Downtown Boynton taking root

2018 to see major projects break ground or completed

Boynton Beach is bracing for a year of downtown transformation, as several major projects either wrap up or break ground.

Several residential complexes that will bring more than 1,000 apartments within about a square mile are in the works. The developments could mean the realization of city leaders’ desire for a vibrant downtown, filled with shops, restaurants and other attractions.

Expect the former Boynton Beach High School to become a cultural arts hub, hosting city events by late summer. It’s part of the larger Town Square civic center that will involve demolition of existing buildings to make way for the new project.

Among other major developments expected to be complete or break ground in 2018 are:

500 Ocean, a six-story building with 340 apartments at Federal Highway and Ocean Avenue. It will include a rooftop dog park, minibowling lanes and a private movie theater. The project’s opening date was moved to summer 2018.

Town Square, a $280 million project that will add shops, a hotel, parking garages, an amphitheater and more than 400 residential units to a 16.5-acre site on Boynton Beach and Seacrest boulevards. The plan includes construction of new police and fire stations, a library and City Hall in the spring.

Riverwalk Plaza, which will replace an abandoned Winn-Dixie at the corner of Federal Highway and Woolbright Road, features a 10-story residential complex with 326 apartments. There also will be renovations to some of the other existing buildings. Construction is scheduled to begin in January.

Two other projects that officials say will help anchor the downtown have also been approved recently. .

Ocean One’s latest plans feature 231 apartments in an eight-story building on a vacant 3.6-acre lot at 114 N. Federal Highway. The project also includes space for retail and 50 public parking spots. could open by 2020.

Villages at East Ocean will be a 371-unit multifamily project with retail space on about 5 acres at East Ocean Avenue and the FEC railroad tracks. Development plans should be finalized in 2018, with construction possibly starting a year later.

The city last year increased building heights, and officials had hoped new rules would lure developers to spur growth and carve out an official downtown district. The project