How North Palm Beach is growing: Village approves 147 apartments for site along U.S. 1
NORTH PALM BEACH — A cluster of four-story apartment buildings are set to make their way to 200 Yacht Club Drive after village planners approved a plan that sat in limbo for almost two years.
The complex on 4 acres of land on the corner of U.S 1 and Yacht Club Drive will feature 147 apartments with a single-level parking deck and a pool on the ground floor. Developers plan to construct a two-lane access point road off U.S. 1 on the south end of the site and a 7-foot sidewalk between the main road and the buildings.
The three-building project includes 1,978 square feet of commercial space — more than in the originally proposed plan — after village planners called for more business presence in the U.S. 1 corridor. Village manager Chuck Huff anticipates a coffee shop to land in that space.
The apartment complex will have 24 workforce housing residences — which is part of a plan in Palm Beach County to offer homes for sale or rent at below-market prices — and three units with adjoining public-access office space for small business owners to work right where they live.
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North Palm apartments scaled back since first proposed
The developer significantly scaled down the project since the original plan, which was approved by the planning board on Dec. 7, 2021. The original plan included 206 units in five-story buildings, six townhomes, a four-level parking garage and a rooftop pool.
The previous plan included only one access point road, a small one-lane through an alley.
The original plan never moved forward to a vote by the Village Council at the time because new council members were elected and the developer knew the plan wouldn’t pass. Nearly every candidate blasted the complex on the campaign trail in February 2022.
"It's the heart of the village across from the country club," council member Deborah Searcy said at the February candidate forum. "I want restaurants, coffee shops and bookstores. That’s supposed to be a vibrant commercial corridor."
The developer then pared down the number of residences to 177 and reduced the height to four stories, but this second plan was denied by the planning board on Sept. 6, 2022, appealed to the village council and denied again on Oct. 27 that year.
Huff noticed a gaping hole in the original project’s plan this summer. It didn’t comply with the city’s comprehensive plan, which allows for 24 residences per acre in that area with an additional 12 per acre with workforce housing.
The proposed plan was 60 residences larger than permitted.
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The developer had counted each one-bedroom apartment as half of a unit, which is the incorrect way to count units per the comprehensive plan, Huff said.
Huff then sent the plan through a development review committee for further analysis, and the developer scaled the project down to code and created a third plan, the one that was approved on Tuesday.
“The intent here is to attract young professionals and young families to have a place to live,” said Ken Tuma of West Palm Beach-based Urban Design Studio when he introduced the scaled-down project at a planning board meeting on Oct 3. “We’re consistent with your comprehensive plan now.”
North Palm planners, residents had hoped for more commercial space along U.S. 1
About 70 homeowners near Yacht Club Drive formed an alliance called “Friends of Yacht Club Drive” in opposition of the apartment complex. Members spoke out about concerns over traffic, building heights and not enough commercial space during planning meetings.
Members of the group spoke at the meeting on Oct. 3, saying they were glad to see a smaller-sized development, but they were still dissatisfied with the ratio of commercial versus residential space.
“Taking the commercial spine of our village and giving it over to residential would be a mistake,” said Lisa Jensen, a Shore Road resident on Oct. 3. “It sets a bad precedent for the development that we hope to have on U.S. 1 in the future.”
Historically, a Roadhouse Grill, a Thai restaurant and office building sat on the land. Only the office building remains today.
Its zoning already allows for four-story buildings, so once the project met that maximum height, it only needed approval by the Planning Board — not the Village Council — to move forward with construction.
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Massachusetts-based owner Robbins NPB LLC, which owns the Farmer’s Table restaurant at North Palm Beach County Club, achieved approval for the apartment complex on Nov. 14, when five Planning Board members unanimously approved the site plan despite sharing concerns over not enough commercial space.
Huff expects construction to start over the summer, and the developer is working on construction plans now.
“It’s a nice project. It gives us a building that I think we will be proud of in this village,” said Cory Cross, vice-chair of the planning board. “It’s been checked over a dozen times by experts in the village. My only nitpicky thing is I would have liked to see more commercial, but I will take what I can get.”
Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 147 apartments OK'd for vacant U.S. 1 site in North Palm Beach
