The iPic Issue-deconstructed
If the Delray Beach City Commission doesn’t approve the iPic project tonight, it won’t happen because the commission lacked appreciation for what the development could bring. It will happen because the developer didn’t satisfy the commission that he could make the project fit.
There’s general agreement among the commissioners and around Delray that one of iPic’s high-end movie theaters would enhance the city’s entertainment district. “I would love to see a venue downtown that was not another bar or restaurant,” said Commissioner Shelly Petrolia. She has concerns, however, about traffic and location. Mayor Cary Glickstein said Monday he remains undecided. After speaking with Mitch Katz, I would describe him as undecided but leaning against. Katz told me that he suggested a compromise on use of the alley for valet parking, and the developer rejected it. Jordana Jarjura also would not take any position in advance, citing the quasi-judicial nature of the item.
To review:
Fourth and Fifth Delray would go on 1.57 acres that are one-quarter block south of Atlantic Avenue between Southeast Fourth and Fifth avenues. The developer would buy another 0.13-acre piece of property to the south, to help with traffic flow. On the site would go the eight-screen theater, high-end office space that would include iPic’s headquarters and retail. The developer needs commission approval for added height to almost 60 feet, permission for a movie theater in a downtown that doesn’t currently allow one and abandonment of an alley.
Many Delray residents like the idea of a downtown theater. Many like the idea of a company headquarters and Class A office space downtown. The main sticking point remains traffic, primarily at Fourth and Atlantic.
The developer proposes that most cars will enter and leave from Fourth Avenue. As the staff memo to commissioners for tonight’s meeting says, the first plan routed all traffic to the parking garage through the alley. There now is a proposed entrance to the garage from Fourth Avenue. According to the memo, a traffic analysis concludes that 65 percent of the vehicles going to the project would come from the north along Fourth Avenue, 25 percent would come from the south along Fourth Avenue and 10 percent would go into the valet parking line from Fifth Avenue— Federal Highway—using the east-west alley.
For vehicles leaving the project, the numbers are reversed. Either way, the potential chokepoint at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Atlantic Avenue is obvious. As the staff told the commission, iPic’s traffic consultant said the intersection operates “acceptably” at evening peak traffic times. If that changes, the consultant suggested, the city could restrict turns at the intersection. The staff points out, however, that the consultant’s comments “are based on the existing traffic impacts at this intersection and do not appear to include the additional impacts from the proposed development.” Problem.
According to the staff memo, the iPic project could nearly double the traffic along that stretch at certain times. The county wants an updated traffic analysis, after which the county might require ways to ease the congestion. The staff recommends that the new analysis be a condition if the commission approves the iPic project.
Regarding other issues, the staff concludes that the project would not harm the neighborhood. The memo notes that iPic is asking to reach nearly 60 feet in an area where buildings can be 54 feet. (This application preceded the new rules for downtown development.) The staff also does not believe that the project would make it harder to redevelop nearby properties. The staff recommends approval, subject to conditions.
The CRA, which put together the site and the deal, remains supportive. So does the chamber of commerce. The Downtown Development Authority recommended denial, but that vote came a year ago; the plan has changed. Merchants in the area generally are opposed because they worry about being able to get deliveries that come through the alley. The Delray Economic Leaders PAC is opposed. Most important, the planning and zoning board voted unanimously to reject it. Traffic was the main issue.
So two years after the CRA picked iPic, which came in after initial hopes for a hotel on the site dissolved, Delray Beach is considering a project that has a lot of appeal and a lot of concern. Jarjura touched on that in an email, saying, “residents seem split down the middle. Usually, it’s residents against developer. With this project, it’s residents both for and against, and equally passionate on both sides.”
Jarjura “agrees with many of the logistical concerns” the planning and zoning board raised, notably parking and traffic. She plans to meet with staff members before the meeting. Jarjura also says, correctly, that the developer is proposing what the CRA asked for two years ago, and that the components would complement downtown Delray.
With luck, there’s room for a late compromise. IPic CEO Hamid Hashemi already made one move by agreeing to purchase the adjoining lot. Other revisions could more fully address the traffic questions.
There’s reason for Hashemi to be annoyed; he’s delivering what the CRA—run by an independent board—wanted. There’s also reason for him to hang in. He would get those 1.57 acres for $3.6 million. Just a year ago, the 0.3 acres fronting Atlantic Avenue north of the site sold for $19.5 million. In 2013, Hashemi signed a deal to put an iPic at South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan. Is Delray Beach tougher to work with than New York City?
An iPic representative said in an email Monday that Hashemi will lead the presentation tonight of the company’s “revised plan”—meaning revised since the planning and zoning board meeting. He won’t have to wait long for the reviews.
Redistricting update
It’s looking more and more likely that this area’s congressional districts will change in a big way.
Monday began the second week of the Florida Legislature’s special session to redraw the state’s 27 congressional districts. The Florida Supreme Court ruled last month that the statewide map, which the Legislature drew in 2012, violates the Fair Districts Amendment prohibition on favoring incumbents or parties.
The new map, which legislative staff members drew, stacks the local districts—Ted Deutch’s 21 and Lois Frankel’s 22 —rather than have them run roughly parallel, as they do now, with Deutch’s inland and Frankel’s along the coast. The court ordered the Legislature to redraw the two districts, but did not give specific instructions. Palm Beach and Broward county representatives have asked the Legislature to leave the districts roughly near their current configuration. Something about keeping together coastal cities of common interest.
On Monday, however, the full House voted to approve the staff map. A Senate committee approved an amended map, but the changes involve the Tampa Bay area, not South Florida. Previously, the House rejected an amendment to change districts 21 and 22. The session ends Friday. Unless Deutch and Frankel have some very powerful friends in Tallahassee—both are former state legislators—their only hope is with the trial judge, to whom the Legislature’s preferred map will go. The Florida Supreme Court must approve the final version.
Companies on the fast track
The entrepreneur-focused magazine Inc., is out with its new list of the country’s 5,000 fastest-growing small companies. The names from this area reflect the effort to make Boca Raton and Delray Beach start-up friendly.
Ranked highest from Palm Beach County, second in Florida and 70thnationwide is Boca Raton-based Fresh Meal Plan. As it name implies, the company ships customized meals, from Paleo to vegan. According to Inc., the company has grown roughly 4,000 percent in the last three years and has 150 employees.
The Boca-based software firm TouchSuite ranked 160th nationally, while Modernizing Medicine came in 311th. Modernizing Medicine, though, just announced that it is buying another digital health care company, gMed, based in Broward County. With the acquisition, Modernizing Medicine will have 420 employees.
About the Author
Randy Schultz was born in Hartford, Conn., and graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1974. He has lived in South Florida since then, and in Boca Raton since 1985. Schultz spent nearly 40 years in daily journalism at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, most recently as editorial page editor at the Post. His wife, Shelley, is director of The Learning Network at Pine Crest School. His son, an attorney, and daughter-in-law and three grandchildren also live in Boca Raton. His daughter is a veterinarian who lives in Baltimore.
