Anthony Barber plans to turn the historic Magnuson House on Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach into an American fare restaurant. In addition to using shipping containers to create kitchen, restroom, storage and bar space, the restaurant will have a patio deck that can seat 200 guests. Rendering provided
By Larry Barszewski
A historic home on Ocean Avenue has moved a step closer to becoming a first-of-its-kind restaurant for Boynton Beach, one that will use corrugated steel shipping containers for its kitchen, freezer, restroom and bar facilities.
Meanwhile, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency is considering whether to spend $3 million on land directly north of the restaurant site for a future project.
The CRA plans to deed the 102-year-old Magnuson House at 211 E. Ocean Ave. to restaurateur Anthony Barber, who operates Troy’s Barbeque on South Federal Highway.
Barber’s idea is to restore the house so it can be used for indoor dining, while adding refurbished shipping containers — a 40-foot one and three 20-foot ones — behind the house. He also expects to add outdoor dining on a new patio deck that can seat 200 guests, with American fare on the menu.
“We look to revitalize this property and make it a destination location for Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach, something that can stand for many, many years to come,” Barber told city commissioners, who serve as the CRA’s governing board, at the CRA’s Dec. 14 meeting.
The board voted 4-0 to accept Barber’s letter of intent for the property and to develop a final agreement with him that would also need board approval.
New land deal considered
Commissioners may also try to reach a deal to buy the Green Acres Condominiums site to the north of the Magnuson property from owner Brian Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick began acquiring condominium units in 1986 — he now owns all but one of the 10 — but has been unsuccessful in enticing someone to redevelop the property.
Fitzpatrick is offering to sell two parcels — the Green Acres one at Northeast First Street and First Avenue, and a vacant lot at 409 NE First St. next to the city’s proposed Cottage District — to the CRA for $3 million. He said the other condo owner is also willing to sell his unit.
Commissioners said they are interested in buying the condo property to have a say in what is developed there, but the CRA doesn’t have the money in the current budget to pay for such a purchase. Commissioners said they would consider a deal to pay for the properties over the next two to three years.
Fitzpatrick’s past attempts to see his property packaged and developed along with the CRA-owned Magnuson House site were stymied in part by the house itself and what it would cost for a developer to restore it. He previously suggested the city move the house to make the block more attractive to developers.
Restaurant finds a partner
Commissioners have warmed to the idea of the Magnuson House as a restaurant to serve downtown visitors. The CRA, which bought the property for $850,000 in 2007 intending to use it for CRA office space, sold the property for $255,000 in 2016 to a restaurant developer after its plans changed.
The CRA took back the property two years later when the restaurant project fell through once the developer realized the costly work needed to bring the house up to code for a commercial operation.
Barber’s plan, while still spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore the house, avoids more costly commercial upgrades by placing the kitchen and other operations in stand-alone shipping containers — a first in Boynton Beach.
Barber offered to pay the city $240,000 for the property, but that was offset by his intent to seek $50,000 in a CRA commercial improvement grant and another $200,000 in tax incentives.
Rather than make the deal more complicated, commissioners suggested just conveying the property to Barber with deed restrictions — including that it always be a restaurant — and a requirement for specific design features the city may want.
Mayor Steven Grant said any changes to the Magnuson House would have to go before the city’s Special Historic Resources Preservation Board and City Commission because it is designated a local historical resource. Commissioners hope to have a signed purchase and sale agreement in February.
“I’m not in the land development business,” Barber said. “You can kind of rest assured that for the foreseeable future, barring major tornadoes, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, you’ll have a restaurant on Ocean Avenue.”
Rodney Mayo of the Subculture Group said he is providing $1 million in financial backing for Barber’s restaurant and the needed renovations. The Subculture Group runs restaurants from Jupiter to South Beach, including Kapow! in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park, Dada in downtown Delray Beach and Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. Mayo expects the restaurant will take 14 months to complete once permits are pulled.
“We’re partners in the restaurant as well as the property. We’re planning on going into this venture together,” Mayo said.
The CRA had another proposal for the Magnuson House, one that didn’t have the downtown draw commissioners were seeking.
James Barton, CEO of Florida Technical Consultants, offered to use the house as FTC’s offices and a new training center. Barton’s business is in an Ocean Avenue building that is supposed to be torn down for another development — one of three buildings that had been owned by the Oyer family. The CRA closed on a purchase deal Dec. 17, buying the three buildings at 511, 515 and 529 E. Ocean Ave. for $3.6 million.
Negotiations underway
The Oyer buildings are expected to be demolished as part of a new project by Affiliated Development. The CRA selected Affiliated in November to develop CRA-owned land on the west side of Federal Highway, extending from Ocean Avenue to Boynton Beach Boulevard. The two sides are now negotiating an agreement.
Affiliated plans to build 236 apartments, with half considered to have workforce housing rents. It also plans restaurant, retail and office space and a parking garage.
Affiliated’s proposal would move Hurricane Alley Raw Bar and Restaurant from its Ocean Avenue location to expanded space on the north side of the project, on Boynton Beach Boulevard alongside the Florida East Coast Railway tracks, allowing it to remain open until the move into the new location.
In addition to the CRA properties, Affiliated has a contract to purchase the Ocean Food Mart site on the northwest corner of Ocean Avenue and Federal Highway to include in the project.
The Affiliated project also includes a significant amount of open space. The Affiliated proposal would put freestanding restaurant and retail buildings on Ocean Avenue where Hurricane Alley now stands, surrounding the buildings with more open space and pedestrian-friendly areas connected to the existing Dewey Park.
Boardwalk deal offered
Hyperion Development Group, which plans a mixed-use development on former CRA-owned property on the east side of Federal Highway across from the Affiliated project, is also buying land on the west side that could be added to Affiliated’s project.
Hyperion CEO Robert Vecsler said his company is planning to purchase the Boardwalk Italian Ice & Creamery site on Federal Highway. He suggested then selling the property to the CRA in exchange for tax incentives for Hyperion’s project on the east side of Federal Highway. Commissioners were reluctant to tangle the two projects, but asked Hyperion to put its offer in writing for staff to review.
Grant was also interested in seeing if Affiliated would add more commercial space in its project if the Boardwalk site were added to it.
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