13th Floor’s Delray redevelopment gets mixed response

13th Floor Homes got a mixed-bag of reactions during its development presentation to Delray Beach’s Villages of Oriole, whose golf course the company is eyeing for a new housing project.

The developer wants to build a gated community with 528 condos, townhomes and single-family homes called Avalon Trails on a shuttered 18-hole golf course that it’s under contract to buy from the Vitale family, according to the Sun Sentinel.

It sits at the center of the Villages, an existing community with 3,742 residences geared toward people aged 55 and up.

About 600 residents turned out for the Wednesday presentation, the Sun Sentinel reported, and the redevelopment proved to be divisive.

Some of the residents lobbied for preserving the land as a public space, while others said the project is a step forward to replacing the overgrown course, which would be too expensive for the community to reopen.

The developer has pledged a $3.7 million payment for impact fees to the Village’s master condo association, and is also considering whether to reserve its home sales for buyers aged 55 and up like the surrounding community.

Residents of the Villages will likely vote on 13th Floor’s proposal early next year, the newspaper reported. The developer would need county approvals after that. [Sun Sentinel] — Sean Stewart-Muniz