Palm Beach Gardens pitches massive annexation

City could grow by more than 10 percent if neighboring residents agree in March referendum.

Palm Beach Gardens rolled out a massive and ambitious effort Tuesday to annex more than 1,350 acres containing more than 8,300 residents, a move that ultimately would be decided by voters after a potentially divisive campaign.

The city has sliced the properties, all east of Interstate 95, into five zones. A majority of residents in each zone would have to vote yes on the March 19 ballot for their respective zone to enter the city.

Continue reading “Palm Beach Gardens pitches massive annexation”

Total rebuild proposed for PGA Marina

Marina owner Port 32 proposes three new buildings, eased entry road for River House restaurant.

The marina at the foot of the PGA Boulevard bridge is in line for an $80 million overhaul.

For boaters, it means 57 more dry storage docks, a 15 percent expansion. And, to satisfy neighbors worried about the way exposed boats look, nearly all the boats will be indoors, some stacked on racks five levels high.

For patrons of the neighboring River House restaurant, it means an end to the confusing entry road it shares with the marina. A new road dedicated to the restaurant will run along the property’s north side.

Continue reading “Total rebuild proposed for PGA Marina”

Trump Corner: Delayed turn-lane project may be done by August

Work ramps up again on Palm Beach County project seven months after initial completion date; stalled supplies to blame.

Seven months after its scheduled completion date, workers are back on the job at the so-called Trump Corner in Palm Beach Gardens. But completion is more than two months away.

When the county scheduled a 10-month construction project to add a right turn lane at Military Trail and PGA Boulevard, supporters of Donald Trump (and Gov. Ron DeSantis) complained construction was a convenient way to silence their weekly Friday rallies, particularly in the run-up to the governor’s reelection.

Continue reading “Trump Corner: Delayed turn-lane project may be done by August”

Hear this: HearUSA amps up Gardens’ presence; adds store, national training center at Mirasol

The national hearing aid retailer rolls out ‘Center of the Future’ at new store in Palm Beach Gardens, where it has its corporate headquarters.

HearUSA, a leading hearing aid retailer, has placed its Palm Beach Gardens headquarters at the center of its plan for massive growth.

With its grand opening ceremony May 9, attended by about 150 people, HearUSA will not only have its first store in the city it has called its corporate home for more than 35 years but will make the location at Mirasol one of six training bases in the United States.

That means jobs for young people looking to jumpstart a career that ultimately can land them six figures.

Continue reading “Hear this: HearUSA amps up Gardens’ presence; adds store, national training center at Mirasol”

Panama Hattie’s transformed: Developer Dan Catalfumo puts on the Ritz

Intracoastal Waterway site to be home to 106 condos priced as high as $7.2 million; and now it sports a Palm Beach Gardens address.

Recessed LED lighting casts a warm glow on the cream-colored porcelain flooring. Earth tones dominate the walls, sofas and chairs.

Step into the rarefied air of the newest condo project rising in north county and designers hope you’ll feel as if you’re entering an upscale living room.

But this Ritz-Carlton Residences Palm Beach Gardens — 106 condos to be built at the former Panama Hattie’s site — is more resort hotel than condo commons.

NOTE: This story also is being published today on Stet, a new weekly newsletter covering Palm Beach County. Joel Engelhardt is one of three founding partners at Stet, which aims to provide news and context you won’t find anywhere else. To get the Stet newsletter delivered straight to your inbox, click here: https://stetmediagroup.substack.com. Once you get there, we’ll even explain what Stet is.

Continue reading “Panama Hattie’s transformed: Developer Dan Catalfumo puts on the Ritz”

Tax relief for some: Gardens council trims tax rate

Palm Beach Gardens residents with homestead protection will pay less, those without will pay more.

For city property owners with a homestead exemption, this year’s Palm Beach Gardens tax rate amounts to a tax cut.

For the rest, about 40 percent of city taxpayers, the rate set in September by the City Council means paying more in taxes to the city.

Continue readingTax relief for some: Gardens council trims tax rate

‘Any positive thing we can do:’ Volunteers clean up Mac Beach

International Coastal Cleanup Day draws 80 to John D. MacArthur Beach State Park.

Since 2018, volunteers have pulled 3,000 pounds of trash off the beach at the John D. MacArthur Beach State Park.

On Saturday, about 80 volunteers came out for International Coastal Cleanup Day, braved stormy skies, and added another 172 pounds to the total.

Doesn’t sound like much but the pickings were scarce. 

Continue reading “‘Any positive thing we can do:’ Volunteers clean up Mac Beach”

Exclusive: FPL seeks to build second building at Gardens site

Florida Power & Light Co.’s plan for a second 1,000-employee building would be a twin of the first and include 150 electric-vehicle charging stations.

As FPL nears completion of its 1,000-employee office center at Interstate 95 and PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens, it is moving forward with a second building, a twin of the first, to house another 1,000 workers.

The building would be erected at an angle in front of the first building facing Kyoto Gardens Drive, Florida Power & Light’s March 21 plans show.

Continue reading “Exclusive: FPL seeks to build second building at Gardens site”

Trump Corner yields to DeSantis Depot amid costly turn-lane construction

County to shell out $1.17 million for about a fifth of an acre and to reconfigure Publix parking lot.

The county has agreed to pay more than $1.1 million for the narrow strip of land needed to add a right turn lane on the well-known Trump Corner rally spot at PGA Boulevard and Military Trail, nearly doubling the project cost. 

Meanwhile, the Trump rallies that thrust the corner into the spotlight both before and after the 2020 election have been silenced by dirt mounds and barricades, but not for long, organizer Willy Guardiola vowed. 

Continue reading “Trump Corner yields to DeSantis Depot amid costly turn-lane construction”

EXCLUSIVE: Catalfumo takes over Panama Hattie’s site 

Developer seeks permission to add 2 acres, 26 condos to now-vacant site along the Intracoastal Waterway at PGA Boulevard.

The long-stalled plan for condos on the former Panama Hattie’s restaurant site has new life under an expansion proposed by developer Dan Catalfumo.

Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE: Catalfumo takes over Panama Hattie’s site ”