Results

Public Officials:
West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel
Palm Beach County Commissioner Jeff Koons
November 2003 Session

Final Report

Description of Project
Palm Beach County and the City of West Palm Beach brought forward a combined project for consideration by the Design Institute. Each jurisdiction brings a different perspective and capability to the project but their goals are shared: continued economic development, furthering the use of mass transit and the creation of workforce housing.

Palm Beach County presently owns an approximately six acre parcel just west of the Historic Seaboard Railway Station on Tamarind Avenue in West Palm Beach. This land is under consideration for the development of an intermodal transit facility site. The County is in the process of transferring the site to the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) for development. The RTA will then issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Qualification (RFQ) for the site, which would look at how the site could be developed to connect urban redevelopment with mass transit. Transportation presently served through this site includes Tri-Rail, Amtrak, Palm Tran (Palm Beach County's bus system), West Palm's city trolley, taxi and Greyhound bus service.

Across from the county-owned parcel and the Railway Station is an approximately 30-acre site with multiple owners that was also brought before the Design Institute for integration into the plan. The site lies between Banyan and Fern, Sapodilla and Tamarind in the City of West Palm Beach. The City and County both see an opportunity to assemble the parcels and provide for consolidated development of the area. The first challenge of a coordinated redevelopment plan for the 30 acres is in the actual assemblage of the land. The City and County are hoping to encourage the production of workforce housing, plan for an appropriate combination of office, retail or light industry and to coordinate appropriate densities and intensities for the site.

Design Institute Recommendations

• Organize an implementation team, consisting of the six individuals named above.
• Convene the task force within ten days of the Design Institute conclusion.
• Develop a memo of understanding and an implementation strategy.
• Ensure that "can-do" staff is assigned to work on the project.
• Create clear vision of overall plan and evaluate how to assemble the land.
• Develop master plan with new block structure and street pattern.
• The Task Force should review the master plan for downtown.
• The County and City should jointly invest in a market study.
• Define parking needs and a parking strategy.
• Decide which government agency will contribute what; e.g. Palm Beach County contributes land, West Palm Beach contributes tax-increment financing, RTA contributes management.
• Re-evaluate subsidy programs for affordable housing as well as funding sources and define existing vehicles and tools for attainable housing.
• Define state, federal, county office needs and locations.
• Plan task force site visits to model Transit Oriented Design (TOD) collaborative projects

Results
The Intermodal Task Force has been created as suggested. Its members include representatives from the City of West Palm Beach , Palm Beach County , RTA/Tri-Rail and the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC). The TCRPC and the South Florida Regional Resource Center (RRC) is requesting partial funding from the Metropolitan Planning Organization for planning and design services for the project. The staff of the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions continues to serve as a link between the RRC and the task force.

December 2005

In December 2005, Palm Beach County Commissioners received a proposal from the South Florida Regional Planning Transportation Authority that called for making the proposed land available to private developers for the downtown transit village. Overall, the commissioners like the idea, but had various questions and suggestions on how best to proceed with this project.

March 2006

Additional Contacts

Michael Masanoff, RTA/Tri-Rail (561) 953-5065

Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (772) 221-4060