Zoning explained · Palm Beach County

Quadrille Business District, 8-story subdistrict (Downtown Master Plan, urban core planning area) West Palm Beach, Florida

QBD-8 is the 8-story subdistrict of the Quadrille Business District, intended as the main office core of downtown between CityPlace and Clematis Street. Table IV-1 permits multifamily, live/work, ground-floor retail, office, hotel, restaurant and other commercial uses by right; single-family, outbuildings and self-storage/warehouse-type uses are not permitted.

4 buildings zoned QBD-828 permitted business types

Talk to our team

Insights › Zoning & land use › West Palm Beach — QBD-8

Permitted uses

What you can operate in QBD-8, West Palm Beach

The businesses the QBD-8 district in West Palm Beach allows. The ones on the left are permitted by right; the ones on the right need a special approval first. (Zoning codes are set by each municipality, so QBD-8 here means specifically West Palm Beach's QBD-8 district.)

Allowed by right

Multiple family dwellingLive/work (with P9: first-floor live/work cannot be converted entirely to residential)Ground floor residential - only on 2nd Street and on properties facing Evernia Street and Datura Street between Rosemary Avenue and Sapodilla Avenue (P2); if provided, raised 18 in above sidewalk (Sec. 94-119(f))Ground floor retailOffice (Class A office encouraged)Hotel (min 325 sf rooms)RestaurantOther commercial (barber/beauty, clubs and lodges, exercise studios and health clubs, financial institutions serving the public, laundry/dry cleaning without on-premises cleaning, music and dance studios, pet grooming, postal services, travel agencies, printing services)Structured parking as primary use (P13: must meet subdistrict building requirements)Off-site accessory surface parking (P14: secondary streets only)Bars and night clubs (also regulated by Chapter 6 of the City Code) (Sec. 94-106(a)(1))Brewpub / microbrewery / micro-distillery / micro-winery - by right, max 6,000 sf new / 6,300 sf existing building, must include restaurant, bar or tasting room (Sec. 94-106(a)(1.a))Community centers - by right (Sec. 94-106(a)(2))Schools and places of worship - by right (Sec. 94-106(a)(12)(a))Day care facilities for children (primary use) (Sec. 94-106(a)(4)(a))Firearms sales (retail dedicated to firearms) - urban core and special district planning areas (Sec. 94-106(a)(6))Family and transitional community residences, with special requirements of Sec. 94-273 (Sec. 94-106(a)(7))Skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities, with Sec. 94-273 standards (Sec. 94-106(a)(7)(d))Micro-units - permitted in all districts, with car-share/bicycle/trolley-fee conditions (Sec. 94-106(a)(8.a))Motor vehicle sales and rental offices (no service) and passenger transportation operation offices - surface lots for vehicle storage prohibited (Sec. 94-106(a)(10))Veterinary clinics, pet grooming, animal daycare and boarding (no livestock/equines), within enclosed building, with attendant/noise/waste standards (Sec. 94-106(a)(13))Hospital - urban core and special district areas, min 2 acres, at least 500 ft from R subdistricts (Sec. 94-106(a)(14))Parks, recreation areas, urban open spaces; local utility lines; public and private streets; railroad rights-of-way; water/sewer/gas lines; public water canals - permitted in all districts without listing (Sec. 94-105(b))

With special approval

Surface parking as primary use (P14/P20): only on secondary street designations; temporary primary-use lots on primary-street frontage allowed in QBD on 1+ acre parcels within 500 ft of 250,000+ sf retail, max 36 months (+12 month extension); temporary lots tied to new garage construction max 24 monthsCultural uses (museums, aquariums, planetariums, indoor motion picture theaters, live performing arts theaters) - permitted in urban core and special district planning areas only with special review approval by the DAC (Sec. 94-106(a)(3))Adult day care facilities for 3 or more clients - Class B special use permit (Sec. 94-106(a)(5)); overnight lodging of clients prohibitedMotor vehicle fuel sales, no service (fuel stations) - Class B special use permit, urban core planning area (Sec. 94-106(a)(9))Pet sales (commercial sale of live animals) - Class B special use permit (Sec. 94-106(a)(11))

Build envelope

Development standards

Headline dimensional limits for this district. Confirm exact figures against the current code for your specific parcel.

StandardMax height 8 stories or 125 ft, whichever is less (Table IV-18)

StandardFAR 1.75 (lot frontage > 55 ft) / 2.50 (lot frontage <= 55 ft) (Table IV-18)

StandardGround-floor active use liners required; Rosemary Avenue is the main pedestrian street with colonnades allowed on Rosemary frontages only

StandardTowers oriented toward Quadrille Boulevard

StandardDMP regulations supersede conflicting Ch. 94 zoning (Sec. 94-103(c)); new PDs prohibited (Sec. 94-104(e))

Prohibited in all DMP districts (Sec. 94-105(c))outdoor sales of motor vehicles; motor vehicle service stations; drive-in facilities except banking; pawn shops; chemical manufacturing; storage or distribution as primary use; unscreened outdoor storage; enameling/painting/plating except artist studios; off-premises signage; carting/moving/hauling terminal or yard; prisons; detention centers; hazardous-waste disposal sites; scrap yards; mobile homes; mineral extraction; exterior kennels; rooming houses; halfway houses; adult entertainment; adult-material retail

Accessory usesHome occupations (permitted in all planning areas, Sec. 94-273(a) standards) (Sec. 94-106(a)(8)); Family day care homes for six children or fewer, accessory to a residential use - by right (Sec. 94-106(a)(4)(c)); Large family child care homes for 12 or fewer children, accessory to a residential use (Sec. 94-106(a)(4)(d)); Adult day care for not more than two adults, accessory to a residential use - by right (Sec. 94-106(a)(5)(c)); Off-site accessory surface parking (P14: secondary street designations only, comply with Sec. 94-111 parking and Sec. 94-443(c) landscape) (Table IV-1); General definition (Sec. 94-109): use customarily incidental and subordinate to the primary use on the same lot

StandardRead from Sec. 94-105 (Table IV-1, permitted use table); Sec. 94-106; Sec. 94-119 (QBD); Table IV-18 (QBD-8 building requirements); permitted = by right, conditional = needs conditional-use / special-exception approval

The fine print

In plain English

BY RIGHT No hearing needed

If your business is on the by-right list, you can occupy a space in this district and open — no zoning hearing. Building permits and licensing still apply, but the use itself is already allowed.

SPECIAL Approval first

Special-approval uses can work here too, but they go through a public review before opening. Plan for extra time and possible conditions — we'll tell you which path a space needs.

Available now