Palm Beach Post - Sunday, September 28, 2014 PALM BEACH GARDENS WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT Will Harbourside help Hattie’s? Developer of both thinks the Jupiter complex will allay fears about the one on PGA Boulevard. By Tony Doris Palm Beach Post Staff Writer PALM BEACH GARDENS — As his Harbourside development nears completion in Jupiter, Nicholas Mastroianni II says he’s confident it will win public acceptance, despite a months-long barrage of complaints over its size and traffic it might generate. With its Bahamas-accented structure painted in tan, white and light green, its fountains bubbling and palm fronds catching the breeze, it’s coming into itself, not-withstanding the army of workers who scurry to finish curbs, signs and shop, restaurant and hotel build-outs. A month to go before doors open to the public, the hotel has “well over $1 million in weddings” booked for the next year, he boasts. The project, his life’s labor, is emerging as a reality. Eight miles due south, at the site of the closed Panama Hattie’s Seafood House and Rum Bar, it’s another story. Groups from the surrounding area are fighting to kill Mastroianni’s plan to annex the land from the unincorporated county into Palm Beach Gardens and seek approvals for a complex of condos, restaurants, offices, shops, a hotel and waterfront features. They say it’s out-of-scale and will generate too much traffic near the congested drawbridge and Ellison-Wilson Road, from Prosperity Farms Road to U.S. 1. But Mastrioanni says the site design, and the possibility of installing traffic-sensing software to sync traffic lights in real-time, will ease congestion. The project has been downsized and is much smaller than the one to the north, he adds. And as opponents visit and see the reality of what Harbourside has become, he says, they will see that the Hattie’s project and its public spaces would be a boon to the community and become the waterfront that Palm Beach Gardens never had. “You’ve got people out there twisting the story that really don’t know what it is,” he says. Mastroianni’s PGA Partners 100 LLC has spent $18.53 million for the Hattie’s property, including a few adjacent home sites, 7.9 acres in all, on the east side of the Intracoastal, just south of the PGA Boulevard drawbridge. The plan that originally called for a 160-room hotel and 150 condos now features 146 hotel rooms and a condo building with 78 one- and two-bedroom units. Both buildings would be eight stories now, instead of 10. In addition to the hotel beside PGA Boulevard, and the condo building on the south side of the property, the site would feature 23,600 square feet of restaurants, 22,000 square feet of office space, 5,000 feet of retail, an underground garage and 30 boat slips. The site’s slope toward the water favors interesting design and helps hide unsightly features such as trash bins, he says. The central section would include fountains , sitting areas and wide stairways descending toward the water, and docks and other waterfront walking areas. The plan includes a turn lane on PGA Boulevard, wide driveways and lots of internal road length for cars to line up while entering the garage, rather than backing up traffic onto the street, the developer says. “If people can’t get in there, they’re not going to go there.” If the city were to organize a trolley service to shuttle residents between the site and The Gardens Mall, the beach or other nearby areas, he would chip in, he says. He says he has letters of intent from 14 restaurants and a major hotel chain, wanting to open at the site. “We’re not even ready for that,” he says. The sales pitch is not likely to assuage those who miss the down-home feel of the open-air Rum Bar, or those who say the traffic around the PGA drawbridge flat-lines for 30 minutes or more in season. Helping lead the charge is former County Commissioner Karen Marcus, hired by the nearby Lost Tree community to stifle Mastroianni’s mixed-use plan. She recently formed a coalition of condo associations and other opponents. “A fixed-span bridge is the only thing that’s going to solve Nick’s problem,” Marcus said. But the county considered that once and rejected it because there’s no room, not to mention the high cost, she said. Leaving the bridge down during rush hour to ease traffic, one of Mastroianni’s suggestions, would require federal approval and the local marine industry wouldn’t stand for it, she added. Trolleys also aren’t a realistic option because people don’t use them, she said. As for synchronizing lights, “you cannot synchronize that bridge,” Marcus said. “The issue with that isn’t when lights aren’t working. It’s that the bridge is up. And you have major intersections that are close to it.” Mastroianni has heard concerns about traffic in Jupiter, too, and so have its officials. “‘What the hell were you thinking?’” is a frequent question Jupiter Mayor Karen Golonka says she fields from residents opposed to the Harbourside project her town approved at U.S. 1 and Indiantown Road. “And that’s the nice emails.” Mastroianni walks the paving stones of the waterfront promenade at Harbourside and points to public docks and kayak racks, the Tommy Bahama store and Bravo Cucina Restaurant that will open by November. He shows off the Intracoastal Waterway views from the Wyn-ham Grand’s presidential suite, its conference rooms and event venues. Seeing the completed Harbourside will make fears fade, in Jupiter and to the south, he says. “It’s important to me that people really have a clear picture.” Marcus has a response to that, too: “It’s Harbourside that’s getting people writing me letters at home.” tdoris@pbpost
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 14:03:08 +0000
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