A former CVS building that has been vacant for years will get new life as a daycare.
Kingswood Academy received unanimous approval last month from Royal Palm Beach’s Village Council for site plan and architectural approval for its new location at 10245 Okeechobee Blvd., in the Cobblestone Village Shopping Center near Target.
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There is already a waiting list for the new 11,200-square-foot school, which will have a maximum of 240 children and 24 staff members at most per shift, John Schmidt, the agent for the project, told the council at the Sept. 21 meeting.
Kingswood has four other locations in Palm Springs, Delray Beach, Lake Worth and Greenacres, according to the company’s website. The daycare centers provide care for babies through age 5 and offer VPK, the website says.
According to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s website, Globex Investment Group V LLC closed on the site in April for $3.6 million.
The updated site plan for the new daycare facility includes a 16,000-square-foot play area that forms a U around the north, west and south sides of the building. The project will in part convert the old CVS drive-thru into an artificial turf space with a tot lot, splash pad, play car track and jungle gym with shade canopies and a wash area, said Bradford O’Brien, Royal Palm Beach’s director of planning and zoning.
The floor plan includes one bathroom for each classroom, Schmidt said.
There is plenty of room for cars to circulate for pickup and dropoff, and there are 38 parking spaces – nine more than the required number, Schmidt and O’Brien said.
Councilwoman Selena Samios expressed concern about how close the school is to the road. She also asked about air quality with the school and its outdoor play area being near Okeechobee Boulevard.
Schmidt said village staff raised the same concern about air quality, and noted that the daycare’s owners bought air quality monitors that have shown very good or good quality standards at all times.
The council’s vote created a condition of approval that will require the daycare to submit regular air quality reports to the village.
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