of artwork that would run the height of the building and be inspired by the “topography, flora and culture” unique to West Palm Beach.

Bill Grotto, chairperson of the Old Northwood Historic District, said the community is largely in support of the project, which he hopes will jump-start infrastructure improvements and bring more shops, restaurants and grocery stores to the area.

“We’re tired of looking at vacant lots,” Grotto said. “We are pro-development because we know it will highlight the North End, but we are also eager for traffic mitigation, additional police, lighting and all the things that are part and parcel with making a great neighborhood.”

The Broadway corridor, called "heavily blighted and in need of revitalization" by the city, is between 24th Street and 59th Street. It is part of a city redevelopment plan called the Broadway Mixed Use Development that aims to reevaluate zoning and land use restrictions to encourage economic development. The city's website says the plan is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

Miller also lives in Old Northwood and said that’s one reason she took an interest in representing the project.

“We basically have a food desert with no big grocery stores located close to us,” Miller said. “We don’t have the density for a Publix.”

The Publix in Palm Beach is about 2.5 miles from Deco Northwood’s location. It’s about 3 miles to the Publix on Blue Heron Boulevard near the Intracoastal.

The Prime Co. based in Manhattan, Kansas, is the developer on Deco Northwood. It would be its first project in West Palm Beach, but the firm owns three other properties on Broadway that could feature similar developments, Miller said.

But being the first to use the Live Local Act comes with challenges.

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Brian Seymour, co-chair of the real property practice at Gunster Law Firm, is not affiliated with Deco Northwood project, but said, in general, there are nuances to the act that can create hurdles.

He said some municipalities statewide have pushed back against the legislation because it takes away local control. If a project meets all of the requirements of the act, it must be approved. On smaller lots, he said it can be difficult to meet multifamily regulations, including with landscaping.

Seymour said West Palm Beach has worked with developers to create incentives through its own regulations to build affordable housing rather than using the Live Local Act.

“Some places have tried to find the narrowest interpretation to limit the development provisions of the Live Local Act,” Seymour said. “The City of West Palm Beach is not one of those governments. West Palm Beach has worked with developers to create incentives for them to use city regulations, rather than just using the act.”

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Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate and how growth affects South Florida's environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm Beach pitched Live Local Act for blighted North End of city