Trader Joe’s not going to West Palm Beach’s south end, for now

West Palm Beach’s burgeoning south end neighborhood may go without a sought-after boutique grocery store under an agreement tentatively reached to develop city-owned land along the C-51 canal.

The Palm Beach Post reported the detailed plans of the project, which at one time included apartments, stores and public areas.

To read that story in full, go here.

The proposed redevelopment, on the long-vacant property at 8111 S. Dixie Highway, will go before the City Commission for a public hearing Monday without a grocery store named in the deal. The store was an original selling point touted by the developer of the nearly 7-acre lot.

Instead, Woodfield-Flagler Venture will have 120 days to give the city evidence that a grocery store has committed to putting down roots, or it will be allowed to divide the grocery store space into two retail buildings.

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Neighbors in the popular South of Southern, or SoSo community, had hoped a Trader Joe’s would move into the proposed mixed-use development that, if approved by commissioners, will include up to 210 apartments. Fifty-two of the units will be set aside for workforce housing.

Monday’s public hearing will be the first reading of the agreement, which calls for Woodfield-Flagler Venture to buy the property after it is developed for $10.5 million.

The property is prime real estate that sits at the entrance to the city from the south, and on a canal that snakes into the Lake Clarke Shores neighborhood. A flood control structure blocks access to the Lake Worth Lagoon but there have been past pitches to add a boat lift there.

A projected completion date for the project is June 2026.

Although a Winn-Dixie is at the Palm Coast Plaza across from where the proposed grocery store would go, the original plan was to bring in a specialty grocer half the size of Winn-Dixie.

Kimberly Miller is a veteran journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate and how growth affects South Florida’s environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.