A New York-based developer has filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Lake Park, accusing the town's own attorney of trying to extort and blackmail his company into abandoning a planned affordable housing project near Park Avenue. The Alder at Lake Park LLC, tied to Daniel Goldstein of Bofsa Properties, claims Town Attorney Tom Baird told the company that its problems would disappear if it sold its properties to a developer he had already lined up.
Federal Complaint Accuses Town of Coercion
The Alder at Lake Park LLC filed its complaint against the Town of Lake Park in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, according to The Real Deal, which reported the lawsuit was filed in late August 2026. Goldstein owns a seven-parcel assemblage at Park Avenue and 10th Street in Lake Park, where he plans The Kelsey at Park Avenue, a mixed-use affordable housing project. Per the complaint, Baird directed a code enforcement officer to issue 34 code violations against the developer's properties.
According to the complaint, Lake Park had persuaded Alder to purchase 918 Park Avenue and fold it into the broader project, and had offered a larger development with an expedited approval process in exchange for incorporating the parcel. The site contains a dilapidated historic building. But Alder alleges the town then used the code enforcement process and the threat of steep remediation costs to coerce it into surrendering the properties, and it says Baird opposed The Kelsey project outright.
Fines Piled Up on a Historic Building
The building at 918 Park Avenue, known as the Arnold Building, dates to 1925 and is considered the last surviving commercial structure from the original Kelsey City, having once served as headquarters for the construction firm that built Lake Park's historic Town Hall, according to a Facebook post cited in local records. Its legal owner applied in 2023 to rescind its historic designation to allow demolition.
The property faced daily fines, and the town threatened foreclosure if the fines went unpaid. Lake Park requirements also forced Alder to downsize the overall project from 720 to 426 units, and the town ultimately rejected Alder's latest application as a no-go, after having rejected the project repeatedly since Alder purchased 918 Park Avenue.
Developer, Town Attorney Trade Accusations
Goldstein called Baird's alleged actions an abuse of power and said the lawsuit seeks to bring out the corruption. He said Alder wants the project approved rather than a payout, and characterized the current violations as targeted and insignificant. Wade Bowden, who represents the plaintiff, said Alder is seeking accountability and fairness after investing millions of dollars into the project.
Baird denied the allegations attributed to him in the lawsuit and said the complaint was intended to retaliate against him and town officials for performing their responsibilities. He said the property owner admitted to numerous code violations in recent code magistrate proceedings, while Alder attorney Benjamin Diehl said the company's team did not admit to any violations. A magistrate found violations of numerous town codes in six cases and required the property owner to pay the town's administrative costs and correct the violations.
Baird is a Florida Bar board-certified specialist in city, county, and local government law and co-chairs the Land Use & Governmental Practice Group at West Palm Beach firm Jones Foster. In its complaint, Alder is asking the court to prevent Lake Park from imposing further code enforcement fines, to force the town to decide on its pending development applications, and to compensate it for damages it says the town caused.
Florida's Live Local Act Looms Over the Fight
Florida's Live Local Act, enacted under Senate Bill 102 in 2023 and amended by Senate Bill 328 in 2024, requires municipalities to administratively approve multifamily and mixed-use affordable housing in commercial or mixed-use zones without rezoning, so long as at least 40% of units stay affordable for 30 years. The law preempts certain local zoning rules, and Alder's lawsuit claims Lake Park used code enforcement and historic preservation decisions as a workaround. According to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, the Live Local Act created historic recurring funding for very-low- to moderate-income households along with new programs and incentives. The Florida Housing Finance Corporation's 2025 Annual Report says the Live Local Act updated Florida's statewide housing strategy and increased affordable housing opportunities.
The dispute also concerns housing affordability in the area.
A Town Built to Resist Density
Lake Park was once known as “Kelsey City.” A separate proposal, a 16-story mixed-use high-rise from Forest Development at the northeast corner of 10th Street and Park Avenue, has been waiting for Lake Park Town Commission approval since 2024.
According to the Town of Lake Park's Community Development page, the town's land-use framework includes both a Planning and Zoning Board and a Historic Preservation Board. The town's Park Avenue Downtown District materials address the area's historical and current conditions along with Lake Park's land-use policies and development regulations, according to the Town of Lake Park.
Lake Park is also fighting other legal battles with developers. A circuit court judge confirmed Sunshine Law violations during closed-door town meetings over a 99-year waterfront marina deal with Forest Development, per Stet News. Hoodline previously covered a related fight between Forest Development and a builder over the Nautilus 220 project, underscoring the mounting legal pressure facing Lake Park, a town of several miles north of West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County, as it navigates competing demands from developers and state housing law.
