Long-held Northlake site to get 97 houses

City OKs development on acreage Palm Beach man bought in 1970s.

PALM BEACH GARDENS — The patience of a Palm Beach developer who has held on to 97 acres on Northlake Boulevard for more than 30 years is about to pay off in a big way.

The Palm Beach Gardens City Council on Thursday night unanimously voted to rezone the Salvatore J. Balsamo Trust property and allow the construction of 97 single-family homes known as Ancient Tree.

Balsamo, a Chicago native, said he bought the property in the 1970s. He’s enjoyed it as respite from city life over the years, raising goats and other livestock. It’s used as a pasture for beef cattle, he said.

“It’s exciting to know there’s going to be 97 families on the propert y instead of goats and horses and cows,” he said after the approval.

The land is between the future Avenir development and the city’s Sandhill Crane Golf Club, on the north side of Northlake Boulevard, just east of Coconut Boulevard.

Now that the development is approved, Balsamo plans to sell most of the property to a builder in Palm Beach Gardens, he said. He declined to name the builder. “I’ve always wanted to see i t t hrough. We’ve g rown ol d together, me and the property,” Balsamo said when asked if he had been tempted to sell it sooner.

He’s talking with the city about giving it a little more than 14 acres of open space next to the golf course.

The property was in unincorporated Palm Beach County until November.

In 2005, some Cit y Council members opposed annexing the property when landowners including Balsamo argued for more development farther west. At the time, officials worried it would force their hand on an earlier proposal to allow 9,000 homes on the former Vavrus Ranch, now Avenir, to the north and west.

T h a t wa s l o n g b e f o r e t h e Palm Beach Count y Commission approved Westlake, 4,500 homes on 3,800 acres of the former Callery-Judge citrus grove, or supported a critical change to allow GL Homes to build 3,900 homes west of the Acreage.

It was also before Landstar Development Group of Coral Gables bought the 4,763-acre site of Avenir for $20 million in 2012 and refined development plans with community input. The Palm Beach Gardens City Council officially approved those plans in May, effectively clearing the way for Ancient Tree, which Balsamo acknowledged.

“I think the approval of Avenir was part of the reason that we were successful rezoning the property and bringing it into Palm Beach Gardens,” he said.

The council annexed Balsamo’s property in November. There’s no timeline for construction of the new houses.