Atlantic Groves project opens its doors

By Meghan Meyer, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, August 24, 2003

DELRAY BEACH -- Silence.

That's what the first two people to move into Atlantic Grove's long-promised townhouses enjoy most about their new home.

Deborah Delva, 41, and her 13-year-old daughter, Tarica, awoke nightly in their old Lantana apartment to the sound of their upstairs neighbor's barbells clattering to the floor. He liked to start his workouts at about 2 a.m.

For this privilege, Delva paid $864 a month.

Now she sleeps soundly in a brand new three-story home. The only noise she hears at night is the whisper of the ceiling fans whirring above.

"I've been working hard all my life," Delva said. "Everyone wants to own something nice. But no one wants to help you."

Finally, someone did. Delva paid $134,000 for her townhouse, one of 10 set aside by the city for buyers earning 120 percent of the median income, $62,700 for a single person, more for someone raising a family.

She used a $20,000 first-time homebuyer grant from the Community Redevelopment Agency, and the Delray Beach Community Development Corporation helped her find a mortgage.

Left to the whims of the market, the townhouses around her have sold for as much as $266,000.

Atlantic Grove is the first major private redevelopment project on West Atlantic Avenue, the section of town that remained blighted by poverty while the eastern part of the street flourished during the downtown's touted Renaissance. With the tennis center, courthouse, street improvements, a new fire station and a library on the way, public money has crept westward.

Private investors partnered with two not-for-profit corporations in building the townhouses, apartments, offices and stores in Atlantic Grove. New Urban Communities put up half the $1.6 million needed to get the project rolling, and the two nonprofits -- the Delray Beach Community Development Corporation and the Center for Technology, Enterprise and Development -- teamed to contribute the other half.

The Atlantic Grove Partners would split the profits according to how much each put in. The two nonprofit agencies would then use the money for their work in the community. They were supposed to use their influence as equal investors to keep the developers mindful of the community's needs, like keeping the homes affordable. The Atlantic Grove Partners at first said they expected the homes to sell for $115,000 or so.

The CRA bought pieces of land, put it together and sold it to the Atlantic Grove Partners.

That's when the project met some pitfalls. Most recently, a misunderstanding with the CDC resulted in the CRA rescinding one grant given to a would-be buyer because she already owned a home.

The agency outraged some in the community when it razed several historic homes without getting the historic preservation board's permission -- an oversight, the CRA explained -- to turn over the property vacant and ready to build on.

The CRA tried to save one of the more historically significant buildings, the Mt. Olive Baptist Church parsonage, but found it had deteriorated beyond repair and said it would cost more than $200,000 to move and renovate.

Residents eventually agreed the money could be better used on grants to save other historic homes in the neighborhood.

Then the CDC and TED center lost a key federal loan, putting them in danger of losing their equal say in the project.

The city grudgingly picked up the $75,000 they needed to maintain their part of the deal. City commissioners hesitated to give the money because the homes pre-sold quickly for much more than expected, rendering them unaffordable for many who lived in the neighborhood.

'Pleased with the project'

Despite the problems, CRA officials are satisfied with their first attempt at redevelopment west of Swinton Avenue.

"I think we're pleased with the project," CRA Director Diane Colonna said. "In the future, maybe we'll look at requiring a percentage of affordable units."

The Atlantic Grove Partners set aside the 10 affordable homes without any government regulation, CDC project manager Bill Sanders said. The success set a precedent for development on the rest of the street, he said.

Sanders expects to split $2 million with the partners, barring any unforeseen expenses. The agency doesn't have definite plans for the money yet; maybe invest in real estate or create a loan pool for third mortgages, Sanders said.

"Overall, for the first project on West Atlantic we did pretty well," Sanders said. "Everyone's not going to be happy all the time."

Atlantic Grove was a gamble, New Urban Communities President Tim Hernandez said, but it worked well. Some buyers lost interest when they heard they would be living next door to city-subsidized houses. He didn't question why, just said good riddance. And with homes selling for more than twice what he expected, he's not hurting financially for it.

"There were some people who didn't want to live there because of that," he said. "But when you live downtown, you're not going to expect the same level of homogeneity that you would somewhere else."

Hernandez said all but one or two of the 55 townhouses and half the loft apartments have been sold. Construction on all the townhouses will be finished by the end of the year, he said, and the whole project will be done by the end of 2004.

No 'flipping' allowed

Delva has waited more than a year for her home. She closed on the house July 30 and moved in just a week ago, right before her birthday.

She's happy to return to the city she considers her home, closer to her mother, her daughter's school, her church and her job.

The price of the city's 10 townhouses are frozen for a decade to prevent buyers from "flipping" the properties for a quick profit. If Delva moves out before then she must also pay back the CRA grant. But she does not intend to do that. You'd be surprised how fast 10 years goes, especially when you have a teenager in the house, she said.

"The reason I wanted to own a house is I wanted to make sure my daughter has something," she said. "What better thing can I give her?

meghan_meyer@pbpost.com

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