Commission denies Deco Northwood Broadway project after parking, access and neighborhood concerns
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Sign Up Free
Summary
The City Commission on Oct. 27 denied special site plan and right‑of‑way abandonment requests for the proposed 8‑story Deco Northwood project at 2900 Broadway, citing inadequate parking, possible loss of a public right‑of‑way and impacts to adjacent historic neighborhoods.
The West Palm Beach City Commission denied two related actions on Oct. 27 concerning an eight‑story, 167‑unit multifamily project proposed at 2900 Broadway (the Deco Northwood): resolution 228‑25 (special site plan review) and resolution 229‑25 (abandonment of the southern half of 20 Ninth Street for mechanical equipment). The votes were unanimous.
The applicant, represented by Rebecca Miller (MPLD Consulting), sought project approvals under the Live Local (SB102) workforce housing program, proposing a design with terrace landscaping, public art facades and ground‑floor coworking and amenity space. The project included requests for multiple waivers: reduced parking (a request to reduce required vehicular spaces by 32), smaller landscape buffers and permission to place mechanical equipment within the area proposed for right‑of‑way abandonment.
Staff outlined recommended conditions and mitigation — enlarging planters in the abandonment, tree plantings where possible, a post‑occupancy parking study and a required contribution to the city’s mobility fund if the developer did not provide an off‑site parking or valet solution — but the packet also described site constraints and the degree of requested relief.
Neighbors and nearby property owners testified at length. Key concerns included a shortfall of on‑site parking relative to the number of units, the risk that overflow parking would push into Old Northwood residential streets, and the permanence of abandoning part of the public right‑of‑way (which opponents said would constrict emergency and construction access and limit future options). Resident Tim O’Regan, owner of the property immediately north, told commissioners the half‑width abandonment would “impede access” and make future use of adjacent parcels impracticable.
Applicant representatives said they were offering 100% AMI rents for the affordable units and proposed measures including bike storage and a future trolley stop; they also emphasized design elements and terraced landscaping to reduce sight‑lines into adjacent yards. The developer proposed monitoring parking after occupancy and providing valet or off‑site parking if demand required it.
After deliberation the commission found the cumulative effect of requested waivers and the right‑of‑way abandonment raised too many unresolved impacts — especially on parking and access — and denied both resolutions.