Palm Beach Gardens Comprehensive Plan

PALM BEACH GARDENS — With man-made beaches, a high-end golf course and a PGA National-sized conservation area in the works, the 3,900-home Avenir development is emerging as an oasis from the bustle of Northlake Boulevard.

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The development, which is expected to take 30 years to build, also includes roughly 2 million square feet of offices and 400,000 square feet of commercial space on the western edge of Palm Beach Gardens west of the Beeline Highway. When the City Council approved a plan for 416 of the homes earlier this month, planner Ken Tuma, representing Avenir, updated officials on the development as a whole.

RELATED: Gardens: Avenir can pay $10 million instead of including workforce housing

As promised, Avenir gave the city 115 acres for a park/civic area, 50 acres for economic development and 15 acres for a City Hall annex, Tuma said. Another 2,400 acres on the north side of the property are protected from development by an agreement with the South Florida Water Management District, environmental consultant Ed Weinberg said.

Eventually, the preserve will include two public trails: a one-mile trail for moderate hikers and a longer one for more serious hikers, Tuma said.

Weinberg said negotiations with the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management to manage the land are ongoing. The department manages 31,000 acres of publicly owned natural areas countywide.

A fraction of land slated for conservation hasn't yet been preserved because the developers are still negotiating with CSX Transportation on where a road connecting Northlake Boulevard to Beeline Highway will cross over the railroad tracks, Tuma said.

Fifty-one percent of the 4,763-acre development will be restored and protected. With that, a natural link will connect 100,000 acres in the JW Corbett Wildlife Management Area with Avenir and nearby preserves, including the Hungryland Slough, the Loxahatchee Slough and the Grassy Waters Preserve, Tuma said.

"It looks like it's a plug in the system. Well, it is," he said of the former privately run ranch. The conservation of the land, "is a very significant benefit and done today."

The main drive through Avenir will have 8-foot-wide sidewalks, 4-foot bicycle lanes, two lanes of traffic in each direction and a 12-foot-wide golf cart path, Tuma said.

Councilman Mark Marciano complimented the design for allowing people to get from one side of the community to the other without having to get in their cars.

"I don't know if people are going to ride their bikes in July, but they probably will ride their golf carts to Publix or to the restaurants or the parks, so that was very important to me too, and having those sidewalks on both sides," he said.

One element that's out: housing priced for working families, classified by federal and county guidelines as those earning between $44,580 and $104,020. City officials agreed that Avenir could write a $10 million check rather than build 250 below-market-rate townhouses. The city will use $5 million to develop a comprehensive workforce housing program and $5 million to improve the Burns Road Community Center.

A 12,000-square-foot recreation center, similar to the clubhouse at Evergrene, will have eight tennis courts, six pickleball courts, other facilities and a dog park, Tuma said. It will be up for council approval in April, he said.

The developers have someone who's "working diligently" on a plan for a high-end golf course, Tuma said. Avenir Holdings principal Rosa Schechter declined to say who.

They're still working out the details of an agricultural area, but they believe it will be a farm-to-table concept, Tuma said.

The town center will be a gathering area surrounded by a Crystal Lagoon, townhouses, recreation and commercial development, Tuma said. A Crystal Lagoon is a man-made, resort-style beach bordered by very clear water where people can also practice water sports.

One Crystal Lagoon will be in the northwest corner, closer to the homes. The other will be in the town center with a beach club with restaurants and a hotel around it.

"The town center is really going to become the heartbeat of this project," Tuma said.

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Source: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/business/real-estate/2019/01/25/heres-whats-new-with-avenir-gardens-big-new-development-out-west/6185335007/

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