How Wellington is growing: Builder gets chance for luxury apartments at park near mall

WELLINGTON — The village has agreed to sell a 10-acre park that sits next to The Mall at Wellington Green to resolve a 2021 lawsuit with a developer, who will seek to build about 200 luxury apartments there.

The Village Council voted 4-1 on Feb. 13 in favor of entering a settlement agreement with Brefrank Inc. to buy the park for $11 million. In return, the Lake Worth Beach builder will convey 22 acres of wetlands near the mall to the village. Brefrank owns the Axis apartments just west of the mall.

If approved, the apartment project could be the first step toward redeveloping the area surrounding the aging Mall at Wellington Green. The village also is negotiating with Related Cos. to turn the nearby K-Park site into a downtown-type area.

Council member Michael Napoleone said the deal is a win for Wellington on every level.

“This parcel of land has not a single tree on it," Napoleone said Feb. 13. "If you're going to develop some part of Wellington, this is the footprint to develop it."

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Despite the deal, Brefrank's proposed multifamily development will have to go up for a vote in the next year before a council that will have at least two new members. Mayor Anne Gerwig and council member Michael Drahos will leave at the end of March because of term limits. Napoleone is a candidate to succeed Gerwig as mayor.

Gerwig was the sole dissenter. She said the mall's original developers gave the village the 10 acres for civic purposes and that she didn't believe a private, luxury development was the best use for them.

"I don't think the public purpose was 220 apartments," Gerwig said. "Or even to settle a lawsuit that we're not losing."

What is Wellington Green Park and why is it valuable?

Wellington Green Park is tucked between the Hampton Inn and Lake Lisbet on the west side of The Mall at Wellington Green. It is one of the few remaining undeveloped parcels of land along Wellington’s State Road 7 corridor.

The property was left untouched until 2010, when the village drained the land and planted Bermuda grass to lay three multipurpose fields and paved a parking lot on the site a year later.

Wellington Green Park served as the home for the village’s rugby and lacrosse teams until 2021. Now, it is the only public park in western Palm Beach County without scheduled programming, so people can drop by for open play at any time.

Village manager Jim Barnes has said the grass is in good condition but there aren’t permanent restrooms, and the fields don't have lights. He has previously told the council he doesn't believe closing the park would hurt the community because the village had opened Olympia and Greenbriar parks that can accommodate open play.

A study the Treasure Coast Planning Regional Council identified The Mall at Wellington Green and the State Road 7 corridor as the area with the most potential for redevelopment in the village. It envisions turning the area into a walkable district that mixes residences, office spaces and commercial areas for shops and restaurants.

Why was development proposed at Wellington Green Park?

Last year, the residential group Project Lighthouse filed a proposal to develop the Wellington Green Park into a mixed-use community that would feature 480 condos, with 160 of them as workforce housing, as well as commercial spaces and a performing art center.

Five other developers, including Brefrank, filed offers for the property. At the time, the Village Council said it would consider selling the property, rather than establishing a lease or a public private partnership, and favored proposals within the 220-unit rage that is permitted in the area.

Brefrank, along with Wellington-based developer Bainbridge Cos., proposed in August of last year to buy the land at a price set by the village and build a group of six-story buildings with 400 apartments overlooking Lake Lisbet.

In September of 2023, the companies sent an $11 million offer to the village along with a revised proposal with 220 apartments and private amenities that would include a resident lounge, business center, a fitness center and an outdoor swimming pool. It also offered an alternate plan to build a total of 300 units that would require a vote from the council to change the village's comprehensive plan and land development regulations.

Other proposals for the Wellington Green Park included projects mixing apartments, shops and restaurants.

The deal could settle a lawsuit about building in Wellington wetlands

Brefrank sued Wellington in 2021 in a dispute over the conservation land use designation of 17.6 acres known as track W-5, located on the southwest side of the mall.

The village filed to settle the lawsuit in February with an agreement that stipulates Wellington agrees to sell Wellington Green Park to Brefrank for $11 million, of which $1 million would be used to fund improvements to athletic fields at Palm Beach Central High School and to cover parking impact fees.

Under the settlement agreement, Brefrank would then have 90 days to submit an application to Wellington for the proposed luxury apartment complex and would then have a year to win approval from the village to build the project.

The community will not include affordable or workforce housing, according to the agreement.

The process would halt the lawsuit and delay the formal sale of Wellington Green Park until at least May 2025.

If the council approves the project, Brefrank has agreed to proceed with the purchase, dismiss the lawsuit and convey three wetland parcels near the mall to the village for a total of 27.6 acres, of which 7 will be used as an open, conservation park.

If denied, the sale will be canceled and Brefrank may resume pursuing the lawsuit in court.

Majority of Wellington council supports sale of public park to builder

Mark Offerman, a Wellington resident, spoke during the Feb. 13 council meeting to oppose the deal.

He said the council should keep the 10 acres as a park or develop it into a project such as a preforming arts center or a botanical garden or to bring workforce housing to the village. If not, Wellington should continue to fight the lawsuit.

"Why would you give up 10 acres of parkland?" Offerman asked. "We could get workforce housing. We could really do a lot of great things in Wellington instead of taking up our parkland and selling it for absolutely nothing."

Napoleone said the $11 million sale price is almost double of its appraised value of $5.7 million.

Napoleone said the settlement agreement with Brefrank would benefit Wellington by halting the lawsuit by the company that seeks to build on 17 acres of wetlands southwest of the mall, as well as putting $11 million at the village's disposal.

"This property is not wetlands or a park. It's a field of 10 acres. It's next to a hotel in between the mall," Napoleone said. "We are getting ownership of over 22 acres of protected wetlands that Wellington will now control in perpetuity to make sure we don't have hearing in the future where someone comes in and tries to develop his wetland."

Council member Michael Drahos said the proposal by Project Lighthouse to bring a performing arts center to the 10-acre property had too much density for him to consider it seriously.

"I would love to have a theater," he said. "It's just not possible under the terms of that deal that was presented to us."

Napoleone said the project would place more residences near the Mall at Wellington Green and could be the project that sparks redevelopment in the area.

“I'm glad we're taking the step to move forward and close this chapter, lock down the preserves and sell this property for what it should be used for." Napoleone said.

Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Builder plans luxury apartments at public park near Wellington mall