The Village Council gave Big Dog Development its approval Thursday night to build three coastal-style flex/office buildings on the long-vacant CEMEX property, with environmental testing required before permits because of the site's cement-plant past.
The old CEMEX site finally has its next chapter.
The Tequesta Village Council voted Thursday night to approve SPM 02-26, Big Dog Development LLC's site plan for three flex/office buildings at 279 Old Dixie Highway, the former CEMEX Construction Materials property that has sat vacant since the last cement structures were demolished in 2024. The vote was by voice, with no dissent heard, and it follows a 4-0 recommendation from the Village's Planning and Zoning Board on October 14.
What got approved
The plan, which the applicant's paperwork calls Tequesta Lofts, puts three buildings of about 4,209 square feet each, roughly 12,627 square feet of floor space in total, on the 0.87-acre site in the C-3 General Commercial district. Each building is designed for office tenants with accessory indoor storage for the equipment, vehicles and materials of the businesses inside. Village staff were explicit in their report that the storage areas are not to operate as standalone warehouses.
The design leans into its spot at a northern entryway to the Village: coastal-inspired buildings with light-colored stucco, blue accent shutters and varied rooflines, topping out at about 27 feet against a 40-foot height limit. Parking sits in screened courts between the buildings rather than out front, and 14 of the 16 large trees on the site are being preserved.
Getting there took some shrinking. When owner Justin Angel first presented the concept to the Council in November 2025, the project was about 13,500 square feet. Through three rounds of Development Review Committee review starting last April, it came down in size, open space climbed from 23.6 percent to about 27 percent, one building was shifted south to stay clear of a drainage easement, and the two driveways were changed from full access to right-turn-in, right-turn-out only, with a mountable median, in response to traffic-safety concerns on Old Dixie. The plan also adds a six-foot sidewalk along the frontage. Staff's traffic figures put the project at 19 morning and 18 evening peak-hour trips, and no variances or waivers were needed.
The conditions, and the cement plant in the room
Council approved the plan with conditions, several of them aimed squarely at what used to sit on the land. Before building permits issue, the developer must complete Phase 1 and Phase 2 environmental documentation, the standard testing sequence for a former industrial site, along with the Village's other pre-permit requirements: a Palm Beach County right-of-way permit, Waste Management's confirmation for refuse service, outside agency permits including the Loxahatchee River District and county health, and a Village-approved maintenance-of-traffic and construction staging plan.
Fire safety drew its own condition. The buildings are classified as industrial occupancies, and the final plans have to satisfy Tequesta Fire Rescue on the proposed mezzanines and concealed truss spaces, which could mean shrinking the mezzanine area or adding sprinklers before permits are approved.
One idea did not make it in: a proposed color variation condition was discussed and left out.
What it replaces, and what may follow
CEMEX operated a cement facility at 279 Old Dixie for years before going quiet; the Village approved demolition of the remaining structures in September 2024, and the lot has been empty since. For a stretch of Old Dixie that drivers use as the front door between Jupiter and Tequesta, a vacant industrial lot is about to become the corridor's newest small-business space, aimed at exactly the kind of local service and specialty companies that need an office up front and room for trucks and gear in back. At the November 2025 concept presentation, the prospective tenant mix mentioned included a local shade company and the owner's own construction business.
And it may not stop at the Village line. The application notes the developer is also pursuing the property immediately to the south, in the Town of Jupiter, for two additional buildings in the same design. That parcel was not part of Thursday's approval and would go through Jupiter's own process.
No construction timeline was given at the hearing. The next steps are the pre-permit conditions above, starting with the environmental documentation.
