NORTH PALM BEACH — The village has given initial approval to a master plan for the old Twin City Mall site that makes a counteroffer of sorts to the developer who wants to build a complex of restaurants, retail spaces and high-rise residences there.
North Palm Beach will allow Cypress Realty to construct buildings of seven stories along U.S. 1 and 14 stories in the middle of the 13-acre site off Northlake Boulevard, not the nine the developer originally proposed for the project, known as Village Place.
In return, Cypress must agree to include enough “public benefit” — which might include workforce housing, sustainable building certifications and public art — before the Village Council votes on the plan a second and final time. That vote could happen in September, Village Manager Chuck Huff said.
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The changes led Mayor Susan Bickel and council member Lisa Interlandi to vote in favor of the plan. Both had expressed reservations about the heights of buildings, especially along U.S. 1. Both also acknowledged the need to redevelop the site and for North Palm Beach to benefit from the tax revenue Village Place would generate.
“I have struggled with this because I believe in infill and I understand the tax implications, but I have grave concerns about changing the character of our village,” Bickel said before voting on Thursday, Aug. 22. “I hate nine (stories).”
The village did not meet with the developer between the Aug. 8 council meeting, when the council first discussed the plan, and the Aug. 22 session. Nader Salour, Cypress Realty's principal, attended both meetings and issued a statement Friday, Aug. 23, saying his company would review "the latest comments made by the Village Council to determine what is feasible and to ensure the project can still be successful."
"Our proposal demonstrates that the Village Place mixed-use project would bring tremendous public and economic benefits to the Village of North Palm Beach and surrounding community," Salour's statement said.
Salour offered to cap the buildings near U.S. 1 at eight stories at the Aug. 8 meeting. Cypress has said it needs a certain number of stories per building to put parking areas on their bottom floors and make the project financially viable.
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North Palm Beach is discussing the future of the Twin City site as the pattern of development is changing in Palm Beach County.
The COVID pandemic brought in an influx of wealthy newcomers — many of them professionals working remotely — to areas long dominated by retirees. Instead of single-family homes, developers are proposing taller buildings of high-end condominiums and apartments to house them, with "mini-downtowns" of stores and restaurants nearby.
The trend has begun to spread toward north county from West Palm Beach. Lake Park, North Palm Beach's neighbor, already is home to Nautilus 220, a 24-story condominium complex, and other projects are proposed for its downtown.
The North Palm Beach Village Council's conversation on Aug. 22 centered around “trade-offs,” the idea of granting height if the developer includes elements for the good of the village.
“You’re saying, ‘How dare you come in front of us and ask to guarantee the height?’ Folks, that’s the bargain,” said Harvey Oyer, Cypress Realty’s attorney.
Interlandi noted that the developer would likely drop the project if the council didn’t give them a guarantee that night. Council member Deborah Searcy said the “prudent thing to do” would be to lock in height maximums then.
“Let’s not kick the can down the road for someone else to do it,” Searcy said. She joined Bickel, Interlandi and council member Kristin Garrison in approving the master plan.
Then, the council voted to cut the building height maximum off U.S. 1 down to seven stories. Orlando Puyol, who wanted the developer to change the project even more than the other council members had proposed, was the lone council member to vote against it.
The seven-story buildings would be built with a tiered effect. Three stories would line U.S. 1 and then, 10 feet in from its eastern edge, the building would rise to seven stories, Oyer said. Other buildings in the center of the property would top off at 14 stories.
Oyer also told the council that the property line starts in the middle of a tree on the site, so the complex will be built about 45 feet away from U.S. 1, an outcome with which Interlandi said she was “very happy."
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Village Place plan includes community spaces for North Palm Beach
The master plan for Village Place outlines uses on the site, at the northwest corner of Palmetto Drive and U.S. 1 south of Northlake Boulevard. It does not include construction plans for any of its buildings, all of which would go to separate council votes.
Cypress, which built the 2,055-acre Abacoa neighborhood in Jupiter, bought the property for $19 million in 2022 and expects Village Place to take a decade to build. Salour has said he will assess what the market might support and adjust the project accordingly before his team submits any site plans for village approval.
Buildings along Northlake would be set back 242 feet, nearly the length of a football field. Trees would line its nearby roadways and more than 1 acre of open space would stand at its center. Its residential buildings will feature hidden parking garages on at least their first three floors, Oyer said.
Cypress wants some buildings tall enough to afford water views to its top-floor residents, Oyer said. The 14-story buildings at the center of the property would provide them.
The open space, which makes up about 30% of the complex, would host community events including live music, outdoor yoga and farmers' markets.
The project includes 100,000 square feet of commercial space and is expected to generate around $1.5 million in property tax revenue for the village in its first year, records show.
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The Twin City Mall was northern Palm Beach County's first indoor shopping area. It opened to fanfare in 1971 but struggled after The Gardens Mall opened in 1988 and closed in the early 1990s. A shopping plaza anchored by a Publix supermarket stands on the property today.
The master plan sees Village Place as becoming a hub of North Palm Beach in a different way than the old mall was. It sees it as a place where residents not only can live but also shop and dine out closer to home instead of traveling to West Palm Beach or other nearby cities.
Not all residents saw the project that way at meetings this year. Several said at a session in January that they wanted the shortest buildings possible on the site, for fears over the added traffic and residents the complex would bring. Some said they wanted to keep the village's smaller-town feel and thought this project would diminish that.
Others, however, supported the project. They say the village needs more restaurants, stores and family friendly gathering places. One council member said it will improve residents' quality of life in ways that have little to do with shopping and restaurants.
“It’s walkable, and you can take your golf cart there,” Searcy said, noting that the mix of businesses will diversify North Palm Beach's tax base. "All additional housing helps with supply and demand. The more the supply of housing, the less prices will creep up.”
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: How North Palm Beach is growing: Twin City Mall plan calls for smaller buildings on U.S. 1
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