Exclusive: 25-story waterfront buildings axed from West Palm’s downtown proposal

Mayor Keith James’ pause ends Wednesday as a key city committee takes up the plan.

Following public outcry, West Palm Beach has withdrawn its proposal to allow 25-story buildings along the city’s waterfront, the city’s principal planner confirmed to Stet News Friday.

The new potential for buildings that tall along the city’s waterfront, from Datura Street to Lakeview Avenue, had appeared in an initial draft of a Downtown Master Plan update, the first in nearly 20 years. That plan for how the city’s skyline could change for decades to come produced such an outcry that Mayor Keith James in July announced a pause in its consideration.

Now the plan is moving forward, scheduled for an up or down recommendation from the city’s Downtown Action Committee. After the downtown panel’s review, it moves to the city Planning Board Sept. 15 and then on to the City Commission  Oct. 26. If a state agency signs off on the zoning changes, the update will come back for final City Commission approval Jan. 18.

Other waterfront changes scrapped

Chris Kimmerly, the city’s principal planner, said that all incentives to build higher along the waterfront corridor have been removed from what the city committee will consider Wednesday.

Also, among the scrapped proposals: buildings reaching up to 12 stories in the heart of the waterfront from Banyan Boulevard to Datura Street.

The withdrawal of those plans drew relief from one of the neighborhood groups that’s raising alarms about the development pressure that’s catapulted the city to new prominence with the migration of entities such as Vanderbilt University, Cleveland Clinic and Wells Fargo’s wealth and investment management division.

“That’s a good move,” said Sitima Fowler, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, one of the groups that the mayor promised to work with to formulate a plan for the city’s future.

Still, the end of the pause is coming too soon for residents worried the city is speeding up growth that’s already left them stuck in traffic and worried about the impact on the city’s aging roads, pipes and sewer systems. Residents say they will be asking for the July pause to continue beyond the 65-day lull that ends Wednesday.

‘Our work is not done’

Those who have been in private meetings with city officials during the pause for more collaboration say they are not even close to presenting their recommendations to the city about what they think should happen as the city’s unprecedented growth has earned it the nickname “Wall Street South.” 

“Our work is not done,” said Fowler, noting that she learned that the downtown update would be up for a vote before her group has been able to submit its recommendation.

Jessica Swift, chair of the West Palm Beach Residents Coalition, said that her group is planning to submit a white paper in January regarding questions that need answering.

“We are hoping to press the city, frankly, for new solutions, new high-tech ideas and out-of-the-box thinking,” Swift said. “When it comes to mobility, the plan right now largely centers on bike lanes and buses, while we also have significant questions about aging water and utility infrastructure and whether it can adequately support future growth.”

Why now?

The update is necessary because West Palm Beach is not the sleepy town it was back when the last vision was formulated, said the architect leading the effort, Bernard Zyscovich, as he addressed a standing-room only crowd at an April 23 community meeting on the plan that brought together the city Planning Board and the Downtown Action Committee.

“There’s a lot of people headed this way, and it’s not just the people … it’s the businesses, it’s Vanderbilt (University), it’s Cleveland Clinic, it’s world-class new businesses and people that have focused on West Palm Beach,” Zyscovich said. “To frame it all up, that’s why we’re here. We’re here to try to say, well, the code we had before is not really adequate to manage the flow that’s coming. So, what you’re going to see … is the next iteration of the growth of the city. … Success brings challenges.”

Twenty-one community meetings regarding the downtown update have been held from January 2025 to May 2026, city spokeswoman Kathleen Joy said.

“Our larger community meetings generally drew approximately 50 attendees each, while we also held smaller, more focused meetings designed to allow for more direct and in-depth community engagement,” Joy said.

Still, even with the lower building heights, resident groups are seeing a continued betrayal of getting its concerns addressed as James had promised when he agreed that there would be more collaboration with residents on the city’s future.

“I want to get things done right, not fast, and that is what this new initiative is about,” James said in a prepared July 7 news release from the city announcing the downtown plan was put on hold.

It seems like the rush job is on, according to residents who have been involved in the discussions.

“Suddenly it’s back on these two agendas, and no explanation, no seeing the plan, no nothing,” said Nancy Pullum, a longtime resident and activist a week before the scheduled vote.

The plan

When the amendments to the downtown plan were last reviewed in May, the downtown committee agreed to them with some conditions. City planning staff have additional changes for the committee to consider at this upcoming meeting, city spokeswoman Joy wrote in an email.

All the details of what the downtown board will consider were not available at press time. 

On Thursday, city officials told Stet News they would be available the day before the meeting.

The Wednesday agenda does show, however, that a proposal persists from the last version that would move Myers Auto Group’s Jaguar dealership at 915 S. Dixie Highway into downtown zoning that allows 25 stories at the location.  

Broadly speaking, the idea is to draw more development to the downtown core. Any added height will be allowed only for the right designs, architect Zyscovich said.

“Forty percent of the building (footprint) … has to be free and open,” Zyscovich said. These buildings, he said, are going to be “thinner … with more light down to the street …”

Discussions of plans to add more square footage downtown became even more packed, charged affairs once it was revealed in April that billionaire Ross was proposing Flagler Drive be rerouted west to expand the downtown waterfront park, which would put the continued location of a popular watering hole, E.R. Bradley’s Saloon, in doubt.

The owners of the iconic venue have told media outlets that they were threatened with eminent domain if they didn’t cooperate with billionaire Ross’ plan to purchase the property and donate it to the city to expand the waterfront park.

James, however, has vehemently denied that report and has sought in subsequent city meetings to distance the downtown update from the idea of rerouting Flagler Drive west.

“There is a conflation of issues … the Downtown Master Plan … made reference to the relocation of Flagler as more of an aspiration,” James said at an April 27 City Commission meeting.

City Urban Designer Claudia Ivaban confirmed to Stet News that rerouting Flagler Drive is not under consideration at Wednesday’s meeting.

That comes as a relief to Save West Palm Beach’s co-founder Catherine Adler. She’s also determined to guard what the residents have in water views.

“Maintaining the waterfront as it is seems to be of paramount importance … a worldwide symbol of West Palm Beach,” she said.