Delray Beach workshop prioritizes expedited permitting, targeted marketing to recruit high-wage employers

Delray Beach commissioners on Dec. 1 heard an updated economic-development briefing and signaled support for a push to recruit higher-wage employers by tightening permitting timelines, building a current property inventory and funding targeted marketing.

Assistant City Manager Jeff Orris opened the workshop by summarizing a consultant update to the city’s 2021 economic-development profile and key local indicators, saying the city’s population is roughly 67,500, per-capita income is about $56,000–$57,000 and the poverty rate is about 15.8 percent. Orris noted the city has $500,000 in an economic-development fund for incentives and that Delray’s highly developed footprint limits opportunities for large new buildings.

Why it matters: Commissioners and outside partners said Delray’s limited developable land makes it essential to recruit the right kinds of employers — smaller headquarters, family offices and professional-services firms that fit in existing downtown space — and to be ready to move quickly when prospects appear. Without an updated inventory and expedited permitting, guests warned, marketing alone can drive leads to neighboring cities that do have available Class A office space.

Public testimony set the tone. John Jasper, a veteran CBRE broker who said he works on office leasing in downtown Delray, told commissioners: “We need to start advertising. We need to take a proactive approach,” arguing Delray routinely loses financial-services deals to Boca Raton and West Palm Beach despite demand from executives who want to live and work locally.

County partner Kelly Smallridge, president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, told the commission that while incentives can help, they are often “the icing on the cake” and that real-estate readiness and fast commitments usually decide where firms locate. Smallridge cited ServiceNow as an example of a company that received roughly a $17,000,000 incentive package linked to about 856 jobs and said expedited permitting and a short commitment timeline can be more valuable than public money for many relocations: “If you know the criteria, and you have a commitment letter in less than five days, you can prevent that company from going and looking at another city.”

Commissioners and staff identified near-term priorities the commission wants staff to pursue: create or outsource a current real-estate and vacant-property inventory; draft expedited-permitting criteria and ordinance language for targeted industries; and define marketing and recruitment resource needs, including whether the existing $500,000 economic-development fund could help. Orris said staff will return in early January with recommended ordinance language, resource implications and specific agenda items for regular meetings.

Commissioners repeatedly emphasized the city’s constraints — limited land and a shrinking inventory of commercial parcels — and urged a plan that aligns target industries with the city’s built character. Suggestions included focusing on private equity, small headquarters and tech-support or professional-services offices rather than large manufacturing or distribution facilities that require substantial vacant land.

The workshop produced no formal motions or votes. Instead, commissioners directed staff to develop concrete implementation steps to bring back at the beginning of the new year, including potential ordinance changes for expedited permitting and a possible referendum path if the commission wants a citywide tax-abatement tool reinstated. Staff said they will also share examples and templates of expedited-permitting ordinances and coordinate with county partners on marketing criteria.

Next steps: Staff will prepare ordinance drafts and an inventory summary for early January meetings and return with recommendations on resource needs and how the city might use existing incentive funds. No formal action or vote was taken at the workshop.