Stet NewsHello, hello! For you today, a $156 million plan to connect I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike, Riviera Beach’s biggest pitch, a new place to celebrate the “golden hour” and get thee to a (stone) garden.
🔗 Linking I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike
The state is preparing to spend $156 million to make it easier to cross from Interstate 95 to Florida’s Turnpike.
Why it’s important: The first seamless connection between the turnpike and the interstate is expected to reduce congestion from motorists switching between the highways at Indiantown Road in Jupiter. It would add crisscrossing ramps up to 27 feet tall in a rural section of Martin County north and south of Bridge Road.
Yes, but: Design work cannot begin before 2031 as no money has been set aside in the state’s five-year plan. That means completion of the project could be 2035 or later. When the project is combined with widening the turnpike to eight lanes from four in that area, the price tag balloons to $309 million.
Zoom in: The ramps north of Bridge Road would cut through the northern edge of the 165-acre Hobe Sound Farms, site of a popular farmers market. Owner Zach Gazza worries that he’ll lose cattle pasture, endangering his operation.
What they’re saying: “This is going to completely change the landscape of the entrance to Martin County,” Gazza, owner of Be A Man Buy Land, told the Martin County Commission in July. “It looks like what they’ve decided on is they’re taking the whole north portion of my farm, which eliminates the cow-calf operation. That means no more calves. What am I supposed to do with my farm?”
The project would not add turnpike access at Bridge Road, a move that helps sell the project to environmentalists who object to growth in the mostly undeveloped area.
“What we like about the project right now is it does not provide that connection,” said Greg Braun of Guardians of Martin County.
What’s next: A virtual public hearing will be held at 6 pm Monday, Oct. 20. Registration is online here.
- An in-person public hearing will be held at 5:30 pm Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the Indian River State College Clare & Gladys Wolf High-Technology Center, 2400 SE Salerno Road in Stuart.
Read more about plans for the first seamless connection between the turnpike and the interstate and its impact on the area at StetNews.org.
— Joel Engelhardt
🚨 Exclusive: Riviera Beach to pick partner for massive redevelopment
Riviera Beach leaders are poised to approve a private partner for a sweeping redevelopment they envision to reshape their city.
What’s happening: City Council members will consider a staff recommendation Wednesday to negotiate with a team assembled by Los Angeles-based Sonnenblick Development to build:
- A new city hall complex.
- Residential and retail space on the old Blue Heron Boulevard city hall site and on a city-owned block on Broadway.
- An athletic center with money from a voter-approved bond issue.
The developments would all be on about 80 acres of public property, including the Wells Recreation Center athletic fields south of Blue Heron, and financed by Riviera Beach and the developer.
Sonnenblick’s 244-page proposal is dated June 2024 and would likely evolve if the council decides to negotiate with the team.
- The pitch values the city hall portion of the project at $100 million.
The competing pitch comes from Peter Baytarian’s Forest Development, developer of the Nautilus high-rise under construction in Lake Park and the twin 25-story Oculina towers proposed next door on the Riviera Beach side of Silver Beach Road.
- Forest values the entire project at $635 million.
A review committee ranked Sonnenblick over Forest last month, but the scores were close. Sonnenblick earned an average of 116.6 points to Forest’s 112.6.
- Sonnenblick’s partners include Clearwater, Fla.-based Sports Facilities Cos., design and engineering consultants Kimley Horn and Gilbane real estate development company.
- Forest’s partners include the WGI engineering firm; attorney and Port of Palm Beach board member Wayne Richards; and Kast Construction.
What’s next: Council members take up the issue at 6:30 pm Wednesday at the Marina Event Center, 190 E. 13th St. You can watch the meeting on the city’s YouTube channel.
Keep reading for what the Sonnenblick team is proposing to be The Flats @ Blue Heron at StetNews.org.
– Carolyn DiPaolo
🌺 Paradise Tavern is ready for customers in North Palm Beach
Paradise Tavern, which took over The Catch at 766 Northlake Blvd. in North Palm Beach, is now open.
What’s happening: Co-owners Dan Newkirk and Cassidy Flannery, working since they signed a lease in June, opened Oct. 3 to serve friends and family.
- “We had a great crowd,” Newkirk said. “It was all word of mouth.”
- Many diners had come from their other bar, Hap & Hooch in Jupiter.
In the room: They expanded and redrew the rooms for Paradise Tavern, creating the bar area up front, and setting up the main dining area on the tiki-hut-covered patio overlooking the lake. The open-air deck will be accessible from a new side walkway, he said, “so families don’t have to walk through the bar if they don’t want to.”
They’re expecting a happy hour crowd and have a menu set up for the 4-6 pm service they call “golden hour.” It includes $1 oysters, and a baked fish dip and cocktail specials.
- A full bar is set up, but there’s no craft beer on tap. “There are dedicated places for it. We’re into craft cocktails and traditional drinks. We have beer – it’s all bottled, ice cold, mostly domestic,” he said.
- They’ve brought their dry-rub chicken wings, and a version of their popular smash burger, dubbed Paradise burger, from Hap & Hooch, but Newkirk and Cassidy provided only minimal guidance for chef Isael “Izzy” Alvarez to create a full menu here. Along with foods inspired by tropical islands globally are several seafood offerings, pork chops, pork belly sliders and salads.
Paradise Tavern is open Wednesdays through Sundays for now, for “golden hour,” 4-6 pm, and the bar and dinner, 4 pm to midnight. Brunch will be served soon, from 11 am to 3 pm Saturdays and Sundays.
– Jan Norris
🍊The Juice
🚫 Lake Worth Beach city commissioners agreed last week to let voters consider four charter changes, presumably at the March 2026 election.
- During a six-hour meeting, commissioners rejected a ballot question asking voters to consider allowing hotels at the beach, a move that kills the Copperline Partners unsolicited proposal. (Lake Worth Beach Independent $$$)
📉 Enrollment at Palm Beach County public schools has dropped by more than 6,000, figures from an early count showed, forcing the reassignment of at least 120 teachers and setting the stage for a loss of as much as $25 million in state money. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
⚖️ Pro-golfing legend and North Palm Beach resident Jack Nicklaus is suing his former business partners, claiming defamation over comments regarding whether he was in secret talks to lead the Saudi-backed LIV golf league for $750 million. In addition, the lawsuit alleges, the partners also spread false rumors about the 85-year-old icon’s health. (The Palm Beach Post, $$$)
📞 Despite a state law requiring agencies to post emergency contracts within 30 days of signing them, an analysis of nearly 1,000 state contracts worth $1 million or more identified 719 worth $6 billion that had not been posted. (Florida Bulldog)
🚮 County commissioners serving as members of the Solid Waste Authority Boardlast week unanimously approved a $1.5 billion plan to build a second incinerator by 2034. The county has a mass burn combustion facility that opened in 2015, but officials say they need to replace a neighboring refuse-derived fuel plant that opened in 1989. (WasteDive. Watch the meeting here.)
☀️ A solar power project involving NextEra Energy in the Nevada desert that would have been one of the world’s largest has been canceled, according to the Interior Department. The project, known as Esmeralda 7, would have comprised a network of solar panels and batteries across 118,000 acres of federally owned land northwest of Las Vegas. It was expected to produce enough energy to power nearly 2 million homes.
- A spokesperson for Juno Beach-based NextEra said the utility was “committed” to its portion of the project and would work with the Interior Department. (The New York Times gift link)
🏥 Tenet Healthcare paid $62 million for the Victor Farris medical office building connected to Tenet’s Good Samaritan Medical Center on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach. (The Real Deal)
🎧 “Top of Mind Florida,” the podcast by Michael Williams and Brian Crowley, talks with Mark Hassell of Bill Bone Bike Law about the surge in cycling, e-bikes, new safety laws, and why cyclists need a place in the future of transportation in Florida. (Listen here; watch after 4pm Wednesday)
561NSIDER: 🌿 It’s garden weather!
The Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, a peaceful respite in West Palm Beach, reopened for the new season Oct. 1 as workers completed a 10-year, $10 million refurbishment.
Why it matters: The “Protecting a Legacy” campaign created an endowment and paid to refurbish the site’s three buildings and many of the massive brick sculptures created by the gardens’ founder, Ann Norton.
What’s happening: The reopening offers an exhibition of paintings by West Palm Beach artist Paul Gervais and the announcement of many events, including the ninth annual “Sculpture in Motion,” an exhibition of automotive excellence.
Catch up quick: The gardens, a 2-acre property just across Flagler Drive from the Intracoastal Waterway, is an enclave of subtropical plants and trees, especially palms and cycads. Pathways meander past Norton’s monolithic sculptures, a refuge for art lovers and others who find solace and inspiration in nature.
- The gardens date to 1977, but they began long before that, after sculptor Ann Vaughn Weaver met Ralph Norton, founder of the Norton Museum of Art, in 1942 when she accepted a job as an instructor.
- After his wife, Elizabeth, died in 1947, he asked Ann to marry him.
- She moved into the house designed by architect Maurice Fatio in 1925, and remodeled by Marion Sims Wyeth. Wyeth had also designed the Norton Museum, and Ralph had him build Ann a studio next door.
By the numbers: Now, more than 100 sculptures adorn the property, including the 27-foot-tall “Gateway 3” sculpture, dwarfed by palms that tower above it.
Who’s who: Margaret Horgan is the sculpture garden’s executive director now, but she started 13 years ago as a volunteer.
What they’re saying: The garden is entering a new phase, Horgan said. “We haven’t had an endowment until now. Now, we take a deep breath and plan for the future.”
If you go: The Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, 253 Barcelona Road, West Palm Beach. Free for members, $15 adults, $10 age 65 and older, $7 students. Free for children younger than 5. Annual memberships start at $100 for individuals, $175 for families. Special events have separate pricing. The garden is open from 10 am to 4 pm Wednesday-Sunday, October-June.
Keep reading to learn about the busy schedule planned at the sculpture garden this season at StetNews.org.
— Janis Fontaine
It’s only 18 days until this year’s NAMIWalks Palm Beach County. We hope you’ll sponsor our Stet News team or come out and visit our table on Nov. 1. Details here.
