Not surprisingly, the team that will redevelop the 30 acres around Boca Raton City Hall found last week that there’s high public interest in their project—and a lot of questions.
According to the city, 218 people attended a two-hour open house Wednesday at The Studio at Mizner Park. On display was a model of Terra/Frisbie’s current proposal. On hand were David Martin, CEO of Terra Development, and Cody Crowell and Rob Frisbie, principals of Frisbie Group. Those three lead the team behind the joint venture.
A Terra/Frisbie representative said the team found the residents’ comments and questions “very constructive.” Many centered on the “scale and density” of the project. Terra/Frisbie proposes 1,129 apartments, 155,000 square feet of retail and restaurant and 250,000 square feet of office space. The project would require 3,434 parking spaces.
City council members, however, chose Terra/Frisbie over Related Ross in large part because they believed that the scale and density would work best for that area. Terra/Frisbie noted, correctly, that residential development generates the least amount of traffic compared with office and retail. Related Ross proposed four times as much office space.
A traffic study remains to be done. A Terra/Frisbie representative, however, said, “We are not increasing traffic.”
A continuing issue for the public is the future of recreational facilities in the area—the city’s principal tennis center—which has 10 clay courts—two softball fields, basketball courts and a skate park. One resident posted on social media that kids often play basketball until 10 p.m.
Terra/Frisbie’s plan calls for a new community center with a “Youth Sports Enrichment” element—an indoor basketball court, after-school programs and summer camps. It would be in the center of the project. In addition, Terra/Frisbie proposes a “Racket Sports Center.” It would have four tennis courts, two courts each for pickleball and padel, a gym and a wellness center. It would be on the southern edge of the project, near Palmetto Park Road.
After the owner of The Boca Raton donated what became the Boca Raton Golf and Racquet Club on Congress Avenue, the city demolished the tennis courts as part of a makeover. Drawings once called for four tennis courts and 10 pickleball courts, but no plans are certain.
As for the softball fields, I reported that the city plans to build a complex at Sugar Sand Park. Unlike the current fields, these would have scoreboards and other amenities.
Details of these and other aspects of the project are subject to negotiations between the city and Terra/Frisbie. After the council chose the company, Terra/Frisbie and city officials had two days of meetings to get everyone acquainted.
The city hopes to finalize an interim agreement on March 18. On Monday, City Attorney Josh Koehler said he anticipates meeting that schedule. Talks with Terra/Frisbie, he said, have been “productive.”
Boca to find transition workspace for City Hall employees
A major logistical issue for Boca Raton will be where to house city employees until the new City Hall is built.
Terra/Frisbie plans to build the project in phases, beginning on the north side. City Hall will be in that phase. Demolition of the existing City Hall also will happen.
On Monday, Deputy City Manager Andy Lukasik said he hopes to present City Manager George Brown with options in “a couple of weeks.” Lukasik said the city assumes that it will need between 70,000 and 80,000 square feet, roughly equivalent to the space the city envisions for the new City Hall. Lukasik said the preference is to have all employees at one location.
Delray police contract dispute gets political
In Delray Beach, the police contract—or lack of one—has gone from a labor issue to a political issue.
Six days ago, the Police Benevolent Association informed the city that it had declared an impasse. The two sides have been unable to agree on a three-year contract to replace the one that expired on Sept. 30.
During last week’s meeting—one day before the union declared the impasse—a speaker asked city commissioners to resolve the issue in the name of public safety. She noted that Delray Beach has had two murders in 2025, “And I haven’t had my Easter candy.” Nine officers have left since the talks began. Approving the contract would boost officer morale, she said, and make streets safer.
Dozens of officers were in the audience. After the speaker finished, they and others applauded. The officers then left.
Three days later, the city issued a long news release responding to “misleading claims” by the union. “The city,” the release said, “has been negotiating in good faith for several months and has put forth a highly competitive compensation package that prioritizes officer retention, public safety, and fiscal responsibility to taxpayers.”
According to the release, the city has offered “historic” raises—14% over three years. The city also has offered “higher career advancement initiatives, increased holiday pay and expanded parental leave.” To keep officers from leaving, the city has added “retention incentives.”
Mayor Tom Carney jumped into the exchange Sunday with an email headlined, “Does the Police Union Want to Defund Our City?” The issue, Carney said, “isn’t public safety. This is about a small group of senior officers trying to take advantage of the system at the expense of Delray Beach taxpayers and even their fellow officers.”
Under the union proposal, Carney said, long-term officers would be able to keep earning their salary and 70% of that salary in retirement benefits for up to eight years after declaring their retirement date. “This is not sustainable,” Carney said.
It’s hard for the public to sort out this dispute. State law allows cities to hold contract discussions in private. But here is the politics of the issue.
The union did not endorse Carney or commissioners Juli Casale and Thomas Markert in the 2024 election, when their victories formed a new majority. The union endorsed Angela Burns and Rob Long in 2023.
Last fall, that new majority approved a tax rate lower than what City Manager Terrence Moore had proposed. Burns and Long favored a slightly higher rate. Carney said he wanted to give property owners a year of relief. One reasonably could wonder if Carney, Casale and Markert don’t want to approve a contract that would bust that budget. Carney told me Monday that the budget “didn’t enter into my thinking.”
On Wednesday, commissioners will meet with the city’s negotiating team. If the talks remain stalled after that, Long told me, he will ask for a public meeting on the contract. Carney said, “I’ll have to think about that.”
A note on Carney’s email, it was sent from a private address, noting that he didn’t use public money. Though he doesn’t come up for re-election until March 2027, Carney already has filed. As such, he could use a campaign email account outside of the city server. Carney also can start raising money. An early windfall could discourage competitors. Carney said he has not begun to raise money.
BocaConnect expands service area
For all the emphasis on City Hall-area redevelopment, council members also keep pushing improvements to the rest of downtown Boca Raton to make it more appealing.
On Monday, the city announced the expansion of BocaConnect. The subsidized service provides rides to and from downtown. Certain rides are free.
The new service area brings BocaConnect to the barrier island. It runs from Gumbo Limbo Nature Center to the Boca Raton Inlet. The expansion thus includes popular Red Reef Park. Some council members have expressed frustration that the service isn’t drawing more riders.
