Ocean One will join several nearby developments that are planned or already completed, including Town Square, The Villages, The Pierce, Broadstone and 500 Ocean.
Palm Beach Post
After many years without a shovel in the ground, a long-awaited retail and residential project is coming to downtown Boynton Beach under a new property owner and developer.
The Ocean One project is set to transform 3.7 acres of vacant property bordered by East Ocean Avenue, North Federal Highway and East Boynton Beach Boulevard, directly west of the Boynton Harbor Marina and just south of Casa Costa Condos.
Plans for Ocean One include an eight-story building with hundreds of residential units and plenty of space for shops and restaurants, along with a nearby parking garage and several public plazas.
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Hyperion Development Group, a company with offices in Miami and New York, plans to break ground on the project in 2024 and to start leasing two years later, closing out a saga that began under the previous landowner nearly two decades ago.
The longtime property owner, Davis Camalier, unveiled his vision for Ocean One in 2005, but it wasn't until 2017 that the city commission officially rezoned the land — formerly home to a Bank of America — and approved a site plan for the project.
City leaders granted Camalier several extensions in the years that followed. His plan to underwrite the project fell through and he was working against growing construction costs, his attorney said in 2020.
Hyperion Group entered the picture in late 2021 when its affiliate, BB1 Development LLC, bought the land for $12 million, paving the way for a reimagined Ocean One project.
The new plan increases Ocean One's residential units to 371 from 358 and offers residents a pool, fitness center and parking garage, which includes public spaces and private, closed-off spaces for the residents.
It also more than doubles the amount of commercial space to 25,588 square feet from 12,075. And the entire project is moving forward at the same time, addressing a criticism of the original plan, which called for apartments, shops, a parking garage and a hotel to be built in two phases.
“Years ago, when we came to you the first time, different owner, the project was criticized because it was two phases and they didn’t have enough retail,” attorney Bonnie Miskel said during a commission meeting in April.
Miskel, who worked for the previous and current property owner, also pointed to the public areas included in Ocean One's renderings. A large plaza with chairs, tables, umbrellas and palm trees faces Ocean Avenue, largely surrounded by retail space, while another plaza sits off North Federal Highway.
The new plans, Miskel said, increase the amount of open space by more than 35% compared with the original layout for Ocean One.
“If a neighbor is walking their dog, or if they just want to sit outside next to a café in a beautifully landscaped, paved plaza, they have the ability," she said.
Ocean One project revives conversation about parking in downtown Boynton Beach
While the developer revitalized plans for Ocean One, it also revived a long-standing concern about the limited parking in downtown Boynton Beach and how new developments might strain the scarce supply.
Before commissioners approved the original Ocean One plans in 2017, they heard from residents who said that limited parking in downtown Boynton Beach was hurting local businesses. They said new projects would bring more traffic to the area and worsen the problem if they didn't offer a substantial number of public parking spaces.
Ocean One will join several nearby developments that are planned or already completed, including Town Square, The Villages, The Pierce, Broadstone and 500 Ocean.
Residents in the nearby Marina Village shared similar concerns during a commission meeting in April, when Ocean One was up for a vote. They described a marina parking garage that was often full before noon, and a constant rotation of visitors who sometimes give up and leave before finding a parking spot
"Restaurant patrons, boat patrons and beach patrons are turned away at a rate of 20 an hour during season and busy times," said Ilene Bruccoleri, vice president of Marina Village's condo board.
Another resident said cars often stop in the middle of the road to wait for an open space, while others are "double- and triple-parking right in front of the marina," creating traffic congestion that was unsafe to Marina Village residents, visitors and emergency vehicles.
In response, Miskel said 171 commercial parking spaces are included in the Ocean One project — plenty for anyone visiting and shopping at the new development. Project leaders, she said, complied with all city codes and shouldn't be held responsible for Boynton Beach's longstanding parking issue.
”This is a collaborative effort, we are a neighbor in the downtown, we have the same interest they do in making the downtown better, but we are not the cause of the problem," she said during the April 18 commission meeting.
Vice Mayor Thomas Turkin, who represents the area where Ocean One is planned, was unconvinced. While the project passed 4-1 at the meeting, he cast the dissenting vote and vowed to continue pushing for more public parking spaces at Ocean One, a solution that might be attainable with incentives for the developer, he said.
'Where there are problems, there's always opportunities'
A spokesperson for Hyperion Group said in late May that developers have since met with residents of Marina Village to learn more about their concerns with parking in downtown Boynton Beach.
The developers are now doing an internal review of "mutually beneficial solutions regarding the city’s overall parking needs prior to any formal engagement with the city."
And during the meeting in April, other city leaders agreed that parking is a Boynton Beach problem that calls for solutions greater than anything Ocean One can provide on its own. Mayor Ty Penserga and Commissioner Woodrow Hay floated the idea of building a public parking garage or launching a trolley service.
"We can park people in one location and move them to other areas," the mayor said.
Penserga also called for a study of the city's parking issue and the creation of a master plan to address the problem. The developers for Ocean One have committed $30,000 to that effort.
"Where there are problems, there's always opportunities, and we're willing to participate in those," the developer's attorney said.
Giuseppe Sabella is a reporter covering Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.