Three years after barricades went up on Tamarind Avenue, West Palm Beach officials quietly disclosed that residents of the long-ignored, historically Black neighborhood will be cut off from their main road for at least another year.
The $22 million project, set to be finished in May, is only 40% complete and won鈥檛 be wrapped up until June 2025, city officials said.
Leaders at the city鈥檚 Community Redevelopment Agency, the downtown taxing agency that is bankrolling the 鈥淭amarind Avenue Streetscape,鈥� didn鈥檛 respond to emails for comment about the 14-month delay and yearslong shutdown.
A city spokesperson, who responded to an email Stet sent to district Commissioner Christy Fox, attributed the setback to a water line break that occurred in February 2021 鈥� a month before construction began.
Those who live or own businesses in the neighborhood that for years has been plagued by shootings, drug deals and decay welcomed the long overdue improvements, which include redesigning and repaving the road, burying utility lines and replacing a 100-year-old water line.
But, they said, the delay is emblematic of the city鈥檚 treatment of the mostly Black neighborhood.
鈥淚 am concerned because it鈥檚 holding the neighborhood hostage,鈥� said Darren Studstill, a former NFL safety who owns on Rosemary Avenue. 鈥淥ne year is one thing, but you鈥檙e talking about possibly five years.鈥�
鈥淚t would never happen in El Cid,鈥� said the Riviera Beach native, referring to the upscale, largely white neighborhood along the Intracoastal Waterway south of downtown.
Studstill and his longtime friend, lawyer Bryan Boysaw, have given a lot of thought to the future of the neighborhood. But, they said they aren鈥檛 sure others see what鈥檚 coming.
During the ground-breaking for the project, Mayor Keith James said it showed the city鈥檚 鈥渃ommitment to the revitalization of the historic Northwest neighborhood.鈥�
CRA Director Christopher Roog agreed. 鈥淭his is a really intentional step toward the mayor鈥檚 vision and the CRA鈥檚 vision of creating a community of opportunity for all,鈥� he said.
But, Boyway and Studstill said, they worry the improvements aren鈥檛 being done for the folks who live there. They are being done for those who will replace them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 prospective,鈥� said Boysaw, who has his law office in the neighborhood.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sad that the people who live here are not going to benefit,鈥� Studstill agreed.
They pointed across the street from their businesses at Rosemary Avenue and Fourth Street where work is beginning on the 325-unit Soleste Palm Station. Its Miami developer calls it a 鈥渓uxury multifamily apartment community, located in the highly affluent and trendy West Palm Beach.鈥�
It will join two other recently completed eight-story apartment complexes, . Add to that the city鈥檚 $20 million renovation of the Sunset Lounge, an attempt to restore the supper club and concert venue to its former grandeur when Duke Ellington, James Brown and other Black artists performed.
Elisa Miller, who grew up in West Palm Beach and now lives in New Jersey, is following development in the Tamarind Avenue neighborhood. When the of what Tamarind Avenue will look like when the streetscape is complete, she wrote: 鈥淚t looks beautiful but this is definitely gentrification,鈥� ending with a crying emoji.
This story was originally published by , a 港澳天下彩News partner.
