SHARE:
Redevelopment
Battling Blight
Intown Partners is setting out to transform Boynton Beach's blighted Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard corridor. The company's $400-million master plan will draw on the strengths of its allies: Delray-based Intown Development Group, national downtown redevelopment experts McCormack Baron Salazar from St. Louis, and Los Angeles-based Torti Gallas and Partners, which won an American Institute of Architects award for a revitalization effort in Philadelphia.
The redevelopment will include threestory commercial buildings, single-family condos and homes, some up to six stories, including at least 97 affordable homes and 921 market-rate and mixedincome homes. The development will reserve 79,000 square feet for public use.
"This will be an affordable community that will provide hundreds of jobs for local residents in a high unemployment area. The city is crying out for this type of community," says Joe Gray, a local urban planner.
Intown Development principals Samantha Simons and Barbara Rudd immersed themselves in the community four years ago to understand Boynton's needs firsthand. The two have designed programs to encourage buyers and companies to invest and hope the 175,000 square feet of commercial space will woo restaurants and retailers.
"Other cities around this area have already experienced growth, and Boynton can do the same," Simons says. "This new urban village will serve as a catalyst project that will help to revitalize this area in the Treasure Coast."
