The Chabad hopes its new home at 490 E. Palmetto Park Road will be ready in a year. Google maps
By Mary Hladky
After years of searching, Boca Beach Chabad finally has found a new home.
The Chabad in August closed on the purchase of a 30,000-square-foot office building located at 490 E. Palmetto Park Road, immediately west of Silver Palm Park.
That will allow the Chabad to move from its very cramped quarters at 120 NE First Ave., across the street from Sanborn Square.
“We are very excited,” said Rabbi Ruvi New. “Depending on how you calculate it, we really have been looking for a permanent site for close to 20 years. It definitely has been a long road and we definitely have taken the scenic path.
“It is very clear that God had a plan for us in mind and was testing our patience through earlier attempts that we made to lead us to this place at this time.”
New described the new location as “absolutely ideal and perfect,” as it is highly visible and accessible with plenty of parking spaces and near the Intracoastal Waterway.
The building “almost looks like it was meant to be a Jewish center,” he said. “It doesn’t look like an office building.”
The Chabad previously wanted to build a synagogue and Israel museum at 770 E. Palmetto Park Road on the barrier island. But nearby residents objected, saying the project was too large and tall for the location and would overburden streets with traffic. They also challenged a city zoning change that would have allowed synagogue construction.
The result was years of litigation that ended when the Chabad decided to abandon those plans after a promised donation of land was withdrawn.
The lawsuits spurred charges of antisemitism, which the Riviera Beach Civic Association strenuously denied at the time.
The association’s president, Katie Barr MacDougall, said Boca Beachside residents have no reservations about the new location.
“No one on the barrier island has any objection to the desired location west of the bridge,” MacDougall said in an email. “We wish them well.”
About a year ago, congregants heard that they might be able to lease the office building, New said.
That spurred a conversation about buying the property and the owner put it up for auction. The Chabad’s bid of $13 million was accepted in November.
To finance the purchase, the Chabad launched a capital campaign that raised $9 million in three months. A bank loan made up the difference.
“We are very grateful for the outpouring of support from the community,” New said.
Fundraising is continuing so that money is available to pay off the loan and renovate the three-story building. Renovation plans have been submitted to the city for approval.
Rabbi New plans to lease out the third floor and a portion of the ground floor. That will leave 15,000 square feet for the Chabad and synagogue.
If all goes as he hopes, New wants the renovations to be completed by next September in time for High Holy Days.
The religious center will be known as Boca Beach Jewish Center — Chabad.
While the Chabad won’t occupy the entire building, that could change. The number of congregants is growing, with more than 1,000 providing financial support or being engaged in some other way. New anticipates the new space will attract even more.
The growth started before the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, but that brutal assault has spurred even more.
“Oct. 7 definitely impacted the Jewish world in many ways,” New said. “There is a greater sense of connectivity to one another and the connection to Israel and the need for us to come together to be unified and strong, to be present and to be proud in the face of all this antisemitism.”
Boca Beach Jewish Center — Chabad “is very much needed,” on the east side of the city, New said. “It will be a hub for Jewish life for every demographic.” P
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