Midtown project up for a vote again
DELRAY BEACH — A divisive development proposal that has pitted preservationists against developers, with residents in the crosshairs, will again go to the Delray Beach City Commission for approval or denial.
The city’s Historic Preservation Board rejected Midtown Delray Beach, a proposal to redevelop and build out a strip of historic homes on Swinton Avenue south of West Atlantic Avenue, last month. But the developer, Delray Beach-based Hudson Holdings, appealed the rejection Tuesday, and expects a hearing before the city commission in February.
The project is in its sixth iteration. It has been changed over the course of four years to address complaints from residents, city officials and, most vocally, local historic preservationists.
“A lot of the changes were voluntary changes to make sure we addressed every concern we’ve encountered,” said Steve Michael, who heads Hudson Holdings.
Hudson Holdings plans to demolish some historic structures on Swinton Avenue, rehabilitate and slightly relocate others, and build condominiums, stores and an underground parking garage around them. The historic homes would all remain on the same block.
Midtown Delray Beach is being touted as a gateway to the under-developed West Atlantic Avenue, a mostly blighted counterpart to the flourishing East Atlantic Avenue.
The area is due for revitalization, city leaders say. Midtown could bring “the most important renaissance of the next 10 years in downtown Delray Beach,” Michael said.
Historically, Swinton Avenue was a racial divider in Delray’s past. Economically, it has become an unofficial barrier between the booming businesses to the east, and an under-served west.
Even those who oppose the project agree that the corridor needs revitalization.
The city’s Historic Preservation Board supports a resurgence in the area, but rejected Hudson Holdings’ proposal in late December, saying it was to grandiose for the subtle historic district, home to some of the city’s oldest structures tucked behind lush landscaping.
“It’s losing that whole ambiance of a historic neighborhood,” said Angela Budano, a historic preservation board member.
Some residents have pushed back against the project. Others have voiced an eagerness to develop that area.
Despite working with some of the project’s most vocal dissidents, Hudson Holdings has been able to gain widespread public support for the project.
“We endeavored to get (Hudson Holdings) to reduce the sizes, but were unsuccessful,” JoAnn Peart, president of the Delray Historic Preservation Trust, a nonprofit aimed at protecting Delray Beach’s historic properties, wrote in an email last month.
The trust, a vocal opponent to the project, acknowledged that Hudson Holdings has changed the project to appeal to residents, specifically by keeping many historic structures in place, but aspects of the project remain “unacceptable,” Peart wrote.
Michael is optimistic that the city commission will support the venture.
“I think they’ll find this is a great balance of historic preservation and proper redevelopment of an otherwise blighted area,” he said.