City Center

While rich in its history, West Palm Beach has evolved into a metropolitan area of unique and special character. The success of the Kravis Center, City Place and, most recently, the Palm Beach County Convention Center, together with the revitalization of many of its surrounding historic neighborhoods, has been a groundswell of change for West Palm Beach – at the center of a burgeoning Palm Beach County. The City of West Palm Beach has declared its intention to define its nucleus by establishing the first central city “civic campus,” which is designed to perpetuate and embrace the vibrant diversity embodied in its citizens and those in the surrounding county.

City Center will be the centerpiece of this very special downtown. Incorporating, at the very least, the City Hall (150,000 GSF, including the City’s Commission Chambers and a 150-seat auditorium), the West Palm Beach Central Library (85,000 GSF, including a children’s library and teen library), the Palm Beach Photographic Centre and Museum (35,000 GSF) and two parking garages housing 900 cars. City Center will accomplish many acknowledged goals of the community. First, its central location unites the downtown to the western components of the City. Second, it allows the City Library to move from its current location, which, as described in the recent study by the Urban Land Institute (“ULI”), will “uncork the bottle” and reconnect the downtown to the waterfront. The development of this core project will embody the City’s vision of itself. City Center will be designed as the City’s “signature” project - one that, by its very presence, not only reflects beauty and function; but, one that, by its design and sensitivity to its surroundings, is inviting to the people of, and visitors to, the City to enjoy, to use, and to feel welcome. It will establish a sense of place that links the past, present and future.