August 2021 - OnGardens

Top 200 Taxpayers: Why a vacant lot is worth more than The Breakers

Palm Beach Gardens has 16 of the 200 most valuable properties in Palm Beach County, with Gardens Mall ranked second, behind only the Boca Town Center Mall.

In the rarefied air of the 200 largest taxable properties in Palm Beach County sits an empty lot.

Ah, but what an empty lot.

Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin’s vacant 12 oceanfront acres on Palm Beach make up the third-most valuable property in Palm Beach County, valued for tax purposes at $223 million.

That’s a higher taxable value than The Breakers hotel, JFK Medical Center and Florida Power & Light Co.’s Juno Beach headquarters.

The only individual properties with higher values? The Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens malls.

Woods draws opponent; west elm leaves

Robb & Stucky building demolition is complete; Campus Drive roundabout is open for business.

Recent happenings in the Gardens

A Group 4 city council race is shaping up between incumbent Carl Woods and newcomer Eric Bruns.

Armed with a city attorney’s opinion saying he isn’t blocked by term limits, Woods filed paperwork with the city clerk on Aug. 3 to run. The next day, Bruns, who lives in Carleton Oaks off of west Northlake Boulevard, signed up to run.

What’s in a term? Gardens Councilmember Carl Woods told he can run again

Term limits backed by voters in 2014 raise questions in Palm Beach Gardens.

Term limits could face another test in Palm Beach Gardens after the city attorney advised Councilmember Carl Woods that he can run again because he had not been elected to serve two full three-year terms.

Slicing the Cheesecake: Council embraces Downtown plan calling for Cheesecake Factory to go

ShopCore Properties wins city approval for massive changes at Downtown Palm Beach Gardens.

The biggest step in the transformation of Downtown Palm Beach Gardens won city council approval Thursday without a single word about the popular restaurant about to be served by a wrecking ball.

No more Cheesecake? Gardens council to vote Thursday

Shopcore Properties proposes tearing down Cheesecake Factory, adding hotel, apartment building at Downtown Palm Beach Gardens.

Plans to remake Downtown Palm Beach Gardens, including the demolition of The Cheesecake Factory restaurant to make way for a 280-unit apartment building, go before the city council Thursday.

Gardens budget: What you pay and where it goes

Flat tax rate means most homeowners will pay more as Gardens adds 11 jobs, seven of them in new golf course

Tapping its vast reserves and federal COVID relief money allows Palm Beach Gardens to propose no change in the tax rate for the seventh straight year.

City Manager Ron Ferris’ budget blueprint calls for adding 11 positions, including a police officer, firefighter and seven jobs at the yet-to-be-built Par 3 golf course at Avenir.

While the tax rate remains flat at $5.55 per $1,000 of assessed value, taxpayers will pay more because of rising property values.