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The Jupiter business district has struggled since it opened in 2001. A developer wonders if its last vacant sites should only have housing, not shops.
JUPITER — People like Jennifer Paganelli are the key to Downtown Abacoa’s success. She lives in the community and enjoys walking to shops, restaurants, salons and other businesses in the New Urbanist development’s Town Center.
“I can get a coffee at Crux. I like the mix of retail, and I love this shop,” said the Jupiter resident while selecting a gift for her daughter at Palm Harbor Boutique.
The Town Center is home to more than 30 businesses, but without a true anchor business and distance from northern Palm Beach County’s major roads, Abacoa has had its ups and downs as a commercial district since its debut in 2001.
That’s one reason a proposal calls for building only residences on the area’s last three vacant parcels, across from Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
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The sites will have 357 apartments in four five-story buildings along with parking garages if the landowners and a developer have their way. Gone would be a key requirement: that the buildings have commercial uses on their first floors.
Town planners are opposing the change, and the Town Council is approaching it cautiously. It is set to hear an update June 20 after first reviewing it May 16.
Land in question once home to 16-screen movie theater
In 1995, Jupiter approved a plan to develop Abacoa from 2,050 acres of farmland then owned by the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation north of Donald Ross Road and east of Interstate 95. Construction started in 1997.
Today, Abacoa extends north to Indian Creek Parkway, east to Alternate A1A and west to Heights Boulevard. It includes the stadium, a Courtyard by Marriott hotel, a bioscience center, a Florida Atlantic University campus, more than 20 commercial areas, two public schools, a golf course and more than 6,000 residences.
The partnership behind the new proposal includes the landowner Aries Land Acquisition, led by Rich Rendina, and The Richman Group, an apartment developer headquartered in West Palm Beach.
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They are asking the town to consider zoning changes to allow a reduction in the amount of commercial development required to 25 percent from 30 percent in the 21-acre Town Center’s commercial core and for density to be increased to 19.2 units per acre from 16 in the entire 70-acre Town Center District.
Under current rules, buildings there are required to have a non-residential use on the ground floor with apartments or condominiums on the upper floors. However, the developers are asking to be allowed to build ground-floor residential, with plans for 13 two-story apartments.
The three parcels total 6 acres in all and are to the northeast of the stadium at Main Street and Avenue A. One 3-acre parcel was occupied by the 16-screen Crown Movie Theater that closed in 2006 and was demolished in 2010.
An entertainment complex that would have included bowling, food, movies and music, proposed in 2017, never happened due to economic conditions and financial hardship.
Proposal would add to Jupiter’s workforce housing options
The proposal comes with a sweetener: a proposed 71 workforce housing units, more than three times the required number, which would help alleviate the area’s affordable housing shortage.
The developers had initially proposed 35 workforce housing units but say they can build 71 such units and still create an economically viable project, said Todd Fabbri, executive vice president of The Richman Group.
The “Live Local Act,” signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 29, will give them a property tax break. Exactly how the new law works is still being figured out, but it adds a property tax exemption for portions of a property in a multifamily project up to 75 percent of the assessed value if the project provides housing to people meeting certain income requirements.
Donaldson Hearing, president of Jupiter-based landscape architecture firm Cotleur & Hearing, said additional apartments within walking distances of Abacoa’s businesses will bring more people to the Town Center, which has struggled with occupancy over the years.
A January market analysis from Hank Fishkind Litigation Services, submitted by the developers, said the Town Center has a nice mix of neighborhood businesses, but no major anchor store or restaurant to draw people to it.
“Adding additional residential will likely bolster existing retail due to adding more people into the area, which has limited visibility to auto traffic and could reduce vacancy rates,” Fishkind’s report said.
The apartments also would help alleviate the region’s “critical” housing shortage of about 20,000 residences, Hearing said. “Talk to any employer in Jupiter and find out what the number one issue is.”
“We are asking you to look into the windshield and go forward and look at what we can accomplish and solve. We can solve parking and housing issues and make a vibrant town center,” Hearing said.
Other town centers, such as Celebration in Central Florida, have struggled and had to evolve and change, Hearing said.
Rendina Cos. has marketed the property nationally for 25 years, but there are no takers, and there is no market for it as a commercial site, Hearing said.
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A key question for town officials is whether residences are appropriate for the first floors of buildings close to the stadium.
Mayor Jim Kuretski said he is open to the idea but wants to know how much in property taxes the town stands to lose. He also questioned whether ground floors without commercial space will work next to the ballpark.
Council member Malise Sundstrom, who lives in Abacoa, said she bikes to Town Center businesses such as Bahama Buck’s, known for its shaved ice and cool treats.
“It would be upsetting to walk out of a ballgame and see a solid block of residential. You want to activate that area next to the hotel and the ballpark,” Sundstrom said.
Garret Watson, a town planner, said the requested amendments are a significant departure from the council’s prior policy decisions. Jupiter’s planning and zoning commission recommended a denial of the proposed zoning changes.
The Town Center District began as a much more intense commercial development, and over the years, it has morphed into a more residential area as the commercial core has shrunk, Watson said.
There are uses other than retail that could meet the intent of the commercial core, such as recreation, office, places of worship or hotels.
A May report from CoStar, a commercial real estate information provider, shows that the 21,460-square-foot Town Center has only one vacancy, a 4,020-foot space vacated by a gym this year.
“Alton Town Center has a waiting list, and that is not what we have in Abacoa Town Center,” Hearing said.
One restaurateur said Abacoa’s business owners favor more residential development. Ryan Witkowski opened the Stadium Grill in 2001 and says his eatery and some others are doing well, while others are less busy.
He also noted the Town Center faces competition from other dining and entertainment areas along Donald Ross Road and PGA Boulevard.
“We do not want more commercial in Abacoa,” Witkowski said. “We have been there 22 years and seen it go from full to empty. When they closed the movie theater, it was down to 30 to 40 percent occupancy. It has been a struggle for years.”
Some businesses succeed despite lack of foot traffic
Many of today’s successful tenants, such as Club Pilates and East Coast Bridals, attract their own clientele without depending on foot traffic.
Irene Jameson, owner of East Coast Bridals, moved her shop to Abacoa from Stuart in 2015, and attracts bridal gown customers from Jacksonville to Miami, with many traveling from Tampa and Orlando. The shop, with 450 dresses in stock, is open by appointment only.
Because of a difficult financial situation the Town Center was in during that time, following a foreclosure of a prior owner, Jameson was given nine months of free rent. That gave her a chance to show she could be successful.
She says her customers patronize the other businesses, especially the restaurants, because they will stop for lunch or dinner before or after their appointments.
“I draw no matter what. When you look up ‘bridal,’ you will find us. I wanted to be near I-95. It’s so easy to get here,” said Jameson, who considers the Town Center the perfect spot for her business.
Commercial real estate broker Rebel Cook said Abacoa’s inherent flaw since its beginning has been that it cannot be seen from main roads. Poor signage makes it difficult to find and navigate.
“You have to know how to get in there,” Cook said.
The retail market, however, has seen a resurgence as more people have moved to Abacoa, she said. “The businesses that suffered for years because there were not enough people who lived in Abacoa have now survived. Younger people moving into Abacoa do work and play there. They walk and ride bikes.”
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