This downtown Delray Beach condominium project offers one and two story residences in a five-story building. Residents may walk to popular avenue featuring bistros, boutiques, evening jazz and holiday festivals. Building amenities include secured covered parking, private elevators, bike racks, fitness center, pool and spa, poolside club room for socializing, outdoor lounge and dining area, restricted entry for residents and guests. Models feature 10' ceilings, expansive windows with high impact glass, custom wood flooring, granite countertops, full-size laundry room. Two pets, up to 70lbs, are acceptable

Call 1-800-859-9815 or Schedule Visit

This downtown Delray Beach condominium project offers one and two story residences in a five-story building. Residents may walk to popular avenue featuring bistros, boutiques, evening jazz and holiday festivals. Building amenities include secured covered parking, private elevators, bike racks, fitness center, pool and spa, poolside club room for socializing, outdoor lounge and dining area, restricted entry for residents and guests. Models feature 10' ceilings, expansive windows with high impact glass, custom wood flooring, granite countertops, full-size laundry room. Two pets, up to 70lbs, are acceptable

Call 1-800-859-9815 or Schedule Visit

This downtown Delray Beach condominium will offer single floor and loft style models in the heart of the popular Atlantic Avenue boutiques and bistros. Residents will enjoy occasional jazz festivals right at their doorstep and the beautiful Atlantic Beach is a short bike ride over the Intracoastal Waterway. Building amenities include an infinity pool, fitness center, elevators, storage units and garage parking.

Call 1-800-859-9815 or Schedule Visit

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YOUNG AT PLAY IN DELRAY BEACH

By midnight on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night, lights are out in the quiet senior communities in most of Boca Raton and Delray Beach community suburbs.

But even on a sultry off season night in the middle of summer, downtown Atlantic Avenue thrives with action and energy.

Live music spills from bars and nightclubs, diners dressed in South Beach chic linger at sidewalk cafes. The crowd is in their twenties and thirties with a healthy mix of hip Baby Boomers.

The young strut in their low cut tops and high rise minis, displaying Hollywood cleavage they didn't come by courtesy of their parents genes.

After dark action sizzles in a beach community dotted with restaurants and bars from the beach to Swinton Avenue. A community long overshadowed by flashier Palm Beach to the north and snotty Boca Raton and touristy Fort Lauderdale to the south has emerged into its own.

An area once known as the place to live when you're ready to die now seems to draw a much younger much hipper crowd. Maybe the grandchildren have realized what it took their parents decades to do so - life in Delray Beach can be a slice of South Beach or Manhattan with gorgeous weather, beaches and a laid back atmosphere.

"People come to Delray to party. This is the new South Beach" declards Charles Matthews, manager of the 2 year old Brisas Atlantica Cuban restaurant and nightclub, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of the noisy patrons.

Patrons yound and old, black, white, and Hispanic crowd the postage stamp dance floor as waiters bearing aloft trays of mojitos and chicken with beans, rice dodge them.

Lounging on the porch on a wicker loveseat, two twentysomethings say they grew up in the area and can't believe what a hotspot it has become. "It's historic Florida with small town hospitality - but also chic and modern". One of them is the director of luxury at famed Casa Casuarina in South Beach, the villa of slain designer Gianni Versace that has been turned into a hip Gentleman's private club.

Though Delray is a long way from being South Beach, it has some of the same ingredients and is getting hipper by the year.

There's a long, wide beach for starters. Unlike South Beach, Delray's Beach is usually uncrowded.

And although white haired patrons dine at the early bird hour of 5 pm at Atlantic Avenue instituations such as Busch's Seafood Restaurant, well heeled Baby Boomers nibble after 9pm at trendy eateries and clubs that keep opening their doors on palm lined Atlantic Avenue.

Who Knew!

DELRAY BEACH HISTORY

The Early Years

Settlement began around 1884, when African-Americans from the Panhandle of Florida bought land a little inland from the Orange Grove House of Refuge and began farming. By 1894 the African-American community was large enough to establish the first school in the area.

In 1894 William Linton, postmaster of Saginaw, Michigan, bought a tract of land just west of
the Orange Grove House of Refuge, and began selling plots in the hope that it would become a farming community. Initially, this community was named after Linton. In 1896 Henry Flagler extended his Florida East Coast railroad south from West Palm Beach to Miami, with a station
at Linton.

The Linton settlers began to achieve success with truck farming of winter vegetables for the northern market. A hard freeze in 1898 caused a setback, and many of the settlers left, including William Linton. In an attempt to change the community's luck, or leave behind a bad reputation, the settlement's name was changed in 1901 to Delray, after a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.

By 1910, Delray had a population of 250. In 1911 Delray was chartered by the State of Florida
as an incorporated town. In the same year pineapple and tomato canning plants were built in Delray. Pineapples became the primary crop of the area. This is reflected in the name of the present day Pineapple Grove neighborhood near downtown Delray Beach. By 1920 Delray's population had reached 1,051.

In the 1920s drainage of the Everglades west of Delray lowered the water table, making it tougher to grow pineapples, while the extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West resulted in competition from Cuban pineapples for the markets of the northern United States.

The Florida land boom of the 1920s brought new prosperity to Delray. Tourism and real estate speculation became important parts of the local economy. Delray issued bonds to raise money to install water and sewer lines, paved streets, and sidewalks. A number of hotels were built. At that time Delray was the largest town on the east coast of Florida between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The collapse of the land boom in 1926 left Delray saddled with high bond debts, and greatly reduced income from property taxes.

Delray was separated from the Atlantic Ocean beach by the Florida East Coast Canal
(currently part of the Intracoastal Waterway). The area between the canal and the ocean was incorporated as Delray Beach in 1923. In 1927 Delray and Delray Beach combined into one town named Delray Beach.


RECENT HISTORY

In the last few years, Downtown Delray, located in the eastern part of the city, primarily along East Atlantic Avenue and stretching to the beach, has undergone a large scale renovation. This area is now transformed and home to several upscale restaurants and several different assorted shops. Major driving forces in this renovation have been the business brought to the area by the Delray Beach Tennis Center, which has hosted several major international tennis events such as the April 2005 Fed Cup (USA vs. Belgium), the April 2004 Davis Cup (USA vs. Sweden), the Millennium ITC (ATP Event), and the Chris Evert / Bank of America Pro Celebrity. Along with the new construction of the Tennis Center, numerous local historic landmark structures were renovated during the last decade of the 20th century. These include Old School Square, formerly Delray Elementary School and Delray High School, since turned into a thriving cultural center; and the Colony Hotel. Old School Square comprises the Crest Theatre, a venue for the performing arts, in the former High School building; the 1925 Gymnasium, restored to maintain its appearance, which has since become a popular venue for local events such as wedding receptions and dances; the Cornell Museum of Art and History, built in the restored Elementary School; and a recently constructed outdoor entertainment pavilion, which serves as a venue for musical performances and has also been used for events such as political rallies. More recently, the historic home of teacher/principal Solomon D. Spady was renovated and turned into the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum. The Spady Museum hosts exhibits and programs designed to recognize the efforts of all ethnic groups who were instrumental in shaping Delray Beach and Palm Beach County.

RECENT NEWS

Labor skills shortage
South Florida Business Journal

Florida's unemployment numbers were at 29-year lows in 2006, making it tough for local employers to find skilled labor. Many employers now feel the problem is becoming more critical as South Florida companies compete for trained workers .

Fueling the problem is the trend of parents encouraging children toward college instead of jobs in construction, manufacturing and other blue-collar industries...

Building Biotech
South Florida Business Journal

The emerging biotech and life science industry in Florida is alive and well in Palm Beach County.

After a contentious battle between four sites, the commission in February finally settled on moving the Scripps Research Institute to Florida Atlantic University's Jupiter campus....

Wealth group expands into South Florida
South Florida Business Journal

High net worth investing group Tiger 21 is establishing Florida chapters in Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Miami.

The peer-to-peer learning network caters to people with a minimum investable net worth of $10 million.

The New York-based group's Florida expansion follows new California chapters in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.

"Since our inception seven years ago, South Florida has been in our sights as an important market for membership. In fact, we have a number of current members who reside in Florida and make trips to our regular monthly meetings in New York," said Tommy Gallagher, a Tiger 21 member and chief executive officer.

The group said initial meetings will be at the Brazilian Court, in Palm Beach, at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, in Boca Raton, and at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, in Miami.

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