Florida Park Drive has re-opened to through traffic as of Wednesday afternoon, November 23, 2022. The intersection of Florida Park Drive and Farraday Lane was closed in late June due to a Utility project.
Business & Economy
Housing Market in Flagler and Palm Coast Beginning to Feel Sharp Pain of Rising Interest Rates
House prices are falling. So are the number of sales. Houses for sale are staying on the market longer. The supply of houses is rising. If the downward trend continues, the implications will have a pronounced ripple effect on a local economy still substantially dependent on construction and real estate, on demographic projections, and on the timing of school construction planned for later this decade.
Beach Front Grille of Flagler Beach, as ‘Loopers,’ Wins Former Green Lion Lease at Palm Harbor Golf
A proposal by Jamie Bourdeau and Dudley Shaw, co-owners of Beach Front Grille in Flagler Beach, is the Palm Coast city administration’s top choice to replace the Green Lion Cafe at Palm Harbor Golf Club. The city today announced its intent to award the new lease for the concession at the club to Loopers, the name Bourdeau is giving to the new enterprise.
After Extension, Just 2 Bidders Apply to Take Over Green Lion Restaurant Lease at Palm Harbor Golf
The low response was likely disappointing to the city. At least two local restaurant owners have shown interest by downloading the bid packages: Thai and I in Bunnell, and the Turtle Shack in Flagler Beach. That doesn’t mean they are among the bidders–only that they downloaded all bidding documents.
416-Unit Apartment Complex on SR100 Near Colbert Ln. Adds to Growth Cluster Totaling 1,320 Units
The Ocean Village development is part of a new cluster of residential developments in the region, when paired with projects on nearby Roberts Road and John Anderson Highway that total 656 apartment units and 664 single family homes.
Building Plans for BJ’s Wholesale Club, Gas Station and Several Stores on SR100 Clear County Board
It’s almost all over but the permitting before Palm Coast’s BJ’s Wholesale Club, a big gas station and a half dozen satellite stores begin going up on a 31.5-acre site of State Road 100, just west of Seminole Woods Boulevard.
After Din of Opposition and Another Screaming Match, Palm Coast Council Will Consider Cuts in Tax Hike
Palm Coast City Council members Tuesday evening agreed to suggest budget cuts ahead of Thursday’s budget hearings in hopes of possibly lowering the proposed 15 percent property tax increase, after hearing from about 30 residents who complained about their taxes. The council did so after some of its members again degraded into an ugly screaming match.
Palm Coast Seeks Proposals to Replace Green Lion Cafe at Palm Harbor, Rent and Utilities at $3,000 a Month
After its falling out with the Green Lion Cafe earlier this summer, Palm Coast government this week formally launched its next step in possibly replacing the popular restaurant at Palm Harbor Golf Club with a new company.
Goodwill Opens Larger Palm Coast Store, Expecting $35,000 in Business Per Week
Goodwill’s 16,000 square foot store on Palm Coast Parkway is about 5,000 square feet larger than the previous location. It employs 28 people, is expected to cater to 280 to 300 customers a day and generate $35,000 in sales per week.
Stark Numbers on Palm Coast’s Unaffordable Housing Crisis Emerge Behind a Routine Presentation
A housing report Palm Coast government is required to submit to federal authorities every five years, presented to the City Council today, opens an alarming window into the city’s most dire housing needs and stresses for middle and lower-income residents.
We Need More Homes and Apartments in Palm Coast. A Lot More.
With the median price of a home at $400,000 and fewer than six weeks’ inventory, Palm Coast is in an affordable housing crisis. Existing residents are exacerbating the crisis by opposing developments, opposing smaller-lot homes and opposing apartment complexes. It’s hypocritical and untenable.
Confirmed: Jersey Mike’s Subs Opening Restaurant at Palm Coast’s Island Walk, Near Brass Tap
Jersey Mike’s Subs, the famed franchise that opened its first restaurant in Point Pleasant, N.J., in 1956, and was the fastest-growing sandwich chain in 2022, will open its first Palm Coast restaurant in the Island Walk shopping center in late November.
Palm Coast Plans to Trash Waste Pro for New Hauler, FCC Environmental, and Another Fee Increase
After 15 years with Waste Pro, Palm Coast government is proposing to drop the trash hauler and sign a seven-year, $32 million contract with Houston-based FCC Environmental, raising residential homes’ monthly trash fee to $32.32 a month, up 59 percent from last year, and 7.8 percent from the existing, temporary one-year extension contract with Waste Pro.
95-Home Subdivision in R-Section Draws Concerns Over Smaller Lot Sizes, But Council Approves
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday voted 4-0 to approve a gated subdivision of 95 homes, most on 6,000-square foot lots, on Ryan Drive in Palm Coast’s R-Section, against objections by residents that the development is built of smaller lots, would generate more traffic and could impact children’s safety at a bus stop.
Palm Coast Council Looks for ‘Break-Even Point’ in Lease With Green Lion Café at Palm Harbor Golf
The city conceded that it has–and continues–to lose money through its current lease, which requires the Green Lion to pay only $600 a month in rent and no utility costs. The aim of the new lease is to bring the city to a break-even point, but how utility payments are figured in–as part of, or in addition to, rent–remains to be decided.
Palm Coast Council Tries Again With Green Lion Café, Almost Tripling Rent, But Differences Remain
The Palm Coast City Council this evening will consider approving a new lease or an amended lease with the Green Lion Café at the city-owned Palm Harbor Golf Club, raising the popular restaurant’s rent from $600 to $1,665 and ending subsidies for utilities. But key differences remain between the Green Lion and the city.
Smoke and Ash from Development’s Burn Pile Near FPC Clouds School’s Hosting of District Track Championship
On Monday and Tuesday, the burning of cleared woods on State Road 100 near Wawa, for a future self-storage facility and a shopping mall, produced enough smoke and ash to cause concern on the nearby campus of Flagler Palm Coast High School as track athletes on Monday trained through the smoke, and on Tuesday had to compete through it as FPC hosted nine schools in the district track and field championships. The conditions produced a poorer image of of Palm Coast to visiting athletes and families than the district wished.
An Inside Look at AdventHealth’s Palm Coast Parkway Construction a Year from $164 Million Hospital’s Opening
AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway, as the 188,000-square-foot, $164 million campus will be known when it opens in spring 2023, is currently Palm Coast’s largest construction site and represents the largest health care investment in the county’s history. As a construction site, it is a living metaphor of the permanent mission ahead: a reconstruction zone for human bodies.
Confirmed: BJ’s Wholesale Club Is Lined Up for Palm Coast on SR 100 Near County Airport
In a deal close to completion, BJ’s Wholesale Club will build a 103,000 square foot store on SR100, with two restaurants, a gas station, a tire store and a few other businesses. Jay Gardner, the Flagler County property appraiser, who owns the land, confirmed the development on Friday, as did regulatory documents before the county planning division.
Residents of Hidden Lakes and Toscana Appeal Palm Coast Approvals of 2 Self-Storage Lots on Old Kings
A group of Palm Coast residents in the Toscana and Hidden Lakes subdivisions off Old Kings Road have filed an appeal of a decision by the Palm Coast Planning Board clearing the way for a self-storage facility on Old Kings Road. The same group is preparing to file a civil suit in circuit court seeking to quash decisions by the planning board and the Palm Coast City Council clearing the way for both that facility and another like it nearby.
Flagler Health+ Completes 70-Acre Buy at Palm Coast Parkway for Eventual Hospital, Challenging AdventHealth
The purchase was not unexpected. It has had the acreage under contract since August. The purchase is part of its ongoing efforts to challenge AdventHealth’s supremacy in Flagler, a supremacy AdventHealth is defending just as aggressively: the hospital system is building its second hospital in Palm Coast, a 100-bed facility, almost within sight of the Flagler Health + acreage.
1st Single-Family Home Subdivision in Town Center Will Bring 208 Homes Near Imagine School, Along Royal Palms
The city council cleared The Gables at Town Center, a 208-home subdivision on 125 acres that stretch from Imagine School at Town center west and north, along Royal Palmas Parkway. Construction has begun. It will eventually look like any typical subdivision in the city.
Expect Delays and Detours Over Next 10 Nights as Paving Coats Widened Old Kings Road at Palm Coast Parkway
Traffic frustrations around the construction zone at Old Kings Road and Palm Coast Parkway are about to ramp up for a few nights before they get better as the widening project, already weeks past its completion date, enters its final, paving phase. The $6.5 million project was due to be substantially completed by Sept. 22. The completion date is now Oct. 22.
Ground Up, a Muscle Car Parts Company, Moves Into Ex-Palm Coast Data Building With 30 to 40 Jobs
Ground Up SS396, a Connecticut-based e-commerce company that sells parts for muscle cars like Chevelles, Camaros and El Caminos, is shifting its warehouse, call center and offices into the 70,000 square-foot building on Commerce Parkway formerly owned by Palm Coast Data, and used as Palm Coast’s City Hall before that. The company will be closing its Connecticut operation.
End the Offensive Discrimination Against Workers: Yes to Commercial Vehicles in Palm Coast Driveways
Palm Coast’s prohibition against small, van-size commercial vehicles in residential driveways is outdated and discriminatory, especially targeting blue-collar workers while refusing to recognize the vastly changing geography of work. This isn’t a majority vote issue. It’s a workers’ rights issue.
Leaders Gather to Film Groundbreaking at AdventHealth Palm Coast’s New Hospital, Now a Larger, $145 Million Project
AdventHealth executives, Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin and County Administrator Heidi Petito gathered this morning at the construction site of the new hospital, now a $145 million project on Palm Coast Parkway, to film what will be a virtual groundbreaking ceremony airing on Sept. 14. Here’s a sneak preview.
Just Call Him David: Palm Coast Mayor Alfin Settles In With Exuberant Focus on Growth, Town Center and the Next Manager
In a wide-ranging interview in his new office at City Hall, Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin talked about getting a budget done, getting a permanent city manager hired, and fostering the reemergence of Town Center as an economic, educational, cultural and health care hub.
Palm Coast Council Clears Way for a 240-Apartment Complex Just North of RaceTrac on Old Kings Road
The developer of Tuscan Reserve apartments in Palm Coast is proposing to develop a 240-unit apartment complex on Old Kings Road, just north of State Road 100, called the Tribute. The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved the rezoning that clears the way for the development.
Rays of Promise: Boston Whaler Marks Reopening of Boating Plant, Projecting 400 Jobs and Orders Into 2023
Brunswick Corp. and Boston Whaler executives today formally reopened the former Sea Ray plant that shut down three years ago, projecting to ramp up over the next 12 to 24 months back to 400 jobs, and likely more beyond that: boat-buying is brisk and demand for Boston Whaler is back-ordered well into 2023, the executives say, ensuring the stability of the plant for years to come.
Chillin’ Out: Palm Coast Residents Love Their Quality of Life and Safety, But Have Issues With Their City, Too
The 3,000 Palm Coast residents who responded to the city’s survey about living here were overwhelmingly 55 and over, appeared to have been little affected by the pandemic and declared themselves happy with the quality of life and safety of the city, but less so with economic, cultural and shopping opportunities.
Sea Ray Plant Will Reopen as Boston Whaler, Bringing Back 300 to 400 Jobs and Annexing Into Palm Coast
Capping a whirling six months of major economic-development victories for Palm Coast, and two and a half years after the Sea Ray plant shut down off Colbert Lane, eliminating some 440 high-paying jobs, the plant will reopen very soon under the banner of Boston Whaler, a boat builder owned by Sea Ray’s parent, Brunswick Corp.
AdventHealth Palm Coast Will Build a $100 Million, 100-Bed Hospital on Palm Coast Parkway
In a surprise, AdventHealth officials today announced the system will build a $100 million, 100-bed hospital on the south side of Palm Coast Parkway, adjacent to Market Street, the assisted living facility, with construction starting in September.
Jacksonville University Plans Major Campus Expansion in Palm Coast in City’s 2nd Higher-Ed Partnership
Jacksonville University and Palm Coast announced a joint partnership that will open a JU campus in town–the university’s first-ever expansion beyond Jacksonville in its 86-year history–and enroll 150 to 200 full-time students within 24 months. The focus will be health-care education, and more specifically, nursing.
Fifth New Cell Tower in 2 Years, at Palm Harbor Golf Club, Draws Less Than Beaming Reception
A new, 150-foot monopole off of 20 Palm Harbor Drive, on the grounds of the city’s golf club, drew a little bit of resistance from a council member and a few residents, though the Palm Coast City Council appears ready to approve construction later this month.
Road Closure for Palm Coast’s Florida Park Drive on Nov. 20
Florida Power & Light is replacing a key power line infrastructure wooden pole with a concrete pole as a critical part of their infrastructure hardening program.
Palm Coast Faces a Town Center Reckoning: Too Many Apartments, No Commercial Development, and Looming Cash Crunch
The Palm Coast City Council is awakening to several converging realities about Town Center, the once and future promise of the city’s vitality: incentives for apartment construction have worked, incentives for commercial development have not–not yet–and turnover on the council and the administration means few recall the purpose of Town Center to start with. The mayor is looking for a reset.
Covid ‘Superspreader’ Night and Other Events at Social Club of Palm Coast Cause at Least 2 Deaths and Up to 50 Infections
An August 28 singing night at the Social Club of Palm Coast on Old Kings Road, where people sang and socialized, many without masks or social distancing, triggered a rare covid-19 superspreader event whose toll in infections and deaths the Flagler Health Department is still tallying.
Palm Coast Council Approves ‘Luxury,’ Woods-Ringed 256-Apartment Complex on West Side of W-Section
The development of 12 three-story buildings on 92 acres of woodlands and lakes near U.S. 1 in Palm Coast has drawn little attention and none of the opposition that traditionally barnacles to large apartment complex proposals in the city.
In Major Coup for Palm Coast, UNF in Town Center Is a Go as MedNex Initiative Survives Veto
The University of North Florida’s plan to build a satellite presence in Palm Coast’s Town Center as a feeder of health care practitioners to regional hospitals and clinics is a go as the $24 million dollar MedNex initiative survived Gov. Ron DeSantis’s veto pen today.
Long-Awaited, Weirdly Revered Wawa Finally Opens to Cheers in Palm Coast
At 8 this morning, Palm Coast’s Wawa, with its hoagies, its coffees, its interiors lit brighter than the set of a sitcom, and of course its plexiglass and social distancing markers, opened to the public after a four-year wait.
Palm Coast Data Laying Off 150, Closing Shop on Commerce Blvd. and Looking For New Home in the City
A combination of legal wrangles and financial difficulties led to Palm Coast Data’s eviction from its Commerce Boulevard location and layoffs of 40 percent of its workforce as it outsources core services. The company pledges to remain in Palm Coast.
Palm Coast Data Battles Eviction Lawsuit and Calls “Fraud” on Landlord and Former Owners, Casting Pall on 600 Jobs
Both the lawsuit and Palm Coast Data’s answers combine to paint a grim picture for one of Palm Coast’s largest employers, months after losing a major account and now facing yet another major blow from the coming economic consequences of the public health emergency.
Debate Over Restricting Dollar-Type Stores Divides Palm Coast Planning Board as Moratorium Advances
Palm Coast government is moving toward a 120-day moratorium on permitting new dollar-type stores out of concern that the stores’ proliferation may damage the availability of quality grocery stores.
City Planners Urge Significantly Scaling Back 300-Home Matanzas Golf Course Development to Preserve Views
Palm Coast city planners’ response to a planned 300-home development along the disused Matanzas golf course cites rules that prevent building on fairways and blocking existing residents’ backyard views. That would eliminate swaths of planned homes within the 278-acre project.
Rezoning of Long-Gestating Mega Development on Old Kings Road Stirs Residents’ Anxieties Anew
The Bulow Creek development starting just south of State Road 100 on both sides of Old Kings Road would consist of 2,250 houses and apartment units and 1.7 million square feet of commercial and office space, built over four phases stretching over 20 years or more.
Palm Coast Unveils UNF’s Futuristic MedNex Foothold in Town Center as Officials Lobby Lawmakers
Renderings of UNF’s MedNex project in Palm Coast’s Town Center, along with a new infographic about the innovative plan, are part of a lobbying offensive planned for next week by Palm Coast officials to advocate for the initiative.
Critical Lack of Exhibit Space Hobbling Palm Coast Art Scene Even as Organizations Thrive
For the first time in 20 years, the Flagler County Artist of the Year will not have a show, for lack of space. The critical lack of exhibit space is on the radar of the Flagler County Art League, the fledgling Palm Coast Arts Foundation and the Grand Gallery at Grand Living Realty.
Palm Coast’s Inaugural Tech Beach Hackathon Glimmers With Stress-Tested Innovations
Palm Coast’s first “Tech Beach Hackathon” at City Hall was a weekend cramming session of tech developers connecting their just-designed apps to local healthcare problems looking for a solution.
Palm Coast’s War on Dollar Stores and Their Customers Contradicts City’s Inclusive Plan
The Palm Coast City Council imposed a 120-day moratorium on new dollar-type discount stores, citing vague fears of “long-term effects” on the community, a decision that runs counter to free-market ideals.
2 Big Developments Would Change Complexion of Palm Harbor Neighborhood; City Would Take Over Marina
Two proposed developments–along the Palm Harbor golf course and at the Palm Coast marina–would total 120 hotel rooms and 318 multi-family units–town houses and condos, as the city prefers to describe them.