One of South Florida’s largest homebuilders is preparing a first-of-its-kind foray into West Palm Beach’s Northwood neighborhood, where it plans to remake most of a 10-block area with 100 new homes.
GL Homes, known for its dozens of planned communities on undeveloped land across the state, says the undertaking will be its first project within an existing urban area. It comes at a time of rising interest in once-sleepy neighborhoods in the city’s north end, where the waterfront is being remade by luxury condo towers.
The homebuilder will be partnering with Huizenga Holdings of West Palm Beach, which for years has been quietly buying up dozens of homes in area.
The GL Homes project would build single-family homes on Huizenga Holdings’ lots in the 10-block neighborhood bordered by 40th Street, 45th Street, Broadway and North Flagler Drive. The new houses would be built around existing homes on lots not owned by Huizenga.
“The homes will be developed individually upon sale to respective buyers, and we hope to commence construction in the first quarter of 2026,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “This is GL Homes’ first foray into redevelopment within an urban city core. We look forward to working closely with the City of West Palm Beach.”
Separately, Huizenga is planning a $2 billion waterfront district nearby featuring four condo towers alongside the Safe Harbor Rybovich marina, as The Palm Beach Post reported Thursday.
The neighborhood is attractive to developers because of its proximity to the fast-developing waterfront and the fact that it is one of the only coastal neighborhoods in the city’s north end without a historic designation, making it easier to tear down existing homes.
City officials say it appears to be the largest attempted redevelopment of a single-family neighborhood in the city’s modern history. Such projects are difficult, they said, because they require the amassing of large numbers of existing homes, a time-consuming and costly undertaking.
“To take an area like this and retrofit it like they’re proposing is a little bit unique,” said Rick Greene, the city’s development services director.” I don’t think we’ve seen it to the scale that Huizenga and GL Homes are proposing.”
City commissioner Cathleen Ward, who represents the area and lives in the neighborhood being eyed for redevelopment, said the project would provide needed modern housing options in an area where most existing homes were built between the 1930s and 1950s.
“I think it’s refreshing that they want to build nice new homes and want to attract buyers in here,” she said. “It’s adding a diverse opportunity to the area.”
At a Feb. 18 commission meeting, Commissioner Shalonda Warren raised concerns about the gentrification of a long-standing neighborhood, pushing some residents out of their homes.
“Do we anticipate that there will be any displacement and if there is, is there an approach to address that?” she wondered.
Greene said that GL Homes has not yet submitted formal plans but that the company has had extensive talks with city planners, who have been at work on a plan to rezone Broadway to encourage more development along the north end’s main thoroughfare.
City planners warned commissioners last week that GL Homes’ plans for properties along Broadway could clash with their rezoning proposal, which calls for new construction on Broadway to be built facing the street.
But in talks in recent days, GL Homes agreed to build outward-facing townhomes along Broadway instead of single-family homes that open onto side roads, Greene said.
That would bring the builder's plans in line with the rezoning plans, which are tentatively scheduled for final approval by city commissioners in March.
GL Homes has built nearly 50 planned communities in Palm Beach County, including the Valencia and Canyon communities west of Boynton Beach, Apex at Avenir in Palm Beach Gardens and neighborhoods in Arden west of Royal Palm Beach.
Developed by:
© 2025 Scuba Club WPB, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
