The proposed mixed-use development would bring apartments and businesses to the old site of the Kmart in Lantana. This view is from Dixie Highway. Rendering provided
By Mary Thurwachter
It’s all systems go for Lantana Village Square after the Town Council gave developers an enthusiastic thumbs up during a special meeting on Jan. 13.
The planned mixed-use development will eventually bring 426 apartments to the former Kmart property at the corner of Dixie Highway and Hypoluxo Road. The first phase of the development will yield 307 units, because Winn-Dixie, included in the development’s second phase, still has many years left in its lease.
Town code permits 15 units per acre and the master plan allows for 25, so the town agreed to change the permitted number to 25. Units will include studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
Nicole Dritz, the town’s director of development who was highly praised for her work with Integra Investments to get what the town wanted, said “the developer has indicated they will submit for permits in roughly six months, so it could be shortly after that time that construction could begin.”
“We’re all very proud of this,” said Victor Ballestas, a principal with Integra. “We worked very hard with your staff.”
“It was a give-and-take,” Mayor Karen Lythgoe said. “That’s when you know we have a good product.”
The plan includes three-story apartment buildings, a clubhouse and pool, stores and restaurants, and a dog park. It also has outdoor seating around a central park suitable for festivals or markets. There are even EV charging stations.
Besides getting approval for the site plan, Integra received the go-ahead on its landscaping plan, which calls for more than the required number of trees.
Few residents spoke during public comments and none of them objected. Dino Ismajli, owner of Lantana Pizza at 467 Greynolds Circle, expressed his gratitude that developers and town staff helped him find a place to move his restaurant around the corner from Winn-Dixie, where Subway and two other shops are located. The family-owned pizza spot has been at its current location for almost 26 years.
“I’m happy,” Ismajli said. “I think this will be a good thing for all of us.”
Integra bought the property at 1301 S. Dixie Highway in July 2023 for $14.85 million.
The Miami developer will have to comply with the state’s Live Local Act that dictates at least 40% of the development’s residential units be “affordable” and, if the development is a mixed-use project, which it is, at least 65% of the total square footage of the parcel has to be used for residential purposes.
An earlier proposal from another developer failed to pass muster with council members and was denied in August 2022.
The latest proposal has more of a community feel, council members said. That is what they wanted. Unlike the previous proposal, nothing is fenced in or isolated.
Comments