THE JAXSON | West Palm Beach: A redevelopment example for Jacksonville’s historic Eastside

The ongoing revitalization of the historic Northwest neighborhood in West Palm Beach, Florida, should serve as an example of what could happen in Jacksonville’s historic Eastside as a result of Community Benefits Agreement funding.

Northwest Neighborhood History

Located just northwest of Downtown West Palm Beach, the Northwest neighborhood is a historic Black community that was first settled in 1894 by laborers of Henry Flagler’s hotels and nearby Florida East Coast railroad. As Flagler’s real estate empire expanded, the neighborhood attracted Black settlers from Jacksonville, northern Florida, Georgia and the Bahamas in search of work.

During segregation and the Chitlin’ Circuit era, the Northwest neighborhood grew to become the social, cultural and economic center for West Palm Beach’s Black community. Like the historic Eastside and LaVilla, peer neighborhoods adjacent to Downtown Jacksonville, the Northwest neighborhood economically declined after desegregation. Covering 700 acres, the Northwest Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 22, 1992. It became a local West Palm Beach historic district in 1993.

In recent years, the West Palm Beach Community Development Agency has targeted the Northwest neighborhood for revitalization. The CRA is a local government agency that works in collaboration with residents, property owners, businesses, developers, and other community organizations to foster redevelopment and is nationally recognized as one of the most innovative and effective community redevelopment agencies in the country.

With the Northwest neighborhood being a priority for cultural heritage preservation and economic investment of the Downtown/City Center CRA, the neighborhood’s projects offer real insight into what type of projects could take place in Jacksonville’s historic Eastside if funded through the Mayor Deegan Administration’s proposed community benefits agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Here’s a brief look at eight projects recently completed or underway, that would also be appropriate for the Historic Eastside.

Fantasy Island restaurant

311 N. Sapodilla Ave. is a two-story building that was constructed in 1935. With a goal of preservation of the historic structure and architectural features, the building was renovated to house an owner-occupied restaurant and bar. Nearing completion, the $1.8 million project included the interior build-out of a Caribbean and Spanish fusion restaurant named Fantasy Island, along with an interior/exterior bar and seating area designed to accommodate 150 seats.

The Grand West Palm Beach

As a part of the neighborhood’s preservation efforts, zoning was modified to protect the historic scale of the built environment while also allowing high-density, mixed-use infill on the edge of the community, where appropriate. The Grand West Palm Beach is the neighborhood’s largest infill mixed-use project completed to date. Located at Third and Rosemary, The Grand is a 309-unit workforce housing complex with a split of market-rate units and units reserved for people making 80% to 140% of the area median income.

The Grand also pays homage to Cracker Johnson, an early 20th century entrepreneur and peer of LaVilla’s Charlie Ed Craddock , who owned a popular bar that was once located on the property. As a salute to Johnson, the development will have a fully operational speakeasy. West Palm Beach’s CRA provided a $9 million grant and $5 million over 13 years in tax refunds. The city’s Housing Department also provided $1 million. The Grand was completed in May 2024.

Heart & Soul Park

Located at 825 N. Rosemary Ave., Heart & Soul Park is a 0.9-acre public park and outdoor concert venue that opened on Juneteenth 2021. The $4 million music-themed park has a heritage trail with history stations and artwork inlaid into pavement, a musical-themed playground with shade sails, a grass mound for a playful landscape, varied seating options, interactive musical instruments and portable stages for special events. The park is centrally located between several CRA investments, an example of clustering, complementing uses within a compact setting .

Mickens Moore Bed & Breakfast

In 1917, Haley and Alice Frederick Mickens built their two-story house in the heart of the Northwest neighborhood. Mickens added a two-story rooming house nearby in 1921. Over the years, famed guests at the Mickens property included Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, A. Philip Randolph, Mary McLeod Bethune and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Ralph Bunche. Seeking to provide an authentic lodging experience in the historic Northwest, the CRA is investing $5 million to help rehabilitate the structures into a bed-and-breakfast, which creates an opportunity for a local businessperson to earn and keep local dollars in the community.

Payne Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church

The Payne Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation was organized in 1893. The current structure, at 801 9th St., was designed by Hazel Augustus, the first registered Black architect in Palm Beach County. The building, with its stained glass windows and an interior plan very similar to the historic Eastside’s Mount Olive African Methodist Episcopal Church ,  was dedicated in 1929.

A few years ago, the church was completely restored through a Transfer of Development Rights. In 2018, the CRA acquired the development rights for four stories above the sanctuary. By acquiring the “air rights” and transferring them to a different site, the developer was allowed to add density in another location and use the revenue to restore a historic landmark within the neighborhood.

Styx Promenade

The Styx Promenade is named in honor of a 19th century Black neighborhood in Palm Beach, which housed mostly Black laborers responsible for the construction of the Breakers and Royal Poinciana hotels. The Styx was erased when Henry Flagler moved its residents across Lake Worth to West Palm Beach.

This CRA redevelopment project was designed with an intent to pay homage to the shotgun-style houses that made up the Styx community, while also catering to small and local start-up businesses. During construction and through a competitive process, the CRA awarded the structures to different local business owners. Located along 7th Street, just west of Heart & Soul Park, the Styx Promenade is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Sunset Lounge

Dating back to 1926, the Sunset Lounge was known as the “Cotton Club of the South” and West Palm Beach’s premier Chitlin’ Circuit venue. The West Palm Beach CRA recently invested $22 million to renovate this iconic music and entertainment destination. It is considered to be the cornerstone of the CRA’s attempts to revive the Northwest neighborhood. The renovated venue will include a full-service restaurant and bar on the first floor, a second-floor ballroom, third-floor mezzanine and a two-story addition with a rooftop bar and patio.

Tamarind Avenue Streetscape & Legacy Businesses

Similar to the Eastside’s A. Philip Randolph Boulevard in Jacksonville, Tamarind Avenue served as a major segregation-era commercial thoroughfare for the Northwest community. Today, the West Palm Beach CRA is in the midst of giving the street a $22 million makeover. When completed in 2025, improvements will include infrastructure like a new water main, undergrounding overhead utilities, and improving sidewalks, lighting and landscaping.

In addition, the West Palm Beach CRA is investing in the rehabilitation of historic commercial storefronts and legacy businesses along the corridor, including renovating Hamburger Haven, a family-owned business in operation since the 1940s, and building a brick-and-mortar location for D’ Best BBQ.

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