Palm Beach County approves 600-plus townhomes on old golf club site in West Palm Beach

Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·3 min read

WEST PALM BEACH — The fairways of the long-ago shuttered golf course at Century Village near West Palm Beach will soon be home to 621 townhomes.

Palm Beach County commissioners recently approved D.R. Horton’s plans to build the townhouses on 57.3 acres adjacent to the Southampton condominium buildings at Century Village. The approval happened with no debate among commissioners and no public testimony opposing the plan.

The project on the former site of the Turtle Bay Golf Club is expected to be completed within two years.

None of the current county commissioners were in office when a different owner sought approval 10 years ago for a more intense project that called for an assisted-living facility, a civic center, 84,500 square feet of shops and offices and nearly 700 residences. A deeply divided county commission voted 4-3 to approve the plans; residents, who packed the commission chambers objected to the plans and threatened a lawsuit.

Reflection Bay project smaller than version proposed decade ago for West Palm's Century Village

Site marked in red shows the development planned by D.R. Horton for the shuttered golf course at Century Village in West Palm Beach
Site marked in red shows the development planned by D.R. Horton for the shuttered golf course at Century Village in West Palm Beach

The parcel's owner at that time, Andrew Waldman, never moved forward with his plans. In July 2022, D.R. Horton and an affiliate of Kolter Group paid $36.9 million for the parcel, and then scaled back what would be built and worked closely with Century Village to obtain support.

They agreed to improve the drainage system in and around the proposed development, benefitting Century Village. The result was an endorsement from the United Civic Association, an umbrella organization for the numerous condominium associations within the 7,854-residence, senior-citizen complex.

The development, known as Reflection Bay, will not be age restricted. School officials estimate that it will generate about 151 public school students, 45 of them at Palm Beach Lakes High School. The additional students there are expected to put student enrollment over capacity.

The Reflection Bay subdivision is vacant commercial land adjacent to Century Village west of Haverhill Road near West Palm Beach, Fla. It was once home to Turtle Bay Golf Course. The Palm Beach Post photographed these locked gates at the property on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.
The Reflection Bay subdivision is vacant commercial land adjacent to Century Village west of Haverhill Road near West Palm Beach, Fla. It was once home to Turtle Bay Golf Course. The Palm Beach Post photographed these locked gates at the property on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.

With the surge in population and limited areas available for development, residential developers have been purchasing golf courses throughout Palm Beach County.

Altman Cos. recently paid $14 million for 110 acres within the Fountains Country Club, west of Lake Worth Beach. Plans call for a garden-style community with 318 apartments. GL Homes is building a high-end development on the site of what used to be the Boca Raton Municipal Golf Course.

Century Village is home to thousands of residents who are aged 55 and older in suburban West Palm Beach.
Century Village is home to thousands of residents who are aged 55 and older in suburban West Palm Beach.

West Palm Beach townhouse prices expected to run in $200,000 range

Reflection Bay will be built on the southwest corner of Century Boulevard and Haverhill Road, about 630 feet north of Okeechobee Boulevard. It will have a 4-acre recreation area. Prices are expected to range between $166,000 and $308,000.

The Reflection Bay subdivision is vacant commercial land adjacent to Century Village west of Haverhill Road in unincorporated Palm Beach County, Fla. It was once home to Turtle Bay Golf Course. Since the course closure more than a decade ago, nature has reclaimed the land with vegetation growing wild on the property. The Palm Beach Post photographed these driving-range lights on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.

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D.R. Horton must comply with the following conditions for West Palm Beach development:

  • Construct a southbound left-turn lane on Haverhill Road

  • Separate its townhomes from the four-story condo buildings at Century Village by creating buffers

  • Provide 24 workforce housing residences

Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm Beach to get new townhomes on former Turtle Bay Golf Club