Synagogue linked to purchase of vacant lot on Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach
By: Darrell Hofheinz
Palm Beach Daily News
September 20, 2021
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The Chabad House of Northern Palm Beach has leased space at 361 South County Road since 2012.
Rabbi Zalman Levitin and Shterny Schochet, prepared Rosh Hashanah gift packages at The Chabad House of Northern Palm Beach, which has operated since 2012 in leased space on South County Road.
A rendering shows the office building developer Todd Michael Glaser had at one point planned to develop on a vacant lot he bought in February at 204 Royal Plam Way. He just sold the land for a recorded $5.2 million to an entity associated with The Chabad House of Northern Palm Beach. |
A synagogue that for nearly a decade has leased space in Palm Beach is linked to a $5.2 million purchase of a vacant lot measuring about a quarter-acre at 204 Royal Palm Way.
Jewish Center Palm Beach Inc. — a nonprofit corporate entity affiliated with the Chabad House of Northern Palm Beach synagogue — bought the property from developer Todd Michael Glaser, according to the deed recorded Friday.
Glaser had paid a recorded $3.8 million for the property in February.
Rabbi Zalman Levitin, who leads The Chabad House of Northern Palm Beach, declined to comment about the sale or the organization’s plans for the lot. Levitan also heads Jewish Center of Palm Beach Inc., state records show.
The commercial zoning on Royal Palm Way does not accommodate synagogues, churches or other houses of worship, according to Paul Castro, the town’s planning, zoning and building administrator.
The lot is on the south side of the street and lies immediately west of the landmarked Palmway Building, which stands at the corner of South County Road and is home to La Goulue restaurant.
If the property’s new owner wants permission to build a synagogue on the property, the Town Council would first have to change the zoning of the Royal Palm Way commercial district, Castro said.
He already has had a discussion with Levitin to explain the zoning situation, Castro added.
The council “would have to adopt an ordinance to allow that (use) to be a permitted use in the district,” he said.
A request for the change would first go before the Planning and Zoning Commission and then be heard by the Town Council, sitting as the Local Planning Agency. The council itself would then have the final say.
Parking and traffic issues likely also would be on the table, Castro said.
In May, The Chabad House received a $1 million donation to launch the first Jewish preschool on the island. At the time, leaders said they were searching for space to leased space for it with a possible opening of August 2022.
Town Council OK’d Chabad’s current home in 2012
The synagogue has held services, presented programs, offered classes and sponsored children’s activities at 361 S. County Road in space it has leased since 2012, the year town granted Levitin permission to open the synagogue there in a 4-1 vote. Prior to that, the congregation met at The Chesterfield.
In May, The Chabad House of Northern Palm Beach received a $1 million donation to launch the first Jewish preschool on the island. At the time, leaders said they were searching for space to leased space for it with a possible opening of August 2022.
The synagogue follows the Jewish principles of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which aims to bring people closer by fostering a warm and non-judgmental atmosphere, Levitin has previously told the Palm Beach Daily News. It is part of a network of congregations worldwide.
No real estate brokers were involved in the sale of the lot on Royal Palm Way, Glaser told the Daily News.
“We never listed it,” Glaser told the Palm Beach Daily News. “They came to me.”
Glaser sold the property through 204 RPW Partners LLC, a Florida limited liability company. He signed the deed as manager of its parent company, MMTG LLC.