Palm Beach landmarks board halts action on renovation of Paramount Theatre Building
An amended plan to renovate the historic Paramount Theatre Building and add an adjacent mixed-use development with subterranean parking will move to the Town Council for review after the Landmarks Preservation Commission deferred the project.
At its meeting July 19, the commission agreed to halt consideration of the plans until the council had the opportunity to review and act on the applicant's 21 variance requests, six special exception requests and site plan review.
The applicant, WEG Paramount LLC, requested commission approval for the renovation and adaptive re-use of the landmarked theater building at 139 N. County Road.
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WEG Paramount, which is helmed by 20-year Palm Beach resident Lester Woerner, also sought approval for the architectural design of the residential portion of the project, which would include four three-story townhouses over a two-level, underground parking garage with 127 spaces.
Three of the townhouse units, which would be located on the south side of the Paramount building where there is now a 46-space parking lot, would include retail on the first floor.
"I believe this project is the correct project for the site, and it complies with all of the requirements to issue a certificate of appropriateness for the project," Gene Pandula, a former chairman of the landmarks board, told the commission.
Commissioners, however, declined to vote on the project, opting to send it to the council for review.
As they did in April, when the project last came before them, commissioners expressed concern about the size and mass of the residential development, though they praised the project's design team for making modifications that included lowering the height of the four townhouses by an average of three feet, and introducing setbacks on the third floor.
Commissioner Brittain Damgard said the townhouses were originally designed at 8,000 square feet each, but were reduced to 7,200 square feet in the amended plans.
"Who needs an 8,000-square-foot house right on a street?" she said. "They've been brought down in scale. I would like to see them a little smaller. I like the project. I want to see it happen. But to me, there's still massing. It's still a little big in my opinion."
"I still think the scale is probably a little too heavy," added Commissioner Bridget Moran.
According to the building plans, the four townhouses would occupy a total of 27,687 square feet, which is a nearly 3,000-square-foot reduction from the original plans.
All of the townhouses would utilize varying architectural designs and massing articulations, according to the plans, and they would be "visually and architecturally compatible" with the Paramount building and the neighboring buildings and environment.
Plans to renovate the historic Paramount Theatre, which was built in 1926 and is on the National Register of Historic Places, includes a major renovation of the building on the southeast corner of North County Road and Sunrise Avenue.
Work would include creating a 250-seat public event space, in addition to reconfiguring the site plan for retail and offices.
A 225-member private club would have 72 interior seats and 34 outdoor café seats on the first floor and a private lounge on the second floor with 51 additional indoor seats and 64 more outdoor seats, according to the plans.
A 40-seat public restaurant is planned for the area surrounding the existing courtyard. The new retail space would face North County Road.
Renovation plans for the theater and parking lot generated a mixed response from commissioners and members of the public who attended the landmarks meeting. While they mostly praised the revitalization plans for the theater, they continued to express concerns about the size and scope of the residential development.
James Gavigan, an attorney representing the Sun and Surf Condominiums on the east side of the Paramount property, said plans to reduce the height of the townhouses by two to three feet didn't go far enough.
"We think the town wants to see the Paramount Theatre come back to life," he said. "What we're still opposed to is the application for the massing and height of the additional buildings. The four houses they are proposing still significantly overwhelm the landmarked structures nearby."
John Metzger, an attorney representing Ted and Jessica Babbitt, who live in a townhome east of the Paramount parking lot, said the planned residential development was "too intense and massive" and would overwhelm his clients' home.
"It ignores their property rights, and will destroy their way of life here in Palm Beach," he said.
Pandula and former landmarks chairman René Silvin both spoke in favor of the project. Pandula noted that the project would mark the first time in nearly a half-century that the theater building would be renovated.
The last movie shown at the Paramount was sometime shortly after 1978, according to town documents.
"This is an opportunity to move the building into the future," Pandula said. "It's been 50 years dormant."
Landmarks Chairman Sue Patterson said the commission would carefully weigh all aspects of the project once it returns to the board for review.
"I don't think there's any question that we all want to preserve the Paramount," she told representatives of the project's legal and architectural teams. "That's not in question. There's a lot more than just the Paramount. It does affect a lot of people's lives — people in the neighborhood, people in the town.
"I feel really good that you will go to Town Council next, and we'll welcome you back with some marching orders on what we know we can do. I think everything will come into focus a lot better after that."
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network,. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach landmarks board halts consideration of theater renovation
