Boynton Beach is a city characterized by its suburban sprawl: shopping centers, malls, chain restaurants and gated communities locking up prime South Florida real estate.

But if a couple of developers get their way, Boynton Beach just might be jumping onto the downtown bandwagon.

New York-based Ridgemour Development wants to build a complex with 80,000 square feet of office space, 20,000 square feet of retail space and 100 rental units along Federal Highway just north of Boynton Beach Boulevard. Under the plan, studio apartments would start at about $1,000.

Another project of homes and shops is planned for Martin Luther King Boulevard.

The developers of both projects would like the city to refurbish the neglected Bicentennial Park, and buy up land to expand the park.

The goal is to not only create an attractive, people-friendly downtown, but also lure businesses to Boynton Beach, which often loses out to the vast office space of Boca Raton and the trendy retail areas in Delray Beach.

A revitalized downtown could also be a boon to the existing homes in Boynton Beach and for the Palm Beach County real estate scene.

Eager to own their own piece of South Florida real estate more than 100 people camped out in Boynton Beach last week eager to buy one of 134 preconstruction houses in a new development called Greystone, slated to be built off of Hagen Ranch Road.

The first phase of Greystone, which will eventually include 552 homes on 144 acres, sold out in five hours.
Analysts agree that the biggest selling point was the price tag of the barely-a-glint-in-the-developer’s-eye homes, which started at $311,900. The Sunrise-based G.L. Homes says that the first homes will be completed early 2008.

Pressuring contractors was the key for keeping building costs down, says G.L. Homes. They then marketed Greystone as affordable housing to teachers, firefighters, police officers and other municipal workers who had been squeezed out of the recent decline in the housing market.