Palm Coast’s Town Center will finally get the kind of development that was meant to define it when it was conceived in 2003–a 17-acre project mixing commercial, retail and residential uses in a six-building complex totaling 233,000 square feet, called The Promenade at Town Center. It’ll be right in the center of it all: at the southwest corner of Bulldog Drive and Central Avenue, with 1,100 feet of frontage on Central–about three football fields’ length—and 350 feet on Bulldog.
The Promenade complex will include 204 apartments on floors two, three and four. The first floor will consist of 68,000 square feet of shops and other commercial uses. The buildings will be interspersed with walkways so people who park their cars in the more than 500 parking spaces sprawling behind the buildings and walk around.
The Palm Coast City Council approved the site plan for the project on Tuesday with more compliments and anticipation than questions. Building permits are already in process.
“This is the first true mixed use building after 20 years being envisioned by the Town Center DRI,” the development of regional impact, Senior Planner Phong Nguyen said. All other developments in Town Center have been apartment buildings without first-floor retail spaces, or single family homes, or stand-alone office or institutional buildings such as the City Centre building or City Hall.
“We’ve been actively trying to assist with some opportunities for filling the building,” City Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo said of the commercial space. “We’ve provided some contacts of some local restaurateurs that are growing in the community.”
The Promenade, Nguyen said, “will encourage the development of employment centers in close proximity in housing and transportation corridors to be convenient for residents and to improve our economic climate. This is crucial because the vision initially is to have mixed-use buildings surrounding our Central Park. So this will be the first and hopefully it will be a catalyst for others to come.”
The apartments will be relatively small and consist of studios, one- and two-bedroom options, with 45 studios of 501 square feet (the type of size Ikea is made for), only 22 two-bedroom apartments in the 1,000 square-foot range, 37 smaller two-bedroom apartments between 850 and 875 square feet, and 100 one-bedroom apartments, all but three of them of 655 square feet. The buildings’ height will be limited to 500 feet, even though height could have gone as high as 80 feet there.
“This adds a tremendous amount of diversity to our housing inventory,” Council member Nick Klufas said. “This is something that I think is actually going to be useful for the type of housing that we’re looking to provide. I know oftentimes, we talk about smaller townhouses and things like this, all the way up to 1,800 square foot, one bedroom places. This is something that I think a lot of people are looking for, and I’m happy that it’s coming to Palm Coast.”
The project will not impact any wetlands. It will add significant traffic: about 6,000 additional daily vehicle trips, including 201 additional peak-hour morning trips and 242 peak-hour evening trips. The “study,” as the city called it, was an extrapolation based on the number of apartments and commercial space to be built. Traffic will leave an “acceptable” level of service along Town Center’s roads.
The developer goes by the name of PC Town Center Development II, a company that registered with the Division of Corporations last November, registered under William P. Angrick of Flagler Beach and the Tallahassee-based Corporation Service Company, itself registered as a foreign corporation based in Wilmington, Del., whose registered agent in Tallahassee is the Prentice-Hall Corporation (see their directors here.) The developer bought the two parcels adding up to 17 acres in December 2022 and November 2023, for a combined $2.9 million.
The company is tied to Persimmon Capital Partners, whose representative, Frankl Mendola, presented the project to the council. “We’re th guys developing and the owners of this project,” Mendola said. He listed himself, Angrick and Tom Glatzel as principals in the project. Mendola said the project is attracting interest from developers on parcels across the street.
“This building is unique in the sense that it is not your typical wood frame structure going up,” Mendola said, showing a sample of what he was describing. “This is what they call an insulated concrete form. This is what you fill in the center, this area right here, with concrete and the rebar snaps inside this portion of the form.” He showed two parallel white panels attached in the middle by metallic-looking joints. One side, the exterior, could be stucco, and the other side, the interior, would be drywall. “So this is the actual type of structure and it’s a concrete building, it is not a stick-built building.” He described it as twice as strong as concrete blocks and hurricane-resistant.
“It’s waterproof, it’s bulletproof and it’s fireproof,” he said. “This is a product that’s going to be lasting here for many decades ahead of us and it’s something that insurance companies here in Florida love.” It will also eliminate water-intrusion issues that could happen with block construction. But it will be a building 5 to 8 percent more expensive than the “stick” kind.
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
There’s nothing worthwhile there to support it. Palm Coast doesn’t have a historic downtown area, or art district, or anything worthwhile to walk to from town center.
Joe says
Be a great place for drug dealers
sick of it says
its interesting how it was mentioned the building will be bulletproof.
James says
Now all we need is a monorail system like they have at Disney World to link Town Center with the North and South… North Orlando and South Jacksonville that is.
Hey, who knows right?
Reminds one of that old favorite doesn’t it?…
“… When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires will come to you… When you wish upon a star your dreams come true… ”
Dream… like a mag-lev, high-speed stainless steel monorail that sorta resembles a Delorian… or perhaps that Tesla arrowhead truck thing with all the sharp edges… hey, whatever works for you it’s your dream. Perhaps we can even get Musk to personally design it… dream big.
Just say’n.
Atwp says
Would like to know the estimated rent price of the apartments.
David Schaefer says
Guess what the monthly rate will be $1500 to start I guarantee it.
TR says
You talking for the retail of the apartments?
JimboXYZ says
This is pretty much the same concept as the European Village. Not sure I’d want to live in an apartment complex that the first floor is zoned commercial retail. Too much foot traffic around for the residential highrise aspect of it. Parking for peak commercial events ? Who gets priority, residents or patrons of the retail ? I think I’m just going to avoid that area altogether. I don’t want to intrude on the residents for their privacy for living in a business district.
The Dude says
This is the same material they used to build the island walk ABC store with. Styrofoam with concrete and rebar on the inside. But I just shake my head at the magnitude of apartments going up – ALL of them in the “Town Center”. There’s no center in “Town Center”. The place is a deserted ghost town with seriously decrepit ailing roadways polka dotted with massive apartment complexes – most of which made with toothpicks (2×4). The first store they open there might make the city rename it to “the Towne Centere”. We have too many apartment complexes – I don’t care what you use to build them – But not shocked at the building location.
dave says
And just think of the traffic in that area. NUTS !
Tom B says
Historically, these only attract that snob, liberal, yuppie money crowd that drinks Starbucks, & carries little dogs around….
Right now central ave is a bypass around 100. Just wait folks, once that bj’s complex goes up, the other apts on old kings, and this, it will be 30 minutes to get anywhere near there or home from there.
Lorie says
With all the building, more residents/visitors, I’ve heard nothing about more lanes for cars. Anything to do with increasing traffic and what to do about it.
George says
I miss having a town to walk around and go from shop to shop to restaurants. When they first announce a town center going up this is what I assumed it would have been so, I was very disappointed it wasn’t like that. City of PC could use that. Enough with the strip malls.
TREEMAN says
ROADS, ROADS, ROADS–FIX them NOW Correct the MISTAKES in the Building Code to STOP the FLOODING caused by New Home Construction! Wake Up !RINO Alfin and RINO Dumko and LISTEN to the Taxpayers of Palm Coast!
dave says
This city and county has never really cared about traffic issues. Its build first, make excuses later.
Just a thought says
Caught that too, but it would be nice to get a clarification. I believe he’s only talking about the concrete being bullet proof. What are the upper levels going to be built with? Wood frame or concrete 100%?
Ron says
Great concept. Alpharetta GA. has a seminar area. Hopefully we will see a Whole Foods in our future.
Dennis C Rathsam says
STUFF EM IN ALFIN is getting ready for all his Haitian friends!
Steve says
They never have that’s why my Family moved
Scott says
“Diversity”
TR says
I’ll bet the bottom retail area will be brick construction and the rest will be stick construction. I’m going to guess on this, that the 2,3,&4th floors don’t need brick construction because when one is standing on the ground and shots up into an apartments on the upper levels, the bullet will go into the ceiling of that apartment. Unless there is a sharp shooter across the street in those apartments, no one will be shot inside theirs. Unless the shooter is inside the apartments then it doesn’t matter what type of construction is used.
Mary Fusco says
My grandson lives in Alpharetta. My daughter was there recently and sent me pictures of the downtown area. It was immaculately clean. I had to ask her if it was really that clean. LOL. She said it was cleaner, everyone was nice and respectful and they thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t see that happening here. I see drunken brawls. I guess GA attracts a better class of people. While the idea is nice would there be enough foot traffic to keep these stores open? No one wants to live on top of a boarded up empty shop.
Tony says
Probably more pizza joints and sandwich shops.
KDS says
yes, because grocery prices aren’t high enough… How about a Trader Joe’s? Instead, you better be prepared to float the second mortgage on your property if you’re going shopping at Whole Foods … be prepared to drop a WHOLE lot of money at WHOLE FOODS.. they probably have extra special parking for your doggy stroller, so you can change your dogs outfit and put his little booties on before going in
JimboXYZ says
The way the road has speed bumps & 4 way stop sign intersections that area is a 20 mph traffic zone anyway. The fact that it’s Bulldog Parkway makes it a 20 mph school zone for FPC HS. Eventually they intend to have townhome/apartment complexes over on Town Center Parkway for the other school (Imagine, that is a traffic nightmare when children are dropped off & picked up). Palm Coast is fast becoming a series of school zones. Belle Terre has Indian Trails o the North. to the South there’s 2 more schools Middle & Elementary, hen there’s Rymfire. FPC HS is on SR-100. And Matanzas HS on the NE side of Old Kings Road to the south of SR-100 there is the Elementary School there. DSC is on Colbert, but at the corner of Palm Coast Parkway East. US-1, I-95 & A1A lack a school, just a matter of time before that happens ?