At the end of the 900 Building at Delray Place sits a 1,562-square-foot endcap known as Suite 908. It used to be a dental office, and today it holds an AT&T store. Under the plan the City of Delray Beach approved in 2013, this space was supposed to be torn down once its tenant left and replaced with greenspace. It is still there. The fix now going through City Hall would keep it, raise the share of the plaza that can be restaurants, and change how future changes to the center get reviewed.
The higher restaurant cap traces back to a parking count from February 2018. A 10 percent threshold further down the ordinance would decide whether the next expansion at Delray Place has to go back through a rezoning at all.
What Ordinance 47-26 Changes at Linton and Federal
Delray Place covers 9.95 acres at the southeast corner of Linton Boulevard and Federal Highway. Trader Joe's and Nordstrom Rack anchor the west side, along with national stores such as Sephora, J Crew Factory and Barnes & Noble. CAVA lists its Delray Place restaurant at 1831 S. Federal Highway. The city adopted the zoning on July 9, 2013, and most of the center was built in 2014.
The owner, Retail Property Group Inc., is represented by Miskel & Backman LLP. It has asked the city to repeal the original zoning ordinance, No. 41-12, and adopt a rewritten version, Ordinance No. 47-26. The city's staff report lays out the changes:
| Item | 2013 approval | Proposed under Ordinance 47-26 |
|---|---|---|
| Suite 908 endcap | Demolish, replace with greenspace | Stays |
| Total building area | 116,089 sq ft | 116,483 sq ft |
| Open space | 25.30% | 25.14% |
| Restaurant allowance | 23,218 sq ft, or 20% of leasable space | 36,147 sq ft, or 31% of leasable space |
| Parking mitigation | Mandatory | Discretionary |
| Future site plan changes | Any increase in building area counts as a rezoning | Changes within a 10% threshold handled as site plan amendments |
Total building area grows by less than the size of Suite 908. Staff explain that changes to approved interior square footage offset part of the added footprint. Even so, the plaza stays a low-intensity site. Its approved floor area ratio is 0.26, and staff call the increase negligible.
The Restaurant Increase Was Unlocked Years Ago
The jump from 20 percent to 31 percent restaurant space sounds like a new request. Mostly, it puts in writing something the 2013 ordinance already allowed. Ordinance 41-12 capped restaurants at 23,218 square feet but permitted more once a parking utilization study was done. The new ordinance raises the cap to 36,147 square feet "because the parking utilization study was completed."
That study is dated April 9, 2018. When it was done, 89 percent of the plaza's leasable space was occupied. The city reviewed it and concluded "that no regular parking shortage problem is occurring." The vehicle counts behind that finding were taken on Friday, Feb. 23, Saturday, Feb. 24, and Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018.
The busiest moment was close to full. The 2018 parking study counted 410 spaces and found 406 occupied at 1 p.m. that Saturday, leaving four open. Today the zoning requires 408 spaces and the plaza provides 410.
A reviewer hired by the city agreed with the study's main conclusion that there was no regular shortage. The reviewer did raise a method concern. The study multiplied the observed Saturday peak by a seasonal factor, and that alone did not show what demand would be with the center fully leased, because demand from the space that was vacant during the counts was never added. The reviewer's memo is part of the public record.
So the restaurant allowance going to the City Commission rests on February 2018 counts taken at a partly leased plaza. Since then, the corner has kept adding places to eat. Just Salad opened at 1841 S. Federal Highway, Suite 400, in 2024, as the Sun Sentinel reported. Across Federal, Shake Shack held its grand opening on May 6, 2026, at 1560 S. Federal Highway in Plaza Delray, according to WFLX. The ordinance does not say which restaurants would use the added allowance. It only sets the ceiling.
Why Suite 908 Was Supposed to Disappear
Taking down the endcap was a deliberate condition, not a leftover detail. When the city approved Delray Place, it cut building intensity and added open space "to allow for more significant buffering, particularly related to the adjacent residential neighborhoods to the south and east, and the adjacent single-family lots on McCleary Street." Staff wrote that the "extreme length of the proposed buildings with limited buffering was the locus of the concern," and that the demolition requirement was "an important protection in the initial approvals."
The difference can be measured. Keeping Suite 908 leaves the building at 135.7 feet long. Removing it would cut that to 104.2 feet, a reduction of 31.5 feet. The staff report lists the plaza's neighbors as follows:
- North: a shopping center and Harbors Edge
- South: Delray Place South, the single-family Tropic Isles neighborhood, and multifamily housing
- East: open space and natural area zoned Conservation
- West: restaurant and retail along Federal Highway
The applicant argues the plaza is doing well and that Suite 908 adds useful commercial space. Staff framed the board's question this way: is adding 1,562 square feet of building area close enough to the original intensity, and is keeping a "tax generating real estate asset" right for this site and its surroundings? With the center now fully built, staff asked whether the demolition is still needed for compatibility, or whether the center works as it stands.
The 10 Percent Clause Changes How the Next Request Arrives
This request came with a mailed notice because it is a rezoning. Under the 2013 rules, any change that adds building square footage counts as a rezoning. A rezoning means a notice mailed to every property within 500 feet and placards posted on the site. The city's revised public notice for this request went to owners within that radius, and it says so: "your property is within 500 feet of the subject property." The staff report also lists a courtesy notice to Tropic Isle.
Ordinance 47-26 would let future changes within a 10 percent threshold go through as site plan amendments instead of rezonings. Staff put it to the board directly. Should a 10 percent increase in building square footage go through site plan review, or is the risk to the surrounding area serious enough that changes should still require a full rezoning?
The same paragraph points out a practical limit. Delray Place has 25.4 percent open space against a 25 percent requirement, "so any site plan modification is likely to trigger a waiver (which also requires a mailer and property signage)." Because the open-space margin is so thin, nearby owners would likely still get notice of most physical changes even after the threshold takes effect. The difference is the path. Changes would go through site plan review and waivers instead of a rezoning that needs a Planning and Zoning Board recommendation and two City Commission votes.
Where the Request Stands
The item was set for the Planning and Zoning Board on Sept. 28, 2026, then continued to the board's Oct. 19 meeting. On Oct. 19 the board recommended approval, as reported by Citizen Portal. Under the city's rules, only a request with a positive board recommendation goes on to the City Commission. Staff expect the first and second Commission readings in November and December 2026. A separate Level 1 site plan application, File PZ-000858-2026, would update the plaza's official site plan to show Building 900 as it stands now, and it is in technical review.
Commission meetings stream on the city's meetings page. Written comments for Development Services go to [email protected], and questions about the request can go to the Development Services Department at (561) 243-7044.
If you own a home near Linton and Federal and want to know how the plaza down the street fits into your property's value, Cheran Marek can walk you through recent nearby sales. Request a personalized home valuation and we will put the Delray Place changes in context for your address.