Committee backs Nora West Tower site plan, recommends alley abandonment and allows two small plaza variances

The Downtown Action Committee on April 8 recommended approval to the City Commission for an alley abandonment and approved the Downtown Master Plan special review and two minor variances tied to a proposed 350‑unit mixed‑use building in the Nora district.

Applicant representatives said the west tower project will include 350 rental units, of which 52 will be workforce units spread on‑site (targeting 60%–100% AMI bands), roughly 17,000 square feet of ground‑floor retail and 545 parking spaces inside a four‑story garage. The applicant described the project as part of a two‑phase build‑out on a consolidated block, including a private Madera Court driveway with a public‑access easement to create a midblock crossing and to internalize curb cuts.

Architects emphasized design moves intended to reduce perceived bulk near 10th Street — a lower‑scale residential edge — by stepping the podium and setting the tower toward 11th Street, and described an active public plaza on the North Railroad Avenue frontage with public art and amenity programming. “The project will deliver 52 workforce housing units on site,” the applicant representative said during the presentation.

The committee approved two limited variances to the open‑space rules: a reduction in required fixed linear seating from 400 linear feet to approximately 315.5 linear feet (an 84.5‑foot reduction) and an increase in permitted plaza overhead coverage from 20% to 23% (a 3%/308 sq ft increase). The applicant argued those changes preserved pedestrian circulation and added usable covered plaza space in South Florida’s climate; staff recommended both variances.

Staff recommended approval of the DAC special review and the alley abandonment, finding the project met Nora‑district special‑review standards. Staff noted the project meets the district’s residential massing rules (125‑foot top), provides the required podium transition along 10th Street and would satisfy the one‑for‑one public open‑space requirement for the alley vacation across the two phases (the west phase provides about 6,000 sq ft; the remainder will be met by the east/phase‑two parcel). An appraisal by Anderson & Carr has been completed and the applicant agreed to pay the appraised value when the abandonment is considered by the City Commission.

Committee members supported the applications but extensively questioned the applicant on streetscape and landscape details. Several members said the renderings appeared to lack adequate shade along the western facade and questioned the use of smaller palms in key streetscape locations. EDSA’s landscape representative said some constrained planting locations call for pigeon plum specimens and that the applicant planned to plant larger (14–15 foot) stock where possible; city staff clarified that the North Railroad Avenue corridor trees were approved under a separate streetscape application and must meet shade‑tree classifications (20‑foot install height, 30‑foot spacing). The committee asked staff and the applicant to ensure structural soils/soil‑cell details and final species selection during permitting.

Transportation staff and the project’s traffic consultant warned that, because Nora is a multi‑phase district with concurrent hotel and commercial uses, additional coordination is needed on Madera Court interactions with Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, valet/parking management and a district parking/TDM strategy. The committee conditioned special‑review approval on further coordination with the mobility and transportation manager to develop transportation demand management measures and a comprehensive district parking plan.

The committee voted to approve the DAC special review with the recommended TDM condition, approved both variances, and recommended the alley abandonment to the City Commission. Each motion was seconded and declared carried by the chair; the transcript records the committee’s approval but does not list individual roll‑call tallies in full.