Delray Beach and Boca Raton Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Watch as Jeff and Dave, the founders of YourDelrayBoca.com, give you their take on the local real estate market:

There is no more dynamic real estate market in the U.S. than Boca-Delray.

From oceanfront mansions and historic homes to picturesque country clubs and subdivisions the market is vibrant, the choices are endless and the neighborhoods varied depending on age range, price and taste. The area features everything from old Florida to the most modern downtown condo’s and townhomes.

You are sure to find exactly what you want in these two world-class cities.

Buying or selling in the Delray-Boca area and need a recommendation? We can help. Learn more here.

16 December, 2015 1 Comment

The Attraction of Walkability

December 16, 2015 By Jeff Perlman 1 Comment

There was a great article posted recently in the Huffington Post by noted urbanist Kaid Benfield.

The article talked about the increasing desire of home buyers and renters who want to live in walkable neighborhoods near urban amenities.

But Benfield, who interviewed several real estate brokers lamented that in many communities, there simply wasn’t enough product to meet the demand and more worrisome is that many cities fight policies that would promote more walkable neighborhoods. They really shouldn’t.

If you think that a desire to live where you can walk to stores, offices, services, restaurants and cultural amenities is going away—guess again.

Millennials prefer urban amenities more than their predecessors: 50 percent consider it “very important” to be within an easy walk of places “such as shops, cafes and restaurants,” according to the results of a nationwide survey released earlier this year by the National Association of Realtors and Portland State University. Among baby boomers, the portion considering walkability to be very important is 38 percent.

According to Benfield: “Earlier survey research has found that 31 percent of millennials want to live in a core city, as opposed to only 15 percent of baby boomers and 18 percent of generation X. (Forty-two percent of millennials prefer living in a suburb, and 25 percent prefer living in a small town or rural setting.) But, even if they want to live in a suburb, most millennials still want walkability; 71 percent of all millennials reportedly want their home neighborhood to be walkable. Moreover, seventy-eight percent are looking for diversity; this is a generation that grew up with more diversity than its predecessors and has come to expect it where they live, in housing types and in the incomes and ethnicity of their neighbors.

It’s not just millennials who are driving demand for walkable neighborhoods, of course. In addition, a large number of baby boomers – the second largest generation in American history – are seeking new places to live as they downsize, and many of them, too, want to be able to walk to shops and amenities.”

Writing in the Washington Post reporter Ylan Q. Mui put it this way: “Roughly 10,000 baby boomers are retiring each day, and recent data show that half of those who plan to move will downsize when they do. Many are seeking the type of urban living that typically has been associated with young college graduates — so much so that boomers are renting apartments and buying condos at more than twice the rate of their millennial children.”

So what is a walkable neighborhood? Benfield says it has three characteristics:

Well-connected streets: The smaller the block size, and the more intersections, the better. This makes potential travel routes shorter, more direct, and frequently safer, since well-connected neighborhood streets can provide quieter alternatives to walking along high-speed arterial roads
Things to walk to: Simply put, people walk more when they have places they want to go within walking distance. Research has also shown that people who live in neighborhoods where homes are accessible to shopping walk more and actually weigh less, on average, than residents of automobile-dependent neighborhoods, even when other potentially relevant factors such as age, income, and ethnicity are discounted in the analysis.
Good infrastructure for safe walking: Sidewalks are important, as well as safe street crossings and nearby motor vehicle traffic moving at nonthreatening speeds.

Sadly, Benfield says these types of neighborhoods are scarce, mostly found in inner cities and there are not enough of them being built to meet demand.

Benfield recommends using form based codes and LEED for Neighborhood Development to foster walkable neighborhoods.

Form based codes de-emphasize the regulation of building uses and focus instead on the size and positioning of buildings and their physical relationship to each other and to public spaces such as streets and sidewalks. As the Form-Based Codes Institute puts it, building form standards regulate things such as “how far buildings are from sidewalks, how much window area at minimum a building must have, how tall it is in relation to the width of the street, how accessible and welcoming front entrances are, and where a building’s parking goes.”

The idea is to create rather than inhibit a walk-friendly environment. A Form Based Code is less concerned with separating uses and shies away from prescriptive rules in favor of a how a neighborhood should look and feel. Delray Beach’s Downtown Master Plan came close to this ideal, but the most recent effort to update the downtown land development regulations—while originally sold as a form based effort—actually took a step back by becoming more prescriptive. Its failings were painfully evident when a new Aloft Hotel on US 1 proposed a 600 foot wall (two football fields) and it fell within the new code. A form based code would have prevented that scenario; unless of course you hoped to design a canyon.

LEED ND establishes criteria for development that prioritizes things like access to shops and services, streets and sidewalks that interface with buildings to create a comfortable walking environment, transit access, efficient use of land, affordable housing, and environmentally sensitive building practices. Planned or built development meeting the system’s set of prerequisites and optional credits are “rated” and, if they qualify, rewarded with certification at the certified, silver, gold, or platinum level.

While scores of cities are using form based codes and LEED ND, there are many, many others that are not despite the market demand for walkable neighborhoods.

According to the Land Use Law Center, there are about 40,000 local governments and most have at least a few polices that serve as barriers to walkability.

Clearly, there is a lot of work to do, but an amazing market opportunity for cities and developers to identify neighborhoods where walkable communities can be created.

So where do we stand? Well, downtown Delray Beach is a “walker’s paradise” with a Walk Score of 91 on a scale of 1-100.

Overall, the city as a whole rates a 36, which means that if you live outside the downtown you are car dependent.

Boca Raton also scores a 36 overall, according to Walk Score.com. Boca’s most walkable neighborhood is the Villa Rica apartments, which scores a 64 meaning residents of this eastern neighborhoods can access four restaurants within five minutes on foot.

We can do better.

7 December, 2015 0 Comments

#Motivation Monday: Quotes That Make You Think

December 7, 2015 By Jeff Perlman Leave a Comment

At YourDelrayBoca.com, we love quotes. Here’s a few we hope you’ll enjoy with some limited commentary.

“People make cities, and it is to them, not buildings that we must fit our plans.” – Jane Jacobs

“Growth is inevitable and desirable, but destruction of community character is not. The question is not whether your part of the world is going to change. The question is how.” – Edward T. McMahon, the ULI Fellow not the Prize Patrol guy.

“I have affection for a great city. I feel safe in the neighborhood of man, and enjoy the sweet security of the streets.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who would have embraced community policing.

“What is the city but the people? “- William Shakespeare

“He who tells the truth must have one foot in the stirrup.” – Old Armenian proverb

“A leader is someone who cares enough to tell the people not merely what they want to hear, but what they need to know.” – Reubin Askew. We met Gov. Askew once, he was so very impressive.

“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” – Yogi Berra not, we repeat not, referring to Atlantic Avenue.

“How is a village a village? By including young & old, white & black, rich & poor, churches & shops.” – Anonymous.

“How many of you here think housing should be more affordable? (almost all hands rise) OK, now how many of those own your own home?’ (most of the same hands stay up) OK. How many of you want the value of your own home to go down? (lots of blank looks, and hands creeping down) You see the problem?” – Anonymous

“NIMBY reactionaries don’t stop change in the long run. They simply help to insure that it happens in the worst possible way.” – David Brain. Note his last name.

“The second shortest code in the world: Diverse, walkable and compact.”—Peter Calthorpe

“Anyplace worth its salt has a ‘parking problem’- James Castle. You’d rather have one, than not.

“Increasingly, we live in a world where cities compete for people, and businesses follow. This trend has largely been ignored by many cities, which are still focused on business climate and tax incentives. But I think the big question businesses will ask in the years to come is going to be ‘Can I hire talented people in this city?’ Cities need to be able to answer ‘yes’ to succeed.” -Carol Coletta. Carol worked on the Delray Cultural Plan. She’s amazing.

“Parking is a narcotic and ought to be a controlled substance. It is addictive, and one can never have enough.” –Victor Dover. Mr. Dover is a fan of Delray Beach. We are a fan of his work.

“The problem with planning is that it has been overtaken by mathematical models… traffic, density, impact assessment, public costs etc. discarding common sense and empirical observation.”—Andres Duany.

“I’ve always described Density in terms of dollars: The more you have of it, the more you can buy with it — referring to amenities, of course (cultural, entertainment, dining, etc.). When I get asked what’s the single most important thing that can be added to a city to help revitalize it (they are always waiting for the latest retail or entertainment thing…), I always say housing. “ Seth Harry.

“If buildings are beautiful, higher density compounds that beauty. Conversely, if buildings are ugly, then higher density compounds that ugliness.” – Vince Graham

“What kills a city are people who want only low taxes, only want a good deal and only want cities to be about . . . pipes, pavement and policing. “ Glenn Murray. It’s all about design, not numbers.

“You can measure the health of a city by the vitality and energy of its streets and public spaces.” – Holly Whyte.

“The opposite to bad development is good development, not no development.” – Padriac Steinschneider.

“If you are an elected official lacking in courage and leadership, and you face even a peep of opposition to a project, fall back on perfectionism to find a flaws so that you can shoot down the project. Perfectionism leads to paralysis.” Dom Nozzi. It also leads to disinvestment, a bad reputation, loss of jobs and lawsuits.

18 November, 2015 0 Comments

Building the Ecosystem: Addressing the Gaps

November 18, 2015 By Jeff Perlman Leave a Comment

All across America, communities are celebrating entrepreneurship.

As well they should be, because America was built by entrepreneurs and its future depends on their success.

Americans are an innovative people, freedom loving, creative problem-solvers who aren’t afraid of risks or dreaming big. No act of terror can shake those values, it’s in our DNA.

That ethos has made us an exceptional nation—and the pacesetters for the world. But here at YourDelrayBoca.com, we think local.

Luckily, there’s a nascent effort under way at FAU to foster the next generation of great entrepreneurs.

Tech Runway as it’s called sits in a barren part of the campus in an airplane hangar not far from Boca Airport.

It’s a cool building—you really ought to stop by and visit– and it’s buzzing with possibilities and excitement.

In the interests of full disclosure, I sit on the Tech Runway Advisory Board because the concept taps into the three ideas/values that drive me: leadership (Tech Runway seeks to be a leading voice in the emerging South Florida entrepreneurial ecosystem), entrepreneurship (the runway is a launching pad for new companies) and community (Tech Runway seeks to be a gathering place for those who want to see an entrepreneurial ecosystem take shape).

Last week, thanks to Connor Lynch, Stacey Hallberg and Northern Trust, we hosted 60 plus business, civic and entrepreneurial leaders at the bank in downtown Delray to discuss Tech Runway’s vision and to elicit buy-in and support from local movers and shakers.

Our new board chair David Roth—an accomplished entrepreneur behind the brands Wakaya Perfection and Fiji Water—keynoted the event along with FAU President Dr. John Kelly.

I had the honor of speaking at the event and outlined Delray’s long time vision to be a hub for creative professionals offering jobs and opportunities for young people. But it was President Kelly who ignited the crowd with his aspirations for the university.

Dr. Kelly summed up the mission of Tech Runway perfectly: “we’ll be educating future scientists, propelling undergraduate research and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs to take their ideas from concept to commercialization. This infusion of intellectual capital will create a powerful new economic engine for South Florida.”

Kelly’s goal is to turn FAU into one of the top public universities in America and he has assembled a stellar team to lead the way. The Runway is an important component in the big picture.

Delray and Boca—as the cities closest to FAU—have a unique opportunity to benefit from the investment and the talent that is being attracted to the university and to projects like the Research Park and Tech Runway. As mentioned in other columns, Lynn University is emerging as a player as well.

So what’s missing? Quite a bit, but creative office space in urban environments and investment capital are two glaring gaps that need to be filled if we are to fulfill our potential and realize the vision.

Young entrepreneurs are seeking urban, walkable and vibrant environments—much like what Delray and Boca Raton has to offer. They are also seeking a community of like-minded people who they can partner with. These “collisions” are harder to arrange in traditional suburban style office parks.

Building “creative” space, co-working facilities and the like in a high cost environment is not easy, but we must find a way or we risk losing our best and brightest to other cities and regions.

In Boca, Dr. Kelly thinks the 20^th Street corridor and its warehouses represent an opportunity. Durham, North Carolina converted similar space to entrepreneurial uses to great success.

In Delray, we have opportunities on Congress Avenue, but also downtown if we can find a way to talk intelligently about growth and sustainability. Like I’ve said, the downtown is not done. We are missing the work and learn part of live, work, learn and play. We can’t lose our will now.

Boca too has an enormous opportunity and many units are being planned for downtown Boca. Hopefully, the city is also leaving space for creative style offices, not Class A, but space that entrepreneurs would seek out and enjoy.

The other missing ingredient is angel, seed and venture capital.

We have plenty of wealth in these parts, but we need more local investing and we need to attract some accomplished VCs too. VC’s and angels look for deal flow, the more the better.

Historically, we haven’t had much, but that’s changing in South Florida, thanks to efforts such as Tech Runway.

If we can support, nurture and invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs we will do a lot to diversify and improve our local economy.

There have been efforts in the past. But this effort looks and feels different. I think this one is going to work.

28 September, 2015 0 Comments

New York State of Mind

September 28, 2015 By Jeff Perlman Leave a Comment

Simple elegance

We just came back from a long weekend in New York City and it was wonderful.
New York in September defies description.

The weather is perfect, not hot, not cold and you find yourself walking everywhere.
We measured our steps on our smart phones and found that we walked close to 7 miles every day. We loved it.
New York crackles with energy. The restaurants are busy all day and people walk, bike and run in Central Park from sunrise to sunset.
Two of our favorite walks were through Central Park and on NYC’s famed Highline, an abandoned elevated rail line that has been converted into an amazing public space.
In Central Park, we visited Strawberry Fields which honors the life and legacy of John Lennon.
It’s hard to imagine that in a few months, it will be 35 years since he was gunned down outside The Dakota on Central Park West.

My friends and I were 16 when John was murdered and it left a deep hole. We grew up rabid Beatles fans even though we were in first grade when the legendary band broke up in 1970.

A bunch of us travelled to Central Park for a vigil honoring Mr. Lennon a few days after he was shot. It was incredibly sad but somehow soothing to be with a community of people who were as impacted as we were.
Last year, a few of us who went to the vigil returned to the city to mark our 50th birthdays. It all goes so fast.
Howie and Linda Cohn (yes, of ESPN fame) were there as were my friends Scott Savodnik and Ben Willemstyn.

We took photos on a Central Park bench, just like the Simon & Garfunkel song “Old Friends”. You remember the line: “Old friends, old friends sat on their park bench like bookends…Can you imagine us years from today, sharing a park bench quietly, how terribly strange to be seventy.”
We saw Simon & Garfunkel in the park when we were kids too. And joked that we would be those old men someday. And I guess we kind of are. (If not quite 70).
Memories seem to be enhanced by place.
We made some new ones walking the 1.5 mile Highline, a narrow trail that features native vegetation, public art and spectacular views. It’s a monumental achievement. Simple, but beautiful and vibrant with people of all ages enjoying what had been an abandoned rail line.
When we headed back home it was with thoughts about place making and walkability.
Are there places in Boca- Delray that can be reclaimed like the Highline? Most certainly, there are.

Cities like NY, Chicago, Charleston make you rethink the mundane and consider the possibilities.
Why don’t we walk more (in cooler weather at least) but prefer driving even when we visit downtown?
What are the next cool neighborhoods?
Great cities inspire. And nothing inspires quite like the Big Apple.

24 September, 2015 2 2 Comments

SWOT Analysis…First In A Series

September 24, 2015 By Jeff Perlman 2 Comments

Years ago, a mentor of mine talked to me about the value of doing what he called a SWOT analysis.

SWOT, stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

It’s a helpful exercise to write down your strengths, weaknesses etc., regardless of the endeavor your involved in.

It’s an old-fashioned, but effective way is seeing where you are.

And it’s always helpful to know where you are.

I just did a SWOT analysis for a start-up hot sauce company that I am involved in. It feels good to list your strengths and opportunities but you better be aware of your weaknesses and threats too.

Looking at Delray these days I see abundant strengths—a great beach, a lively downtown, some nascent entrepreneurial energy and some (but not nearly enough) passionate citizens. I also see great opportunities—the Congress Avenue corridor, a newly beautified and safer U.S. 1 corridor, the potential for sports and interest in our gateway— West Atlantic.

Smart cities—and hot sauce companies– build on their strengths and explore opportunities and never let complacency seep into the culture. So if you’re Delray don’t declare your downtown “done” (rule #1 of downtowns, you’re never done) you look to see if some of the spill over can be accommodated on Congress Avenue or elsewhere and you begin to make some strategic bets on cool opportunities made possible by your strengths.

But you also don’t overlook your threats and weaknesses.

So what are the threats?

Here are a few we see: Drugs, commercial real estate prices and rents that don’t make sense, a lack of affordability on the residential side, gaps in the educational system and political apathy among large segments of the community.

Weaknesses? Inflexible codes (no bonus program, not form-based), a long and exhausting land use approval process, lack of office space downtown and not enough diversity of uses downtown—yet.

Further afield; several struggling commercial districts outside the downtown core and not a lot of housing options.

Let’s take a deeper look at the threats.

Drugs: In the 80s, Delray dealt with a pretty significant crack cocaine epidemic. Many of the officers retiring today after 25-30 year careers can tell you stories that will astound you if you’re new to town. Of course, Delray was not alone. South Florida was awash in cocaine and crack back then. But we were hit especially hard.

Right now, the drug du jour seems to be heroin and flakka. Broward is getting killed with flakka incidents and we seem to be getting our fair share of users. Luckily, we have a Police and Fire Rescue Department skilled in handling the violence, crime and health consequences associated with the problem.

Irrational exuberance in our real estate market is not something we can call 911 to address. With prices for some buildings at $1,300 a square foot, downtown property going for $1 million to over $10 million an acre (not a typo) there are consequences. If you’re selling property, Mazel Tov, your ship has come in. If you’re renting property…well…welcome to rents exceeding $100 a square foot on the avenue.

The consequences are easy to predict: goodbye mom & pop, hello national retailer. If you are a restaurant, you better stay open to 2 a.m. and you better start selling a lot of overpriced drinks and $30 salads. This has demographic consequences that we ought to be talking about and understanding.

I happen to think that this is a phase and that the market will return to some degree of sanity. Others feel this is just the beginning and that Lincoln Road and Worth Avenue rents are here to stay and will only go up from here.

My prediction: we will see a bunch of national retailers signing relatively short term leases. When they realize that downtown doesn’t have enough density and year round foot traffic to support huge rents there will be a shake out and we will either have vacancies or landlords will adjust expectations (hard when you overpaid for real estate) and lower rents to allow independents to come back downtown.

We’ll see if the bulls or the bears are right. And P.S. I do think Atlantic can survive and would even benefit with the presence of some(heavy emphasis on some) national retail, which will drive traffic to hopefully also support independents and regionals. Is there a tipping point? Oh yes. Where? Got me, but please see rule number one: you are never done, downtown is more art than science.

On the residential side, rising property values are mostly a good thing, as long as you are not taxed out of your homes. But, if you are a young family looking to move to Delray or a young professional seeking to live here the costs of entry are significant. We are not talking about low or moderate income housing, but true workforce, e.g. an accountant and a teacher? Or a police officer and a nurse. Where do they live? Right now–and this is anecdotal—Boynton Beach.

Schools are an age old concern, but political apathy is a relatively new one.

In 1990, there were 26,330 registered voters in Delray. When the city elected Mayor Tom Lynch and Commissioners Jay Alperin and David Randolph 41.54 percent of eligible voters showed up.

Mr. Randolph received 7,720 votes.

Last year, Mayor Glickstein garnered 3,726 votes, less than half what Randolph received 25 years earlier in a much smaller city. His opponent, Tom Carney, tallied 3,266 votes. That’s about 16 percent of registered voters. Both candidates spent oodles of cash attacking each other and the city. Their campaigns were devoid of ideas. Sorry guys, it’s true. I kept your literature and use it to speak to kids about how coarse local politics has become.

Does it drive voters away? I think it does. Remember Commissioner Randolph got almost 8,000 votes in a much smaller Delray Beach.

Add Glickstein’s and Carney’s votes together and you get 6,992 votes. Something is wrong. And oh yeah, a whole lot more money is being spent these days chasing fewer voters.

The game has shrunk and that’s not a good thing.

Future posts, will address weaknesses, strengths and opportunities.

14 September, 2015 10 10 Comments

You Get More With Sugar…

September 14, 2015 By Jeff Perlman 10 Comments

The Delray Community Land Trust celebrating 10 years of excellence is a joint effort with the city and the CRA.

Imagine someone walking up to you on the street and smacking you over the head with a baseball bat.
Imagine that the person who hits you over the head is someone you know, have worked with and trusted.
In your mind, you’ve done right by that person.

Performed well in the past, felt you were still doing well and looked forward to more success in the future.
You’d probably be shocked and a trifle upset wouldn’t you? Sure, nobody is perfect, but a public beat down?

Well that’s what happened to the Delray Beach CRA last week when they went before for the city commission and received some “tough love”.
Tough love. That’s a heckuva phrase.
Usually it’s reserved for wayward children who are on the wrong track. You do something dramatic, maybe even shocking, to get their attention so they can button up and fly right.
But typically you don’t spank partners when they are kicking butt.
The Delray CRA kicks butt.
Take a look around Delray Beach. Take an inventory of what you like about this place.
Delray Center for the Arts, the library, Spady Museum, The Green Market.

Do you like the look and feel of Atlantic Avenue? How about Northwest/Southwest Fifth Avenue? Do you like Atlantic Grove? Or do you miss the drive through liquor store?

The list goes on and on and on.

But it’s not just the big important projects that make our CRA special. It’s the small but equally important stuff: the charming Community Land Trust houses, affordable projects like Carolyn Holder Court and a nearby senior housing project, facade grants, business assistance grants and the Eagle Nest program which has helped scores of kids discover a career path in construction. I know many of those kids, we are sending a few to college via Dare 2 Be Great and they have told us what that program has meant to their lives and their neighborhoods.

For 30 years, the CRA has been a valued partner, a policy innovator and a proven implementer. Their work has impacted the entire city not just their district.

The agency built Delray, along with residents, city staff and other agencies.
They deserve applause not a whack upside the head.
Tone matters in politics.
If you want to build a strong and caring community you have to be cognizant of words, tone, context. Think it’s sappy, guess again, it’s essential.
Elected officials need to wield both carrots and sticks. But the good ones know when to use them.
It’s important that leaders possess an ability to show respect and gratitude. They go hand in hand.
If you start a conversation with “thank you for all you do now let’s do even better” most people are all ears: eager to change and embrace new ways.
But if you if ignore someone’s worth and kick them in the teeth, the reaction is not enthusiasm, its deflation.
This issue is close to me. And admittedly I am biased. My wife ran the agency for 13 years. I know most of the agency’s staff. They are dedicated, hard working, honest, smart and incredibly effective public servants.

They are good. Very good. But they are not perfect. Neither is the City Commission or any group or agency for that matter. But the CRA should be a source of city pride; the agency deserves respect. They have done and are doing great things and they can be even better. They have also helped the city with expenses, including police and engineering services, money for the tennis tournament and for key non-profits like the library and the Delray Center for the Arts. They can be effective with less money and that’s the conversation that needs to take place.

But there seems to be a true disagreement over the agencies mission, spending and priorities. That deserves discussion and debate, not from dueling daises, but in conversation between the two agencies as Commissioner Katz wisely suggested.
Sometimes we act as if the money spent by the agency is lost. It’s not. It’s invested here not in some foreign country. And if you can’t see the return on that investment I can’t help you.
Wiping out this agency, taking it over and or beating it into submission would be folly. A mistake that won’t be forgotten and one that will have implications far beyond the terms of the current commission.

The direction given the CRA was to prioritize spending west of Swinton. Hmmmm… that’s been the priority of the CRA for at least the past 15 years. During that time, more than $45 million has been invested in our neediest neighborhoods, neighborhoods that the city neglected for generations. From housing and sidewalks, to water pressure upgrades and paving streets the CRA has used money generated by the success of the eastern portion of the district to improve the west. These improvements were done in partnership with residents and were based on citizen driven plans. And it’s first now beginning to yield results, with projects like the Fairfield Inn and the coming soon Equity mixed use development.

The neighbors called the promise to invest in the west “the covenant”. The covenant called for patience, but the promise was the monies generated in the east would help improve the west. Now that doesn’t mean that every dollar goes west. You still have to take care of infrastructure in the east and projects such as Delray Center for the Arts which by the way is for everyone to enjoy. I’m sorry that Artist’s Alley is in jeopardy because a private investor bought the warehouses, but I wonder if we’d be talking about art in the Grove if not for CRA investments in the Art Warehouse and Arts Garage. U.S. 1 is about to blossom because of CRA implementation of our master plan.

Now we’re told that the plan is old and things have changed. Yes they have. But concepts like walkability, sustainability, a need for independent retail, mixed use development, culture, mobility and affordability are still viable, desirable and needed. We are told that downtown is done. Nope. Sorry, it’s never done. That was a lesson learned many years ago that’s been forgotten, at least by some.

We are told to move everything to Congress Avenue and we are hard at work on a solid plan to do so. But none of it works, if we neglect the heart. City building is not a zero sum game.

You can pay attention to the east and the west and you should.
I’m a fan of city government– especially of this city’s government– despite its flaws. There are a ton of very good people who work at City Hall.
But to think they can do what the best CRA in the state has been doing exceedingly well for 30 years is just plain wrong.
A city needs a CRA and a CRA needs a city. You work together. Like you have for 30 years, a time frame that built a great city.
And if you think politicians should sit as the CRA good luck with that one. Instead of having volunteers with specific skill sets concentrating on redevelopment you’ll get people worried about “optics” (man, I abhor that word) and their next election.
Don’t fix what isn’t broken. Make it better.
And fix your own house first.
Unsolicited advice I know. But hey it’s my blog.
The CRA should be a source of civic pride not derision.
I heard so many falsehoods uttered last week that I lost count.
It seems that there’s a concerted effort to deny this city’s success and civic achievements. I heard the word disconnect used countless times; yep there’s a disconnect alright.
You can’t “fix” or improve by tearing things down. This city has come a long way and we love it. Lots of people have benefitted, all five commissioners included. Work with your partners.
That’s how Delray was built.

31 August, 2015 0 Comments

Boca Firm Steps Up With College Scholarship

August 31, 2015 By David Reeves Leave a Comment

From Left, Robert Barboni, President, Evershore Financial Group, Sean Fallon,
Daniel Zagata, Managing Director.

Following the tragic death of his father several years ago, Sean Fallon realized that pursuing his dream of securing a college education would be difficult.

But through community support, a supportive family, and hard work, the recent Jupiter High School graduate is attending the University of Central Florida with his sights set on becoming a Certified Public Accountant.

The tension of paying for four years of college became a bit easier recently when a local financial services company stepped up and presented Fallon with a $7,000 scholarship check.

The path to receiving this check was a bit convoluted since Fallon had originally submitted an essay for the national Life Lessons Scholarship, which is given to a student in recognition of “the character and perseverance that so many young people show in the face of adversity.”

While Fallon didn’t win this scholarship, his moving essay recounting the trauma of his father’s suicide was forwarded to Evershore Financial Group, a financial services firm with offices in Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, and Orlando.

“Sean is such an inspirational young man,” said Robert Barboni, president of Evershore Financial Group. “He’s gone through a lot, yet he’s done what he can to take care of his family and is now striving to receive a higher education. We are so glad to be able to give him a little boost along the way.”

The original amount of the scholarship Evershore expected to award was $2,000, however, when Evershore advisors and staff learned about Fallon’s story, they enthusiastically contributed an additional $5,000. When the over-sized check was presented to Fallon, there was hardly a dry eye in the audience at the Wyndham Grand Harbourside in Jupiter.

“I originally thought that the scholarship was going to be $2,000,” said Fallon. “But when they explained that it was actually $7,000…wow. What a surprise. I am so grateful for this opportunity and thrilled that Evershore has provided this scholarship for me.”

Before lunch, Fallon was invited to tell his story to the audience. Many in attendance were in tears as he told his story and he received a standing ovation. Once the applause cleared, Barboni made the emotional presentation.

“The Fallon family has been through an unimaginable tragedy,” said Barboni. “It was with great pride and humility that I was able to meet this young man who is an example to everyone in the audience. I know that I have learned so much from Sean and how he has persevered through these difficulties.”

Barboni was particularly moved by the following passage from Fallon’s essay:

“I know that life is going to be different for me and I know that I am always going to have to work hard. I just am hoping to get some help financially with college. My mom is a teacher and also works after school to help make ends meet. We are surviving and will continue to do so.”

Fallon was joined by his aunt, Lori Hausman, who is a Certified Public Accountant and the inspiration behind him aspiring to enter this profession.

31 August, 2015 0 Comments

A World Without Driving?

August 31, 2015 By Jeff Perlman Leave a Comment

I had dinner a few weeks ago with a friend who was a veteran planner in Broward County.

In retirement, my friend has become involved with the Smart Growth Partnership, a wonderful non-profit that promotes urbanism. They’ve been to Delray and I’ve spoken at a few of their events. I wish we could clone the people involved, because they get it.

As dinner progressed, we talked about traffic, technology and the exponential pace of change.

“We’re trying to get local governments educated about some trends and changes we’re anticipating,” he said. “So they can plan properly.” Planning? What a concept.

Instead of being reactionary, the concept of allows you to shape the future and if you’re lucky proactively position your city to take advantage of change.

Change? What a concept.

It’s inevitable, like death and taxes, but resisted nonetheless. Kind of like death and taxes, come to think of it.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said the only human being who embraces change is a baby in a wet diaper.

There’s truth in that comment, but I’ll point to another Mayor who embraced change—his name is Tom Lynch and he served Delray from 1990-96. He’s now mayor of the Village of Golf.

Tom is a “Darwinist.” He believes that those who embrace change and adapt will survive and thrive.

I agree.

Now back to the dinner conversation. One of the things the Smart Growth Partnership is beginning to consider are profound changes in our car oriented culture.

A few months back, I told you about a conference I attended in Miami in which a futurist from Singularity University predicted with certainty that his young son would never have a driver’s license. He wouldn’t need it, because we were heading toward a society that would embrace driverless cars. Google, Tesla and supposedly Apple are hard at work on perfecting this technology which already exists. Several Israeli start-ups including a really cool company called Mobileye are far down the track designing safe systems.

Mobileye believes regulators will embrace a marketing pitch that emphasizes safety over convenience and productivity.

I think they’re right. Regulators don’t care that you want to text while in a car, but they do care that a self-driving car may be safer.

Self-driving cars?

You must be kidding right?

Nope.

The Boston Consulting Group said self-driving cars would be a reality in a decade and a common site within two decades. Already, the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration is reviewing safety rules to see if they conflict with autonomous driving technologies.

This is happening folks. Really, it is.

And there are planners and technologists out there who believe we ought to be thinking about what this all means.

Salim Ismail of Singularity U. believes self-driving cars will translate into the biggest real estate opportunity of our lifetime because a lot of the land we devote to car infrastructure can be returned to nature or a more productive use than parking or wide lanes which promote speed.

We won’t need as many lanes if cars self-drive and if we summon a service like Uber to bring us to and fro, we won’t need to devote acres and acres to parking lots either.

The implications are staggering.

Smart cities– and Delray and Boca are smart cities –should at the very least begin to think about what a less car-oriented future might look like.

Millennials, especially urban millennials, really do drive less.

Proof of this trend comes from the Census Bureau’s latest American Community Survey on commuting by auto.

The survey shows that millennials, if they live in cities or urbanized suburbs, do indeed drive less. Wary of car payments, insurance and maintenance costs, many use ride sharing services, bike to work, want to live in walkable environments and or car share or ride transit—if it’s available.

The world as we know it is changing. And there are opportunities galore if we plan for the future.

24 August, 2015 5 5 Comments

A Better Way

August 24, 2015 By Jeff Perlman 5 Comments

Last week was exhausting and you could see the divisions in Delray writ large.

But what is often lost when emotions run hot are the commonalities.

In this city, there is one common thread that trumps (sorry for the word trump) everything else.

People love Delray Beach. And that’s a good thing.

Some like a vibrant growing Delray; some might prefer it a tad or a whole lot quieter. But the concern is there, so is the passion.

No “side” is right and no side is wrong.

It’s a debate that plays out in towns and cities throughout the country. But many people I know long for a more intelligent, fact-based debate in which all stakeholders can feel like they’ve been heard and respected. We should have a process that doesn’t feel so bruising and nasty.

But we don’t have that yet, not by a long shot. Here’s what we have as illustrated by the recent iPic debate.

Project comes to town.

Economic development fans get excited.

Jobs! Tax base! Cleaning up a blighted property! Yay!

But they’re not allowed to get excited or to enjoy the moment for longer than a nanosecond. And heaven forbid if we give the economic development team a pat on the back for bringing the opportunity to town.

See, unless the new project or company is being built on acres of virgin land nowhere near anything or anybody —they can expect opposition.

Why? Because inevitably they will “need” something; two feet more of land, a liberal interpretation of some requirement—something. And inevitably, there will be impacts associated with the proposal (and benefits as well).

And then all hell breaks loose.

No exceptions!

What are they trying to pull?!!

Suddenly, the company or developer becomes the “deep pocketed” corruptive force sent here to pillage and take advantage of the helpless resident/taxpayers.

Sigh….

Then the misinformation and accusations begin to fly. The developer is greedy and disingenuous. The city staff is in their pockets or incompetent. They won’t “compromise”.

Meanwhile, as the developer or company seeks to build support they make the rounds of the usual suspects and they are asked to do certain things such as contribute funds to a cause or build certain facilities. Some make sense, but others feel a little strange, words like extortion get thrown around.

Most play the game, to a point. But they start to wonder are they doing the right thing? When will the requests end? Where exactly is this going? Is this ethical?

Some decide to fight misinformation with PR. Big mistake; at least in the minds of opponents.

See we told you so, they say. The deep-pocketed developer is spending big bucks on mail, robocalls, ads, email blasts etc., seeking to overwhelm the poor resident/taxpayer.

Meanwhile, if you happen to be one of these resident taxpayers, or just a lowly renter or even a business owner who would like to support something you start to draw some heat.

“What’s in it for you,” you might be asked if you have the nerve to express support for something (it’s always OK to be against something, just don’t dare support something).

I was asked that last week, because I came out in favor of bringing 400 jobs, a corporate headquarters and family entertainment to downtown Delray.

What’s in it for me?

Let me answer that question: See above. I want to see 400 jobs; a corporate headquarters and family entertainment come to downtown Delray Beach. Shame on me.

But for me and for many others it goes beyond that. I’ve been working, alongside many others, on trying to create something in Delray since the 80s. I left office in 2007, after what I felt was a very productive 7 year run.

Am I bragging? Just a little.

But it was a team effort and I am proud of the team that I was on and the commission’s that came before us. I even like many of the people on the city staff…shocking, I know.

I live here. I care about this place. I think it’s smart for us to diversify beyond food and beverage and I want our children to be able to come home and work in Delray.

I’m a resident/taxpayer too. If I see something I like I want to be able to support it without being accused of being paid off. I think others feel the same way.

And by the way, we respect the legitimate concerns of opponents. I don’t relish traffic. But I understand tradeoffs. And I’m willing to live with inconveniences if there are compelling benefits. To me, there is no more compelling benefit than jobs. But I get the angst and I know it comes from a place of concern and love for Delray. Still, I am biased in favor or jobs and opportunity.

I am the co-founder of a non-profit called Dare 2 Be Great. Our mission is to provide scholarships and mentoring to some of the incredible kids who live in Delray Beach. We are investing in the next generation of leaders with the hope that some will come back here and make a positive impact on our community. The kids we help love this city and would like to come back. It is our responsibility to do what we can to provide them opportunities to do so.

We have a big job in front of us and a long, long way to go.

I don’t accuse opponents of ulterior motives so I don’t think it’s fair for them to do so to others just because there is an honest disagreement on a vision for Delray.

If I like something, it’s because I think it’s good for the city. If I don’t like something, it’s because I think it’s bad for the city. Pretty simple.

Most projects have good and bad elements…benefits and impacts. But if it’s a close call, I’ll always support progress and jobs, even if there is a tradeoff.

I think opponents are sincere in their love of Delray Beach. Others love the city just as much.

But I think our city slogan should be “How Can We Make It Work?” Some projects just don’t work. I voted down many projects during the biggest real estate boom imaginable. But the good ones, I wanted to see built—Mallory Square, CityWalk, Marina Bay, Ocean City Lofts, Atlantic Grove, a new library on West Atlantic, the Seagate Hotel and others. All of them required the team to say “how can we make it work?”

And we did.

And this town is great as a result.

We love this town too. It’s worth saying over and over.

So does our CRA and our Chamber and our DDA and our DBMC and the people who bring you festivals from Garlic to Delray Affair.

Are we perfect? Nope.

Did we get it all right? Not by a long shot.

Are we done? Not on your life.

Once upon a time, we worked together.

We became a national model for smart growth and great (not good, but great) urban planning and redevelopment.

We didn’t do all of this by talking past each other. We did it by saying “how do we make it work.” Change is going to come, whether we like it or not. We have to shape it and manage it.

It will work better if we figure out a way to talk respectfully on these issues. We need standards and high quality development, but we also need to understand that sometimes you have to give a little to get a lot.

Collaboration not confrontation; was a phrase we used in regards to our labor unions. It works.

The concerns are legitimate. But the people who back projects like the iPic are not blind, callous or in the pockets of developers.

Delray has been built on three pillars: scale, vibrancy and uniqueness. The LDR’s safeguard scale, we will never have high rises downtown. Uniqueness is in jeopardy right now as a result of very high land costs fueling what I think are unsustainable rents for independent retailers and restauranteurs.

We are vibrant, for 4-5 blocks anyway. But there is clearly more to do to help local businesses weather a long, hot and slow summer. And we need more jobs and industry beyond food and beverage. We did not aspire to be a seasonal resort town.

So what can we do to raise the level of discourse?

Continue the Mayor’s Lecture Series, but make them more interactive and take action on some of the advice we have been given.
Restore the Town Hall meeting, but to increase dialogue create smaller discussion groups.
Explore Community Engagement Platforms; town hall formats are great and so are public hearings, but if you have kids and a job it’s hard to be at a meeting from 6 p.m. to past midnight. As a result, important voices are left out. Technology is available to equip stakeholders with facts and allow their voices to be heard. CoUrbanize is just one I have seen. https://courbanize.com/ I’m sure there are others.
Open a design studio as mentioned in last week’s column.
Don’t allow any one group to speak for all, either pro or con. Effective leaders seek to engage all stakeholders, but the business community in this town has been labeled a special interest. They are not, they are stakeholders and their voices are important as well.
Have a fact based and ongoing conversation about traffic, parking and density.

We can make it work and still be friends and neighbors.

18 August, 2015 25 25 Comments

Yes to iPic

August 18, 2015 By Jeff Perlman 25 Comments

Not a multiplex.

By now, if you’re paying attention you’ve been inundated with information pro and con about the iPic theater project seeking to come to Delray Beach.

We’ve heard the benefits:

–A corporate headquarters coming to town

–400 plus jobs

–Much needed downtown office space

–Family entertainment downtown

–Summer time commerce

We’ve heard the negatives too:

–Traffic

–Alley issues

–Height

–Design

Let me state right up front, that I support the iPic. Why?

Because for 30 years we have envisioned getting beyond food and beverage.

The Downtown Master Plan’s philosophical foundation was to give us a strategy to create a sustainable downtown.

That meant having density and like a sound investment strategy, a diversified portfolio: housing, arts, restaurants, retail and office uses.

We need people living downtown in order to support mom and pop merchants and you need people on the streets to create vibrancy and a safe environment. We learned that design was more important than density and that we needed to get away from numbers and concentrate on scale and creating a human feel downtown.

We led with food, beverage, culture and festivals because that was a strategy to breathe life into a town that desperately needed it.

We followed with downtown housing, which is also an essential element to a sustainable downtown. We invested in our parks and created new open space…including a central park where a parking lot once existed near Old School Square, we also opened a teen center and a skateboard park and invested in new parks like Catherine Strong and old parks too.

But the missing piece remains employment.

And we seem to be chasing it away.

Don’t tell me we’re not.

We are.

And no you can’t put everything on Congress Avenue. People want to work downtown. We should be happy that they want to.

I don’t have any special insight into tonight’s vote, but I think the tone of the debate has not been our finest moment. I have seen a lot of misinformation about this project. We are not positioning ourselves as a city that wants to create jobs in our central business district. And that hurts us more than any one project.

Our approach to growth and development in Delray Beach leaves a lot to be desired.

Every election cycle we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars bashing developers and hinting at corruption. Folks, it ain’t that black and white.

There are good developers and crappy ones. Just like any other profession.

So regardless of where you stand on the development spectrum, I think it’s safe to say that there is only one way to stop it; become a city that nobody wants to invest in.

So assuming that’s off the table, we need to take a more pro-active and intelligent approach.

My idea is simple: create a design studio staffed by architects and urbanists (yes urbanists because we are a downtown, not a suburb) who can vet projects before they are submitted and put through the meat grinder that has become the Delray “process”.

This is precisely what architect Andres Duany proposed when he gave his town hall lecture. Talk to developers early in the process so that they can make adjustments and understand local sensitivities and sensibilities.

Smart developers will adjust their plans, because smart developers want to build, not get put through an expensive and uncertain process. This kind of “process” is also exhausting for the public.

But a mindset change is also in order. Let’s go back to current example of iPIC.

When it comes to infill development there are always problems to solve, things to worry about and designs to be improved. That’s why we have a planning department. And engineers. Oh and city commissioners too.

But instead of trying to solve the issues, we seem to be debating the very use, need, process and rationale for this project. Everything it seems, but trying to make it work.

Should it be a park? Was there a scrivener’s error on some legal document?

Hello, how about rolling up your sleeves and making it work or at least try?

These are jobs we are talking about; that’s precious in this economy and worth fighting for.

The goal of returning the old library site to the tax rolls has been a work in progress since 2001. 14 years… that’s how long it has taken to move the library, move the chamber, clear title via referendum on parcels, market an RFP, lose the first deal to a recession and inaction on the winners behalf, remarket the property, select another proposal and move through the process. Along the way, we built a 500 plus space mixed used parking garage replacing an ugly surface parking with open space near Delray Center for the Arts, (there’s your park and it’s bigger and more centrally located. How about making that park great as the commission I served on envisioned?).

During this time, the city helped to move the library with CRA support, bond issue money and private funds working a complicated deal with the county on a parking garage.

The point is, time didn’t start when this project was submitted to the city’s now byzantine and cumbersome “process” but many moons ago. This is the 7th inning not the first. And this project is in service to a vision…not owned by any particular commission…but a citizens vision to have a complete and sustainable downtown. Adding jobs, a corporate headquarters, much needed office space and family entertainment diversifies our portfolio. This investor–he’s not a developer–has “compromised” by adding more parking, improving internal circulation and agreeing not to have a restaurant that would compete with nearby establishments.

Did he get a deal on the land? Sure. He bought it coming out of the recession and before the eye popping deal for the George Building, which will do a lot to raise rents and property values in our core. But do we really think if we send iPic packing and get more for the property that we’ll get less development? Friends, that’s not how it works.

I happen to think this project is terrific. I also think it is manageable. We have restaurants that will draw more people than this theater.

I feel strongly about the jobs and about the need to move beyond food and beverage and to give families an entertainment option. I think it will boost summer foot traffic downtown and help mom and pop merchants.

That’s my opinion and I think it’s shared by many. Check that, I know it’s shared by many.

I’m sure many others disagree, I get it. And their concerns are valid, but so are the viewpoints of those who want to see this happen.

This project did not spring out of the thin air and I believe strongly that cities need to be seen as problem solvers and try and make projects work.

If you don’t agree with development on that site –valid but I disagree-that decision was made many years ago by a commission I served on. There was a lot of support for the concept at the time. We were clear, no residential on that site. Return it to the tax rolls, office and retail are Ok. No restaurants. A theater was added later as a desired use.

I think we ought to be proud that we have built a city attractive enough to lure investment. But as good as the downtown is the mission isn’t over. We need year round jobs to be a sustainable downtown.

We also need to be thinking about the bigger questions.

—How and where will we create employment downtown? Or did I miss the vote and have we decided to stick with food and beverage and become a seasonal resort town?

—Can Congress Avenue thrive if downtown wanes? The answer is no. While I share the opinion, it isn’t mine. It’s what I am being told by property owners on Congress.

–Is Atlantic Avenue bulletproof? Nope. See Boulevard, Las Olas, Street, Clematis.

—What worrisome trends are we seeing and what strategies can we employ to reverse course? Worrisome trends include very high rents, some vacancies, an influx of national retailers, restaurants struggling, parts of the avenue not as strong as other parts, young professionals buying homes in neighboring cities because we have affordability issues and a lack of middle class housing and schools that continue to cause concerns.

We need to raise the level of discourse on these issues and more.

iPic is a symptom, we will see the same exhausting process play out when Sundy House and other projects submit their plans.

Our elected leaders need to get out front and shape these projects, but with a mindset of making things work (assuming they are within our rules and the uses are desirable).

“How can I stop you”, sends a horrible message. “How can I make your project work” will make for a better downtown, jobs for our kids and better designs that work for all.