🔁 CityPlace shuffle
One of the most prominent and long-lasting restaurants in CityPlace, The Cheesecake Factory, is preparing to leave.
Yes, but: It isn’t going far.
Why it’s important: The California-based chain expects to do what several other large restaurant brands have tried but failed to do: Make a go of it on Okeechobee Boulevard across from the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
In its place at the heart of the rapidly changing shopping and dining district, the CityPlace developers have the right to build an eight-story structure. They are not saying what will replace the Egyptian columns of The Cheesecake Factory but the buzz is a boutique hotel.
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A West Palm Beach spokesperson said the city expects plans to be submitted in August.
Cheesecake applied for a permit in January to demolish the interior of The Regional Kitchen & Public House, as first reported in the CityPlaceAngels newsletter in March. The Regional opened at 651 Okeechobee Blvd. in 2016 and closed in October.
Other stalwarts to try and falter in the big space on Okeechobee since CityPlace opened in 2000: Angelo and Maxie’s Steakhouse, Columbia Restaurant and McCormick & Schmick’s.
Through it all The Cheesecake Factory remained at the heart of CityPlace at Rosemary Avenue and Hibiscus Street. That would leave City Cellar Wine Bar and Grill as the lone unchanged original.
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Across the street, a Macy’s department store has been torn down and replaced by the Laurel, a 21-story, 322-unit apartment building.
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An entire block containing the AMC movie theater has been torn down, to be replaced by two 20-plus-story office buildings.
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The old church across Rosemary, known as the Harriet, is undergoing renovations to house a dining marketplace. Residents are angered by the developer’s decision to gut the stairs, a prominent entry point, on the nearly 100-year-old building.
What they’re saying: A boutique hotel could complement the new office space, providing lodging for business-related travel. “The Hilton (at the convention center) is not upscale enough,” said commercial real estate veteran Neil Merin.
Of note: Despite Cheesecake’s plan to remain at CityPlace, it is still committed to opening a restaurant at Tuttle Royale, the so-called CityPlace of the West rising at Southern Boulevard and State Road 7 in Royal Palm Beach, developer Brian Tuttle confirmed.
🧊 Resident blows whistle on ice rink vote
The developers of a proposed ice rink complex in Palm Beach Gardens have rented virtual office space from a company co-owned by City Council member Dana Middleton for more than five years.
Why it’s important: Middleton did not disclose the business relationship when she joined a 4-0 vote in April to grant the Palm Beach North Athletic Foundation a 40-year lease of a city park to build the ice rink.
A complaint filed with the Palm Beach County Inspector General’s Office says Middleton’s vote violated state law.
Middleton says it does not. The amount PBNAF pays is “de minimis,” she told Stet News in an email.
She said she conferred with City Attorney Max Lohman before voting “and he advised me that due to the de minimis dollar value, it did not constitute a conflict.”
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Middleton did not disclose the relationship at the meeting in which residents now opposed to the project said they had no notice that the city planned to grant PBNAF the right to convert Plant Drive Park into an ice rink.
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The council gave PBNAF 15 months to raise $40 million to build the rink, which has the backing of hockey great Wayne Gretzky and billionaire Larry Robbins.
The other side: Rebecca McKeich, one of several residents fighting to keep the park, which includes a free skateboard park, discovered the relationship and filed the complaint.
She’s one of several self-described “malcontents,” who formed to save the park after city officials recommended the lease and described the park as “a marginal recreational facility (that) attracts malcontents who engage in illegal activities, including vandalizing the premises.”
What the law says: “No county, municipal, or other local public officer shall vote in an official capacity upon any measure which would inure to his or her special private gain or loss.”
Penalties: A wide range from removal or suspension to a fine. The law does not suggest the vote can be rescinded.
Tax forms filed by the nonprofit PBNAF show that its occupancy costs — defined by the IRS as expenses for office space, including utilities — totaled $1,050 in 2020, $2,015 in 2021 and $2,345 in 2022.
PBNAF President Mike Winter stood by the figures in the tax form. He said a consultant set up the account to provide a mailing address before Middleton joined the council.
Those figures are far from a de minimis amount, said Bob Jarvis, a Nova Southeastern University law and ethics professor.
“That argument is laughable on its face,” he said, explaining that de minimis is typically $25 or $50. “I think that any reasonable person would say $2,000 is something.”
Middleton and her husband, David, co-own Intelligent Office at 4440 PGA Blvd., Suite 600, the same address that PBNAF lists on its website. They provide physical addresses, mail services and other business needs.
Flashback: Middleton began serving on the City Council in April 2023 after winning her Group 5 seat without opposition.
What’s next: The inspector general must determine if the complaint warrants investigation. The complaint remains confidential until it is closed.
🎉 Good news about us
We are honored to share that Stet News is a finalist for two awards from the Florida Society of Professional Journalists.
Why it’s important: The Sunshine State Awards is Florida’s largest and oldest journalism contest. It recognizes the best writing, photography and design from the largest legacy news operations, like the Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post, to ambitious nonprofit startups like Stet.
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Earning recognition for excellence in our first year inspires us to work even harder for you.
Stet is one of three finalists in these categories:
Best digital newsletter for a collection of three Stet newsletters from last year.
Best environment, science and technology beat reporting for three stories:
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An investigation by Joel Engelhardt and Jessica Abramsky of Florida Atlantic University’s student-run University Press of the abrupt closing of a signature $35 million science building on FAU’s Jupiter campus.
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Two stories by Joel that found private ownership and a dispute over land value have jeopardized Palm Beach County’s ability to preserve pristine wetlands on the Palm Beach-Martin County border.
Stet media partner WLRN is a finalist in several categories, including investigative reporting, best podcast and journalist and editor of the year.
What’s next: First-place winners will be announced Aug. 17. See the full list of finalists here.
☀️ The juice
🧑🏼🚀 Walking in Kravis space: Meticulously videotaped footage of astronauts in space turns into your own virtual reality show through Sept. 2 at the Kravis Center’s Cohen Pavilion, Joe Capozzi writes. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
💵 Last week we told you the Palm Beach Gardens City Council had given City Manager Ron Ferris an 8 percent pay raise. We cited his salary listed in his last contract extension, in 2019, as $253.000. The city got back to us this week and updated that salary number. Ferris, the longest-serving city manager in the county, is currently making $392,862. No word on whether that includes the 8 percent raise.
🏙️ Britain’s Financial Times takes notice of Palm Beach County’s boom. (FT)
🎭 The warning signs that Florida’s cultural organizations would receive zero dollars in the next state budget emerged in December, Sharon Geltner reports. (Palm Beach ArtsPaper)
➡️ 561 insider: Get to know the DDA’s Teneka James-Feaman
Teneka James-Feaman took a friend’s advice 17 years ago and applied for a job with the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority. By 2012, she was helping run the place. Last month, James-Feaman was appointed executive director.
Why it’s important: She succeeds longtime director Raphael Clemente in the high-profile role that manages a booming city center and the inevitable conflict that brings.
Stet News spoke with James-Feaman before she took over last week. Here are her thoughts on three topics:
One of her first projects: “We are addressing the need for more shady trees downtown. It was brought to our attention that we definitely needed more trees and we agreed.
“We partnered with the city’s sustainability department, we brought in our landscaping person that works in our downtown and we all came up with a plan of what we need and what the costs looks like.”
The best advice she got. (It was from her old boss.):
“It was about taking your time. He encouraged me to meet with anyone and everyone that wanted the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with you because you never know where that could lead.”
What she sees for the DDA’s future:
“I see our office expanding to incorporate more access to what we do and how we do it.”
She listed programs including the Tiny Door Hunt, the Fern Street Chess Park and the downtown bike valet as examples of successes to build on.
— Hannah Spence
🏆 A hearty Stet cheer to the Florida Panthers, who persevered through anxious days to win hockey’s Stanley Cup. The Panthers knocked off three teams to get to the finals and won the first three games against the Edmonton Oilers before losing three straight. They put aside the losing streak, and the ignominy of an epic collapse, Monday night in Sunrise, winning Game 7 by the slimmest margin, 2-1.
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