Planning board recommends approval for Marina Annex: 175-unit workforce housing, 15,000 sq ft community center

The Riviera Beach Planning and Zoning Board on Sept. 11 recommended that City Council approve a four‑part application from Marina Annex Housing LLC to redevelop a roughly 3.62‑acre site at 251 West 11th Street into a six‑story, 175‑unit workforce housing building with approximately 6,500 square feet of ground‑floor retail and a 15,000 square‑foot community center to be operated by the Alpha Educational Foundation.

Staff and the applicant told the board the project would change the site’s future land use from Community Facility (CF) to Downtown Mixed Use (DMU), rezone the property from Community Facility to Downtown Core (DC), grant a zoning text amendment to waive a building step‑back requirement for properties west of Avenue E, and approve a major site plan for the mixed‑use development. Principal planner Kurt Thompson asked the board to forward the items to council as four separate votes; the board voted unanimously on each application.

The project team said the site currently contains a vacant K–8 private school and several temporary structures used by community organizations. John Hurt, executive director of the Riviera Beach Housing Authority, said the authority transferred the surplus property from the city and partnered with private developers to deliver workforce housing. “This is a fine example of public‑private partnership,” Hurt said, adding the plan would provide housing,…