Boca Raton voters will decide in March 2026 whether to approve what Deputy City Manager James Zervis calls “the largest public works project” in the city’s history.
That would be a new police station, east of the Spanish River Library. The facility could cost as much as $175 million. The price may be lower, but the city council on Tuesday approved a resolution that will allow Boca Raton to borrow that much if needed.
Before voters will be a yes-no question on a general obligation bond, financed with a property tax increase that would last until the bond is paid off. City officials had discussed holding a special election this fall, but because a city election is already scheduled for March, there will be no extra expense.
The vote takes on greater importance in the larger context of the city’s intent to redevelop the area around City Hall that includes the police station. The plan depends on moving the station and building a substation. A failed vote surely would delay redevelopment.
Public safety bonds tend to be popular. In 2002, Boca Raton voters taxed themselves to build two fire stations and renovate four others. Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas, though, noted, “We will need to justify” the expense.
During Monday’s council workshop meeting, City Manager George Brown said discussion of a new station has gone on “for at least 10 to 15 years.” Police Chief Michele Miuccio said the department has outgrown the station, which is nearly four decades old. If the station is built, she said, the department could consolidate operations and offer more services, among them a place to install child safety seats in cars.
Council members likely will press administrators for as low a number as possible. But regarding the $175 million figure, Brown said, “We think that it will be somewhere around there.”
If the bond passes, Zervis said, construction would begin at the end of 2026 and would take two years. I’ll have much more as the referendum approaches.
Terra/Frisbie submits interim master plan for downtown campus
On Monday, Terra/Frisbie submitted its interim master plan for the 30 acres around City Hall. It’s 195 pages long, but here are the main elements.
The plan calls for 912 apartments, down from the original 1,129. It calls for 350,000 square feet of office space, up from the original 250,000. Terra/Frisbie made that change in response to public criticism of the residential density. The extra office space is designed to make up income lost from having less residential. Office, though, generates more traffic than housing.
Otherwise, the components are the same: 77,000 square feet of commercial development; 75,000 square feet of food and beverage space; and a 150-room hotel. A 30,000-square-foot community center would replace the cramped, aging meeting place next to the cramped, aging City Hall. There would be 35,000 square feet of athletic facilities. The police substation would be 10,000 square feet.
The big unknown is the size of City Hall. The plan includes a range of 36,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet. Council members will determine the actual number after deciding how many employees they want in the building. This week, they received options. I will have more after I obtain them.
Terra/Frisbie emphasizes the sustainability and “carbon-neutral” aspects of its plan; Boca Raton has made both municipal priorities. The company is also highlighting “bicycle safety and connectivity” in response to public comments. To ease concerns of adjoining neighborhoods, apartment buildings would be three stories on the edge of the project and rise to 10 stories only in the center.
Overall, the plan calls for 1.3 million square feet of commercial and civil development over the 30 acres. For perspective, the Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC)—where IBM developed the personal computer—is 1.7 million square feet over 123 acres.
On May 27, during a meeting that will begin at 8 a.m., council members will review the plan and discuss options for City Hall. Council approval of the interim master plan could come on June 10.
Delray makes another attempt at resolving American Legion lawsuit
For the second time, Delray Beach may be close to resolving the lawsuit by an American Legion post.
On the agenda for last week’s city commission was discussion of a settlement in the litigation filed by the Sherman Williams post. Members had alleged that the city wrongly evicted the post from a city-owned building. Black veterans of World War II founded the post.
As discussion began, Commissioner Angela Burns proposed an option to renovate and open the building not just as a meeting place for the post but also as a community gathering place that could host events and offer programs. Such an outcome would be similar to what the EJS Project had proposed before withdrawing its offer a year ago.
Burns proposed that the city deed the property to the post, which then would receive grants from the Shared Future Foundation to repair the building. Foundation President Sara Selznick confirmed Wednesday that the group is committed to the fundraising. She estimated that it will take $150,000 “just to make the place safe” and $350,000 to reopen it. The effort aligns with the foundation’s wider efforts in The Set.
Commissioners agreed that the settlement would include a reverter clause. The post would have a deadline—likely two or three years—to raise the money, or the property would go back to the city.
Commissioners also agreed that they would not ask the post to pay part of the city’s legal fees. Juli Casale wanted the post to pay half, but Mayor Tom Carney called the renovation “part of our revitalization.” Rob Long said, “I’m not interested in punishing” members of the post.
Townhouse project goes before Boca P&Z Board
On the agenda for tonight’s meeting of the Boca Raton Planning and Zoning Board is a proposed seven-unit townhouse project for two vacant lots on East Royal Palm Road. Another multi-family project is on the north side of the road, but neighbors on either side of the site have objected.
The project would require a land-use change, a rezoning, a technical deviation and two variances. If it gets to the city council, approval will require four votes—rather than a simple majority of three—because of the land-use change.
Pulte Foundation to replace Habitat for Humanity space in Boca
Speaking of downtown Boca Raton, social media posts have asked what will replace the Habitat for Humanity thrift shop at 272 S. Dixie Highway. On the site will be the Boca Raton office of the Pulte Foundation, named for the man who started one of the country’s largest real estate companies. According to its website, the foundation “works to meet the basic human needs of the most marginalized members of the human family.”
Boca Raton Middle School employee caught in citizen-led child predator sting
The February arrest of a former Boca Raton Middle School employee on charges of soliciting sex from a minor had an unusual twist to it.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Delray Beach police were alerted to 44-year-old Stephon McCray by Dustin Lampros. He’s an MMA fighter who operates 561 Predator Catchers; it’s one of the controversial citizen-led groups that claim to go after child predators.
Lampros presented officers with texts of McCray arranging a meeting with what he thought was a 14-year-old boy. Instead, as the affidavit says, it was “the decoy”—Lampros. After verifying the messages, officers arrested McCray. He has a hearing June 5, when the state is scheduled to file charges.
Update
On Tuesday, I wrote that Kimberley Trombly-Burmeister had filed to run for a Boca Raton City Council seat. She has since withdrawn from the race.
