Downtown Boca house from 1920s undergoes renovations

As construction machinery rumbled at the site of a planned nine-story apartment building on East Palmetto Park Road, renovation has begun directly across the street on an artifact of the city's 1920s boom-time.

The roof has recently been replaced at what's known as the Luff House, at 390 E. Palmetto Park Road, which was built in the 1920s. A dumpster behind the house, filled with construction-related debris, attests to some interior work that has just begun.

And a sign staked in the front shows that the city's largest commercial property owner, Investments Limited, is looking for a tenant for the bungalow-style residence, whose front faade and chimney are made of coral rock.

It has been vacant for three years, raising the city preservation board's concerns that a wrecking ball would soon be in its future.

Skip Sheffield, a longtime Boca resident, said the new investment in the Luff House may be "a stay of execution" for it.

The renovation and the prospect of a new tenant prompted the the Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum to take it off Boca's "endangered" list of historical structures. Luff House's proximity to Boca's current apartment boom has been cause for concern on the city's Historic Preservation Board for a number of years.

The property sold for $857,000 in 2006, and then was sold for $10 by one company, Pios Grande LLC, to a company of the same name, according to records from the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office.

Investments Limited and Pios Grande LLC couldn't be reached for details about the Luff House despite phone calls.

Across the street, 378 apartment units are being built to become "Palmetto Promenade." Within downtown, more than 500 other apartment units are under construction.

"Those of us who care about the property are holding our breath," said Arlene Owens, who serves on the preservation board. "We are hoping someone falls in love with it and leases it."

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Downtown Boca house from 1920s undergoes renovations