WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The NAACP West Palm Beach Branch 5143-B today formally opposed the City of West Palm Beach’s proposed $9.5 million buyout of The Salvation Army’s long-term ground lease at 600 North Rosemary Avenue — and raised serious concerns about reports that the West Palm Beach City Commission may have recently considered a specific replacement occupant for the property without a public hearing, a competitive process, or resolution of the Salvation Army’s existing 70-year lease.
In a letter delivered today to Mayor Keith A. James, Commission President Shalonda Warren, and Commissioners Cathleen Ward, Christy Fox, Joseph A. Peduzzi, and Steve Sylvester, NAACP West Palm Beach Branch President Alfred Fields Jr. declared the proposed buyout and any premature determination of a replacement occupant a threat to the historic Black community, a pattern of institutional displacement, and a misuse of public land that was deliberately dedicated to serve the Historic Northwest neighborhood.
“This land belongs to the people of West Palm Beach,” said Fields. “The City built that building. The City signed that lease. The City made a promise to this community. Now, without a single public hearing in this neighborhood, the Commission appears to be quietly deciding not just to break that promise — but to determine who replaces the Salvation Army before the community has had any voice at all. That is not equitable governance. That is not how public land should be managed. And the NAACP will not stand by while it happens.”