Plans call for the 119-year-old Andrews House (bottom left in foreground) to be moved, restored and converted into a cafe, rather than be demolished, as part of the second phase of The Villages mixed-use project that will rise beside it. Rendering provided
By Michael Cook
A Miami-based developer once planned to tear down the historic Andrews House in Boynton Beach. After local preservationists stepped in, the developer changed course and now plans to restore the faded yellow, two-story house as a cafe.
Developer Edgewater Capital Investments still plans to demolish all other buildings on the land it owns surrounding the city’s oldest residence to make way for a mixed-use development along East Ocean Avenue downtown. Some affected business owners are beginning to plan to relocate ahead of construction, with the development expected to rise within a two-year horizon.
“Everything except for the Andrews House will be demolished,” said Manny Mato, principal of Edgewater Capital Investments, referring to the south parcel of land it bought in 2022 on Ocean Avenue. Across the street on the north parcel, the same developer is currently constructing The Villages at East Ocean, an eight-story residential and commercial complex expected to open in 2027.
Mato said the property where the Andrews House sits will be part of Phase Two of The Villages project. He described the plan for residential units and retail space as a smaller and more affordable version of the main project. The timeline for the south parcel depends on city approvals, but Mato hopes construction will break ground and be completed within the next few years.
What’s there now
On the south side of Ocean Avenue, west of the Florida East Coast Railway tracks, there is life in the aging, mostly single-story buildings: from two homes and warehouses to retail. Businesses line the avenue, from East Ocean Cafe and The Blossom Shoppe Florist to the Original Barber Shop. Some will be asked to join the new development, Mato said.
One of the businesses is ArtSea Living, an art and pottery studio. Owner Barbi Lentz said the business had been in that storefront for about five years, which was intended to be a temporary spot. She is now in the process of packing up shop.
ArtSea Living is relocating across the train tracks east to the 500 Ocean apartment and retail complex. The studio is set to open in late February with upgraded ground-floor retail space. The studio, which originally opened in 2003, has moved several times locally due to similar issues, and Lentz mentioned that operating in a mixed-use space gives her business a sense of security.
Donald Karney of Broward Properties Inc., which manages the buildings on The Villages’ southern parcel and other properties for the same developer, said each tenant would have at least six months to vacate once the project receives final city approval.
“We’re not in the business to bum-rush people out or be ogres or unreasonable,” Karney said, indicating that his company would accommodate everyone as best it can. He said the same process used at the start of the main project is being followed, with about five buildings knocked down in that portion.
Kevin Fischer, Boynton Beach’s division director of planning and zoning, said that tenants now in the commercial buildings on site will go through a process with the property owner to terminate their leases to allow for demolition.
Warehouse shop objects
Mato made clear that the businesses will have the option to rent space in the new retail area once it is completed. However, he said that warehouse businesses, such as local painters, carpenters, and machinists, might not be the best fit for a storefront setting.
On a warehouse-lined road on the lot leading to the Andrews House, one of the warehouse shops is Ibis Painting, a painting contracting business. The owner, Alissa Beerthuis, has occupied the garage-like space for about 11 years.
For the past several years, Beerthuis said, there had been a lingering rumor that the buildings might be torn down, so the news did not come as a complete surprise. She said that if she is forced to move, she will be left “high and dry,” since any available workspace elsewhere likely would cost twice as much.
“I understand that these aren’t the prettiest of businesses, but they’re essential for the community,” said Beerthuis. As for the Andrews House, she said that the aging house is not the most “attractive” and will not blend well with newly constructed buildings.
Edgewater Capital Investments obtained a demolition permit for the Andrews House in November 2024, but after residents raised concerns, the developer agreed to halt the demolition. “The Andrews House itself is not historic from a legal sense,” Mato said. “It’s not a designated historic property, so we could demolish it tomorrow if we wanted to.”
Yet, after conversations with city officials, Mato and his team decided to preserve the house. It was a gesture of “goodwill” for the community and a project that makes sense for the company, he said, so that “everyone wins.” As for the restoration of the house itself, which was built in 1907, Mato said site approval will dictate the exact plan to comply with building codes.
Fischer stated that if the Andrews House is restored, a commercial kitchen or cafe could be permitted within the house, as such uses are allowed in the city’s zoning district.
The game plan is to refurbish the exterior and return it to its previous state, Mato said, while the interior will depend on factors that may change, including the cafe’s layout. He added that the inspiration comes from across the train tracks, where the historic Ruth Jones Cottage — a relocated 1920s home — has been restored and is now Nicholson Muir, a gourmet butcher shop and restaurant.
Mato said the Ocean Avenue corridor has the potential to match other successful downtowns in surrounding cities, thanks to its proximity to the beach and other attractions. He added that the larger mixed-use project — and the ongoing collaboration with the Community Redevelopment Agency and the city — will play a role in shaping that vision.
A ‘historic street’
Janet DeVries Naughton, a past president of the Boynton Beach Historical Society, said that since the city is attempting to rebuild downtown as a destination, the house will serve as an asset and an “anchor” for the city’s history. She said visitors can enjoy coffee while learning from this type of historical attraction.
“But the fact is that there are only a few of these that exist. And in order for people to learn about the past, they need to be able to see and feel history,” Naughton said, referencing the vernacular frame of the home.
Naughton painted a picture of Ocean Avenue as a “historic street,” saying there will be modern growth paired with reminders of the past, such as the 1927 high school, now the Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, and the 1913 Boynton School, now the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum.
While Mato has decided not to wreck the Andrews House, and to give it a second life right along Ocean Avenue, that’s not quite the outcome some preservationists desired.
The Save Andrews House Committee, formed after the building’s near destruction, prefers using funds to relocate the house next to another nearby historic structure, the CRA-owned 1919 Oscar Magnuson House on the north side of Ocean Avenue.
The current Boynton Beach Historical Society president, Barbara Ready, said she was taken aback when the developer had simply wanted the house removed from his property to create more space for development.
Ready added that if the adaptive reuse architecture is not executed well, it could compromise the house’s historic value and original layout, including features such as the existing Dade County pine wood.
“We were pretty disappointed that he didn’t want to just give it to us. We figured that, being in our custody, it would be a lot safer,” she said. “But who knows where it’s going to be 20 years from now, when this developer moves on.”
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