Northwest Neighborhood History

A map of the Downtown/City Center CRA. The Northwest Neighborhood district is highlighted in purple. | West Palm Beach CRA

Located just northwest of Downtown West Palm Beach, the Northwest Neighborhood is a historic Black community that was first settled in 1894 by laborers of Henry Flagler’s hotels and nearby Florida East Coast railroad. As Flagler’s real estate empire expanded, the neighborhood attracted Black settlers from Jacksonville, northern Florida, Georgia, and the Bahamas in search of work.

During segregation and the Chitlin’ Circuit era, the Northwest Neighborhood grew to become the social, cultural and economic center for West Palm Beach’s Black community. Like Historic Eastside and LaVilla, peer neighborhoods adjacent to Downtown Jacksonville, the Northwest Neighborhood economically declined after desegregation. Covering 700 acres, the Northwest Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 22, 1992. It became a local West Palm Beach historic district in 1993.

In recent years, the West Palm Beach Community Development Agency (CRA) has targeted the Northwest Neighborhood for revitalization. The CRA is a local government agency that works in collaboration with residents, property owners, businesses, developers, and other community organizations to foster redevelopment within the city’s CRA districts and is nationally recognized as one of the most innovative and effective Community Redevelopment Agencies in the country.

With the Northwest Neighborhood being a priority for cultural heritage preservation and economic investment of the Downtown/City Center CRA, the neighborhood’s projects offer real insight into what type of projects could take place in Jacksonville’s Historic Eastside neighborhood if funded through Mayor Deegan Administration’s proposed Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). Here’s a brief look at eight projects recently completed or underway, that would also be appropriate for the Historic Eastside.

Fantasy Island

311 North Sapodilla Avenue is a two-story building that was constructed in 1935. With a goal of preservation of the historic structure and architectural features, the building was renovated to house an owner occupied restaurant and bar. Nearing completion, the $1.8 million project included the interior build-out of a Caribbean and Spanish Fusion Restaurant named Fantasy Island, along with an interior/exterior bar and seating area designed to accommodate 150 seats.

The Grand West Palm Beach

As a part of the neighborhood’s preservation efforts, zoning was modified to protect the historic scale of the built environment, while also allowing high density mixed-use infill on the edge of the community, where appropriate. The Grand West Palm Beach is the neighborhood’s largest infill mixed-use project completed to date. Located at Third and Rosemary, The Grand is a 309-unit workforce housing project featuring a split of market-rate units and units reserved for people making 80 percent to 140 percent of Area Median Income.

The Grand also pays homage to Cracker Johnson. Cracker Johnson was an early 20th century entrepreneur and peer of LaVilla’s Charlie Ed Craddock, who owned a popular bar that was once located on the property. As a salute to Johnson, the development will have a fully operational speakeasy. West Palm Beach’s CRA provided a $9 million grant and $5 million over 13 years in tax refunds. The city’s Housing Department also provided $1 million.The Grand was completed in May 2024.

Heart & Soul Park

Located at 825 North Rosemary Avenue, Heart & Soul Park is a 0.9-acre public park and outdoor concert venue that opened on Juneteenth 2021. The $4 million music-themed park features amenities such as a heritage trail with history stations and artwork inlaid into pavement, a musical themed playground with shade sails, a grass mound for a playful landscape, varied seating options, interactive musical instruments and portable stage provisions for special events. The park is centrally located between several CRA investments, as a form of clustering, complementing uses within a compact setting.