Minto Communities Inc. is making it possible for Palm Beach County to construct a new Fire Station 22 in Westlake to serve the people living in and around the area.
Minto has completed the conveyance of nearly 4.5 acres of land to Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue for the new facility, which will dually serve as a district headquarters for central Palm Beach County. The land is located at the intersection of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and Town Center Parkway South in the City of Westlake.
“This is something we promised Palm Beach County we would do as part of our development order, and it’s something we are more than happy to do for the benefit of central Palm Beach County,” said John Carter, vice president of Minto Communities.
Carter said Palm Beach County will design and build the station and should start site plan approvals and building permit submittals sometime this year. Schematic designs of Fire Station 22 indicate that the station will have four large bays to accommodate firefighting apparatus and ancillary facilities to house the fire-rescue staff that would be based full-time at the station.
This is the second major community project that Minto has undertaken since the City of Westlake incorporated last year. The builder is currently improving a 1.5-mile section of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road near the northern end of Seminole Ridge High School to just past 60th Street North. Minto is spending more than $25 million for the improvements, which include widening the road from two lanes to four lanes and constructing a landscape-divided median, along with new sidewalks and an 80-foot landscaped buffer in the dedicated Rural Parkway Easement. Completion is expected next fall.
The $25 million payment is part of a larger financial commitment that Minto has made to the area over the next 15 years. In addition, the appraisal that Palm Beach County requested for the 4.5-acre site conveyed for Fire-Rescue Station 22 estimated the land value to be $2 million, provided to Palm Beach County at no cost.
Westlake is a 3,800-acre, master-planned community that shares the same name and borders with Palm Beach County’s 39th municipality. In addition to many residential neighborhoods, plans include 2.2 million square feet of non-residential commercial space, including a town center that will become a new downtown for central Palm Beach County. Minto will likely be developing the area over the next 10 to 15 years. For more info., visit www.mintousa.com.
ABOVE: The future location for PBCFR Station 22.
