Teneka James-Feaman, Executive Director, West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority

As Downtown West Palm Beach continues to see exciting growth in population and industry, the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is ensuring a clean and safe environment for all to experience, through key partnerships and services critical to downtown’s future. Executive Director Teneka James-Feaman caught up with Invest: to share how her team is making that happen. “It’s about recognizing that for someone to want to live, invest, or open a business here, the top priorities will always be clean and safe, accessibility, and programming happening in the area.”

What are your priorities for the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority?
We’re looking forward to the growth in our downtown area, not only from a development standpoint and the addition of new businesses, but also from the increasing number of residents moving into downtown.
When I think about what we do as an organization and what we’ve done, I’d say the most impactful efforts in the last five years have been reassessing and reevaluating our Clean and Safe programs.
Last year, we launched a new program focused on providing more ambassadorial-type services through our ambassadors. We also have pressure washing and cleaning ambassadors.
One section that stands out at the top is that they’re all trained as ambassadors, whether they’re cleaning, picking up trash, pressure washing, or serving as safety ambassadors, they’re all trained in that ambassador role.
The other component is that they’re also trained on how to connect with unhoused individuals in our downtown, which is a really significant part of their role as ambassadors. That’s important.
We layer that on top of our relationship with the city and their outreach efforts, as well as our collaboration with the City of West Palm Beach Police Department to address the needs of the unhoused. When we look at our residential population, development, and new businesses, cleanliness and safety remain top priorities.
With that said, I think a lot of it also comes down to perception. Utilizing our communication efforts is key in providing information about downtown and what the organization is providing to our stakeholders. When I look at our organization, I see it as a pie chart, all these different pieces are broken out, but together, they work holistically.
We want to make sure we’re attracting the right balance of businesses. That comes from working with our brokers and developers, who are also doing a lot of research to understand what our community needs and wants.

How is the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority fostering a thriving environment for businesses and residents?
I am assessing additional factors that attract people to a community. Many of the items include our current focus areas, including safety, cleanliness, activations and unique programming, this formula makes it all come together.
People say there’s so much dining but no retail. The truth is, dining and food and beverage has to come first. You need authentic quality restaurants at different price points to serve not only the people working here and the residents living here, but also to attract visitors looking for those options.
Once that foot traffic and density start to build, you’ll start to see more retailers coming downtown as well. This creates an unparalleled synergy.

What makes Downtown West Palm Beach a great place to live, work, and play in?
You have to be here to see it. I hate to brag, but our tagline is “The Center of Paradise,” and feels like we are literally in the center of paradise. We are located on the Intracoastal Waterway, and while the DDA’s boundaries are small, they’re also dense.
Our district is just seven-tenths of a square mile and the government seat for the county and city. Within a five-mile radius, we have incredible arts and cultural venues like the Kravis Center and the Norton Museum of Art, as well as Palm Beach Dramaworks.
There are so many things that add to our downtown and make you want to be here, from our dining establishments and retail to great partners like CityPlace, and just north of us including Northwood District, Northwest Historic District and Nora District.
Although the DDA District has specific boundaries, we recognize that downtown West Palm Beach extends far beyond our boundaries.

What would you say are the primary challenges for West Palm Beach at the moment?
There’s a difference between actual challenges and the perception of challenges. The perception is that there are a lot of homeless individuals downtown. And while there are times when unhoused individuals congregate in certain areas, those are peak moments, not the norm.
I will say there are challenges with transportation and congestion on certain throughways, but it’s not the case for every route into the downtown area. The past couple of years have seen an increase in population and interest, which naturally brings more traffic and activity.
We also recognize the unique logistics of our location. With the proximity to Palm Beach Island and heightened federal security protocols related to the President’s residence, there are often additional safety measures and bridge access restrictions that impact traffic flow. Additionally, many residents of the mainland provide essential services across the bridge, contributing to a dynamic and interdependent regional economy. These daily patterns of movement can contribute to congestion, especially during peak hours.

What is your outlook for the DDA over the next two to three years?
I think over the next couple of years, for us, clean and safe, unique programming and business recruitment will be priorities. We have people who live here, work here, and visit here, and that’s what they want.
In addition to clean and safe, we focus on diversifying the types of businesses in our downtown area. Our main street, Clematis Street, is thriving, but we do have a lot of restaurants. I’d love to see some of the larger spaces subdivided into smaller storefronts to allow for unique, retail businesses.
The market is going to dictate a lot of that. Once we have the density and foot traffic, the retail businesses will follow. We will continue to focus on providing ambassadorial services, event and programming, business services and marketing the downtown.