Goodbye vacant land, hello new home of Hatcher Construction & Development, Inc.! Thanks to the partnership between the CRA and Hatcher Construction, this is the first commercial project to break ground in the West Atlantic Avenue commercial corridor since 2018, and the community could not be more excited.
“The groundbreaking celebrated a longtime, local business, Hatcher Construction & Development, Inc., who will be building a permanent new office space for themselves and office space for other local businesses to lease,” said Christine Tibbs, CRA Assistant Director.
The groundbreaking event was held on Thursday, December 9 and many local community leaders and supporters were in attendance to celebrate Hatcher and the momentous occasion.
To help with their new space, Hatcher leveraged two of the CRA’s Development Incentive Programs that are aimed at developers – the Land Value Investment Program and the Development Infrastructure Assistance Program. According to Tibbs, Hatcher’s development is exactly the type of project that the CRA’s incentive programs were designed to support.
“The Delray Beach CRA is committed to ensuring the economic vitality of the CRA District through projects and initiatives that increase job growth and enhance the commercial tax base,” Tibbs said. “Incentive programs, such as the Land Value Investment Program and the Development Infrastructure Assistance Program, that catalyze investment are a part of the CRA’s strategy to encourage the creation of new office and commercial space.”
Hatcher has been a local business in Delray for more than 20 years, since opening in 1999. They are currently a tenant in one of the CRA’s properties, but needed more space to grow and expand. This project will now allow Hatcher to build a permanent space with expanded office space, and use this space not only for themselves but also other local businesses who are in growth stages. Overall, this project helps to spur economic development within the Northwest Neighborhood of Delray Beach, which is just what the CRA works so hard to provide.
“The CRA exists to revitalize the physical environment and the economy of the Community Redevelopment Area. The CRA’s activities are designed to solve the underlying problems of slum and blighted conditions through planning, redevelopment, historic preservation, economic development and affordable housing so that the tax base can be protected and enhanced by these mutually supportive activities,” Tibbs said. “Encouraging private investments within the CRA District through the provision of Development Incentive Programs, spurring redevelopment activities within the West Atlantic Avenue commercial area, and eliminating blighted conditions are mutually supportive activities that all serve to help the CRA achieve its overall mission and purpose.”
Hatcher Construction & Development, Inc.’s new office is anticipated to be complete in the summer of 2022.
Acknowledgement to our Leadership, CRA Board of Commissioners:
Chair Shirley Ervin Johnson
Vice Chair Angie Gray
Deputy Vice Chair Juli Casale
CRA Commissioner Ryan Boylston
CRA Commissioner Kelcey Cordell Brooks CRA Commissioner Adam Frankel
CRA Commissioner Shelly Petrolia
And Acknowledgement to our Former CRA Board of Commissioners who were involved in this project approval:
Pamela Brinson and Bill Bathurst
