How Tequesta is growing: Want proof village is getting younger? Check out the coffee shops

TEQUESTA — Gazing out of the Perk Coffee House window one can’t help but wonder between sips of cosmic caramel latte: When did Tequesta get so hip?

This waterfront village has long been a haven for retirees and older seasonal visitors, but its storefronts have taken a turn for the young.

You’ll find Asian fusion restaurants, baby clothing boutiques — and, on so many corners, coffee shops like Perk, where moms with strollers and 20-something remote workers down a cup between errands and Zoom calls.

While demographic numbers don’t show seismic changes toward a younger population, a random walk around the village reveals the face of Tequesta is changing — and the proof is in the coffee.

There are seven coffee shops, five of them independent businesses and two of them chain stores, within the village's two square miles. And more young adults are making the 6,100-resident community their home.

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Village officials say Tequesta is becoming a destination for young families. They trace it to the area’s safety, proximity to the beach, walkability, small-town feel and diversity of housing options, even if the cost of buying a home remains higher than in other communities.

As more young adults move to Tequesta, so do iced lattes and matcha

Tequesta's population traditionally has trended older than younger, with its percentage of residents ages 44 and under hovering at 42% to 45% from 2000 to 2020.

Compared with nearby communities, its median age of not-quite-54 years old is younger than Juno Beach's, where the median age falls just above 69, but older than Jupiter at roughly 47 and Palm Beach Gardens at about 51, according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2022 estimates.

More young adults have begun moving to the village, numbers show. In 2000, 9.2% of Tequesta's population was between the ages of 20 and 34, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That rose to 11.4% in 2010 and 12.5% — or 776 young adults — in 2020.

Jon Modica is one of them. The 37-year-old grew up in Tequesta, moved away for nine years and came back in 2014.

“I never really dreamed of moving back, but I felt comfortable to do so because there's lots more to do for families here now,” Modica said.

Modica opened the fourth location of his water sport equipment shop, Adventure Sports, which shares space with the Bunk House Coffee Bar off U.S. Highway 1 on March 1.

“The young people are here,” Modica said. “This is where we can all get together in the morning, have a cup of coffee and go to the beach with our families.”

Hannah Otowchits strolls from her house to Perk most mornings for an iced vanilla latte. The 26-year-old nurse said about six years ago, 20- and 30-somethings bought most of the houses on the street where she grew up.

The secret of the hidden gem she calls home had gotten out.

“I want it to be a little more of a secret because it's so special,” Otowchits said. “But who wouldn't want to be here?”

Cara Sentelik, also 26, is grateful to have local coffee shops from which to work remotely. When she was growing up in Jupiter Farms, the closest to her were in West Palm Beach. She'd drive there to hang out with friends and drink iced matcha.

“Young people like to work remotely, but they want to have a space where they can get out of their house and still meet people,” said Sentelik, the communications manager for the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce.

The oldest member of the Tequesta Village Council saw these changes happening in real time during his campaign this spring. Rick Sartory noticed the rise in young families when he knocked on doors during his recent campaign for a seat on the Village Council.

“When you have young families with children moving in and your parks are full, that's showing that there is life, turnover and enthusiasm for our village,” said Sartory, who at 57 is just a little older than the median Tequesta resident.

“It’s the natural life cycle of any community.”

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Townhome, condo prices more affordable in Tequesta than Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens

The Village Council has often said it wants to attract more young families to Tequesta. Supporting this goal was its rationale for approving The Reserve, a townhome project now being built on two of the village’s last vacant parcels along U.S. 1.

In 2019, the developer planned to sell the townhouses for around $500,000, but they are now on the market for about $800,000, still less than the $1.26 million median price for a single-family house in the village in March, according to April Miller, a Keys Co. Realtor and a five-year Tequesta resident.

Nevertheless, young adults are buying up homes in the village, where the median sales price for townhouses and condominiums — $384,000 — in March was lower than in Jupiter or Palm Beach Gardens, Miller said. Homes for rent in the village are generally cheaper than those in Abacoa, a family-filled neighborhood in Jupiter.

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Mary Jean Wampler, who has lived in Tequesta since the 1960s, sat on the back patio of Perk one recent Tuesday, sipping a fresh brew and reminiscing on the changes in the village over the years.

The 87-year-old started noticing the growth of the younger population around two years ago at church, Good Shepherd Episcopal. She calls them the “lifeblood of the community.”

Said Wampler, “There are more young people here, and I’m loving it."

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Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Is this South Florida village getting younger? Check the coffee shops