Residents and small-business owners concerned over the decline of the business district formed the Northwood Business Development Corporation, primarily working in partnership with the City of West Palm Beach. Together we successfully implemented small business façade improvements and streetscape programs.

We expanded geographically to include the areas surrounding Northwood Village; from Palm Beach Lakes to Boulevard North to 59th and Flagler Drive West to Australia Avenue. In 2003, as part of this expansion goal, we changed our name to Northwood Renaissance with plans to continue to grow over time where needed. 

In partnership with the City of West Palm Beach, we produced mixed-use zoning districts for Northwood Village, the Broadway Corridor, and Currie Park; as well as our holistic “Model Block” approach to reviving the surrounding single-family neighborhoods. Our comprehensive and strategic plan includes a broad range of housing, commercial development, and neighborhood planning.

After forming the Northwood Community Land Trust and expanding our housing preservation programs to include Palm Beach County’s underserved neighborhoods, we became Neighborhood Renaissance to reflect our broader purpose.

In response to the Great Recession, we created the first non-profit Lease Purchase Program in South Florida. Neighborhood Renaissance formed new partnerships with the Westgate-Belvedere CRA and Palm Beach County to build Green Certified hurricane replacement single-family homes, made affordable to low-income homebuyers.

With an $11.5M Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding award from Palm Beach County, we reclaimed 75 distressed and foreclosed properties transforming them into affordable rental homes. We continue to own and manage 50 of these rental properties for very low-income residents.

As a City of West Palm Beach Community Housing Development Organization, we constructed affordable single-family homes in Pleasant City.

Construction begins for the award-winning Art Lofts of West Village, an affordable mixed-use development. In partnership with the Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency, the 8 Live/Work townhomes and “Class A” neighborhood commercial space were completed in 2019.

Through a partnership with residents of Lincoln Road and the City of West Palm Beach, we launched the Model Block Program to eliminate blight by building single-family homes on vacant lots along with neighborhood beautification. Simultaneously, we launched the Coleman Park Renaissance mixed-use development that will create mixed-use affordable rentals and commercial spaces for minority-owned businesses on the vacant lots along the North Tamarind Avenue Corridor.

Initiated in 2016, the Mango Cove Apartment Community was completed. This construction of thirty-six 2BR/2BA apartments is the result of an $8.5M partnership with Palm Beach County.