Joel EngelhardtInsertion into the Downtown Master Plan would make the site of the Jaguar dealership, which also has Aston Martins and McLarens, eligible for a 25-story condo.
Myers Auto Group, which owns the downtown West Palm Beach Jaguar dealership, wants its 2.5-acre site at Okeechobee Boulevard and South Dixie Highway absorbed into the Downtown Master Plan to enable high-rise redevelopment.
The proposal, which has the support of city planners, would have to be approved by city planning bodies and the City Commission. While an April presentation on the master plan did not show the Jaguar dealership within the boundaries, a more recent copy includes it.
But the master plan, which called for 25-story buildings along Flagler Drive, is on hold after questions raised by City Commissioner Christy Fox and a growing sense of outrage among city residents, who have formed new groups to monitor city growth.
As a result, the city pulled the master plan from last Wednesday’s agenda of the Downtown Action Committee, its first stop before the Planning Board and City Commission. A separate proposal to add the Jaguar dealership to the master plan map got pulled as well.
But in a report prepared for the meeting, city planners proclaimed their support for adding the Jaguar dealership to the map and changing the property’s zoning to allow 25-story buildings.
“Planning staff agrees with the applicant and supports that the site is suitable to be integrated into the Downtown Master Plan, so that any future redevelopment aligns with the regulatory framework that enables a vibrant, mixed-use, walkable and attractive downtown,” Development Services Director Ana Maria Aponte wrote.
Extends 25-story zoning south of Okeechobee
At the Wednesday meeting packed with city residents concerned about growth, the city pulled its first consideration of the master plan, drafted over the past year by Miami-based urban design firm Zyscovich.
The master plan, which hasn’t been updated since 2007, is a blueprint for development of downtown, spelling out what types of buildings can be built where.
In an April presentation to the City Commission, the Zyscovich plan did not include the Jaguar dealership. But in maps submitted with Wednesday’s proposal, the property is included. It is the only change to the master plan boundaries.
The Jaguar dealership would be the first property south of Okeechobee Boulevard to be included in the Okeechobee Boulevard zoning district, which allows 25 stories. The zoning category was created in 2018 to enable the Related Cos. to build the One Flagler high-rise alongside the First Church of Christ, Scientist.
The dealership’s south property line abuts the city’s Woodlawn Cemetery, which is drawing community outrage over a proposal to convert it into a “cemetery park.”
‘A classic opportunity for infill’
Myers Auto Group, represented by attorney Harvey Oyer, owns the two-story Jaguar dealership and McLaren and Aston Martin dealerships on the site. Its application says the changes would ease the site’s redevelopment in keeping with “the city’s vision for the Okeechobee Boulevard corridor.”
“The property’s current use as an auto sales and repair facility represents a classic opportunity for infill redevelopment, transforming underutilized industrial space into high-value, DMP (Downtown Master Plan)-compliant uses like office towers, residential units or mixed-use retail,” the application said.
“Over the years, the site has remained largely untouched as the city’s downtown has grown around it,” the applicant said, singling out CityPlace and the convention center, which “underscores the site’s viability for a major project.”
“Without DMP inclusion,” the applicant said, “the site falls outside the plan’s framework, limiting development potential, permitted uses and design standards that have driven downtown’s success.”
The proposal “would unlock these tools, enabling the property to contribute to the DMP’s emphasis on ‘innovative high-rise buildings’ and active streetscapes along Okeechobee. This mirrors recent development like One Flagler, which has catalyzed economic vitality; similarly, redeveloping the site has the potential to add thousands of square feet of leasable Class A office space, fostering job creation in finance, technology and hospitality sectors that define the OBD as downtown’s ‘economic center.’”
The words seem improbable to one new downtown leader, Fatima Sanandaji, who co-founded Save West Palm Beach, one of the groups that pushed for reconsideration of the master plan.
“I find it frightening, frankly,” Sanandaji told Stet News. “That area cannot handle another office tower or another massive tower for residents. Traffic will become insane.”
The site is particularly vexing to drivers because Dixie Highway becomes one-way at Okeechobee, forcing northbound traffic to either go east or face a confusing westbound left turn.
Oyer did not return phone calls to discuss the proposal or explain why he would pursue two approaches to adding the Jaguar dealership to the master plan.
Residential tower could total 483,000 square feet
The proposal doesn’t spell out what could be built on the site. That would come in later stages once the map is expanded. But planners calculate that the new zoning would allow a maximum of 483,351 square feet for residential development with ground-floor retail. Because of traffic concerns, office development would be smaller.
An analysis of the property’s traffic study shows that the residential use would generate less traffic than the car dealerships, from 7,290 daily trips to 4,125.
The city notes without explanation that the property owner would need to provide traffic mitigation measures, such as a new access road, transportation demand management strategies and intersection improvements.
When asked what development rights the Jaguar dealer has now, city staff referred Stet News to the city zoning code and explained that the height is limited by the distance the building must be set back from the street, which would limit development for buildings exceeding 60 feet tall.
The property owner, Stephen Myers, tried a similar move in 2016, saying ultimately the dealerships would move west to the Land Rover dealership at 7550 Okeechobee Blvd., The Palm Beach Post reported, adding that Jaguar Land Rover PLC, the British company that manufactures Jaguars, wants the dealerships to move to a single location.
In pausing the master plan, Mayor Keith James announced July 6 that the city would work with neighborhood groups to let residents meet regularly with city staff and consultants, review planning information and technical studies, ask questions and get answers from subject matter experts, share community perspectives and help inform public engagement efforts.
