It’s official. Not only is the City of Westlake getting a Lowe’s Home Improvement store, the location will serve as the headquarters for the company in south central Florida.
On Tuesday, Aug. 5, the Westlake City Council voted 4-0 to approve the Lowe’s site plan for 147,000 square feet of main building, garden center and outdoor display space on some 12 acres to the west of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road near the north end of the community. Councilwoman Charlotte Leonard was not present.
“A city getting a Lowe’s is akin to winning the retail lottery,” Mayor JohnPaul O’Connor said Wednesday. “It’s huge. It’s one of the dominoes that needed to tip to put us on the retail-commercial map.”
Councilman Gary Werner agreed. “This is a very big plus for us. Hopefully, it will bring in other big names,” he said.
Lowe’s is a home improvement powerhouse founded over a century ago in North Carolina, now operating roughly 1,750 U.S. stores, with annual revenue above $80 billion. It serves millions of customers every week through its retail stores and pro-contractor business. “Lowe’s is the best in class when it comes to home improvement,” said Donaldson Hearing of the land planning firm Cotleur & Hearing.
Hearing also represents Minto PBLH LLC, listed as an owner and applicant for site plan approval.
The nearest Lowe’s store currently is located 11 miles from the center of Westlake at the corner of Southern Blvd. and State Road 7 in Royal Palm Beach.
Christian Redman, Lowe’s district manager and a Loxahatchee resident, said the Royal Palm Beach store draws customers from throughout Palm Beach County’s western communities, along with the Glades. He said he expects the Westlake store to pick up shoppers from those areas, including the west side of Wellington.
“This will provide a great opportunity for everyone,” Hearing said. “It’s really, really exciting to see the City of Westlake come to life like this.”
Werner said he believes the Lowe’s will help make Westlake a destination and not just a drive-through town, something the community has struggled to capture since its inception in 2016.
“Lowe’s fits perfectly within the vision of what is needed in the city,” said Werner, a professional city planner. “It’s a major brand store and national chain.”
Redman said construction is expected to get underway in late October or early November, with the opening expected in late 2026 or early 2027.
The store will employ approximately 150 people, about 60 full-time and the rest part-time, Redman said.
The new store will feature a 107,547-square-foot main building, a 26,601-square-foot garden center, 11,600 square feet of outdoor display and storage areas, and 2,000 square feet of temporary outdoor storage.
City Manager Kenneth Cassell estimated that Lowe’s likely will add some $47,000 to the city’s annual property tax base, plus additional sales tax and usage tax revenues.
“It’s a significant number that will soften the burden on residential taxpayers,” he said.
Werner said an ancillary benefit to the arrival of Lowe’s could be added impetus for Palm Beach County road planners to move forward with extending 60th Street North from 140th Avenue North to Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, creating the east-west connection that Westlake residents have longed for.
“I think it will put pressure on the county to move more quickly,” he said.
In other business:
- The council voted 4-0 to grant an exception to the city’s ordinance prohibiting businesses from selling liquor within 1,000 feet of each other to Xcel Padel, a new sports venue scheduled to open in September in the James Business Park.
Xcel Padel will be located approximately 900 feet from the front door of Publix in Westlake Plaza off Seminole Pratt Whitney Road. The new venue plans to sell beer and wine at a health-oriented café on the premises.
Padel (pronounced PAH-dell or PAH-del) is exploding globally, especially in Europe and Latin America, in the way pickleball already has taken off in the United States. Think of it as a fast-paced hybrid of tennis and squash played in a space about one-third of a tennis court enclosed by glass walls. It’s played with a vented paddle and a ball similar to the one used in tennis. Like squash, the walls are in play.
Xcel bills itself as a “Premium Padel & Wellness Club” with amenities such as 10 professional indoor courts with AI camera systems, access to a gym network and wellness/fitness classes, IV therapy and massage, a pro shop offering high-quality equipment and sportswear, a lounge area and a café with a chef-curated healthy menu.
“It’s going to be the kind place where people will want to come hang out, work on their laptop, whatever, even if they’re not there to play,” said O’Connor, who added that he has tried padel and enjoyed it. “We’ve always held that we’re a ‘city of innovation.’ Padel is sweeping the world, and now it’s coming right here to Westlake.”
- The council also approved the second and final reading of a zoning change that allows for the construction of attached “cottage homes” on land between The Hammocks and Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, and on some parcels west of the roadway.
The homes will be one story, 1,350 to 1,900 square feet, and contain two and three bedrooms in a variety of styles. Westlake has allowed only single-family homes and traditional townhouses until now.
