Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
New homes begin
For the first time since the 1990s, there is a single-family subdivision underway in Lake Worth.
Construction has begun of a single-family home subdivision in Lake Worth — something the city hasn’t seen since the 1990s.
Developer Meritage Homes is creating the Lake Cove on 19th Avenue North, generally west of North A Street and north of 19th Avenue North.
The subdivision will have 59, two-story homes ranging in size from 1,708 to 2,819 square feet, with prices starting in the mid-$300,000s.
“We’re excited to have the opportunity to do a project in the city,” said Justin Cook, Meritage’s South Florida division president. “We look at it as a real opportunity to bring affordable homes to the area. We’re going to supply singlefamily detached homes in a good location for under $400,000, and that includes everything as far as options and upgrades ... that’s very difficult to find in southeast Florida.”
Lake Worth city officials said Lake Cove is one of many residential projects now underway, although it’s the only single-family home project.
Others include:
The One, a 14-unit, fourstory condo on South Palmway and Lake Avenue, and Banyan Court Apartments, a three-story complex on North A Street; both are under construction now.
Plans by Adopt-A-Family, a nonprofit for low-income families, for 14 townhouses on North A Street has been approved; building plans are pending.
Venetian Complex, a six-story complex with 158 rental apartments; the project has been approved and construction is pending. The project is next to a 100-room, five-story Wyndham hotel also under construction.
The MID, a 230-unit mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments, which has been proposed. The three-story project would have commercial space on the ground floor.
Golden Roads, a 189-unit apartment complex that is pending Planning & Zoning Board approval. The project would have five buildings, one with five stories and the others with three stories.
Meritage’s Cook said the company wanted to be part of the growth and newfound interest in the area. Meritage bought the land for Lake Cove in 2017 for $2.28 million. He said it was a wooded spot used by a contractor to store heavy equipment such as bulldozers and tractors.
Mark E. Stivers, Lake Worth’s deputy director for community sustainability, said the economy was partially to blame for the city’s slow development. But he thinks Lake Worth is now on the upswing.
“Investors have been cautious about investing in single-family homes here, and the tide has changed,” Stivers said. “We want to have a full range of housing types. This is exciting for us, exciting to see single-family homes.”