Mizner 200
Boca Raton has received the plans for Mizner 200. The project will look nothing its predecessor, and the difference is worth some discussion.
As I had reported, Elad Properties wants to build a 384-unit condo project that would replace the 246-unit Mizner on the Green rental complex, which Elad also owns. Mizner 200 would be nine stories tall and would meet the 100-foot height limit for downtown projects submitted under Ordinance 4035.
Indeed, Elad representatives tout Mizner 200 as a model downtown project. The setbacks in some cases exceed requirements. Rather than the required 672 parking spaces, Mizner 200 would provide 681. Elad promises adherence to the open space requirements of Ordinance 4035. The project would need just two technical deviations, for tandem parking—cars behind each other—and driveway spacing.
At the city’s recommendation, Elad will go through a preliminary hearing to get comments from the Community Appearance Board before the project’s formal hearing. A letter to the city from Elad said the company “has and will continue to discuss” the project with neighbors along Mizner Boulevard. The project, the letter said, will be “consistent and compatible with existing and proposed development in the surrounding area.”
But there will be a math question. Elad wants to add 138 units on that roughly 9-acre site. During the 1980s, Boca limited downtown to 8 million square fee of what planners call office-equivalent development. Office use is the most intense. A formula determines how much a developer can build when changing uses. A report from Elad’s consulting engineer calculates that there is enough office equivalent space remaining in that part of downtown for Mizner 200’s 384 units. Part of the city’s review will involve checking the consultant’s math.
Nearly two years ago, Elad wanted to demolish Mizner on the Green and replace it with New Mizner on the Green—four towers of luxury condos averaging 300-plus feet in height. The supposed tradeoff would have been a deep setback from Mizner Boulevard. Elad proclaimed that the project would be like nothing Boca Raton had seen.
The company was right on that point. No council member even introduced an ordinance to bring up the project for consideration. In one way, that was understandable. The towers would have been more than twice as high as rules allow even under Ordinance 5052, which permits downtown buildings up to 140 feet if they observe Boca’s still-in-progress architectural guidelines.
Yet, even if the council had rejected New Mizner on the Green, the discussion might have touched on whether the building code is flexible enough to accommodate creativity. Though its representatives praise Mizner 200’s undulating design—a clear improvement over the existing look—the project would front Mizner Boulevard just like Mizner on the Green.
So if residents of Townsend Place to the south, who objected so strongly to New Mizner on the Green, now complain that Mizner 200 would look wall-like, that complaint would be inconsistent and hypocritical. Elad notes, correctly, that the company now wants to build exactly what the rules allow. If the neighbors don’t like that, well, they asked for it.
Building up Boca
Overall, building and renovation in Boca Raton continue at a fast pace.
During the city’s budget year, which ended on Sept. 30, $401.5 million in projects went through the Development Services Department. Roughly $117 million of that went through during the last three months of the fiscal year. The total for the period from October through December was approximately $61 million.
Overall, Development Services Director Ty Harris told me that the city continues to get permits approved faster than the pace that for years had drawn complaints from individual homeowners and major developers. The department’s recent average, however, may be higher because of two big projects that have been under review for about six months. Harris said the city has been awaiting information from the developers.
But where?
Any developer seeking to build a large project in Boca Raton faces this problem: There isn’t much land left.
There’s room for smaller-scale developments, of course. But the city council just approved University Village on nearly 80 acres north of Florida Atlantic University. That was the largest open site in the city.
Here is the alternate strategy: Find property that’s open but being used as something else. Example: Boca Raton’s public golf course on Glades Road west of the Florida Turnpike. Yes, the city-owned course actually is outside the city limits.
Boca-based Compson Associates and Miami-based Lennar Properties have been speaking with city officials about a sale of the course. The two parcels amount to nearly 200 acres currently zoned agricultural-residential. The value would be many millions if sold for development. The money would bring the city a windfall, and Boca still would have the city’s executive course at Red Reef Park.
Boca finds itself in an enviable position. Though the course isn’t a moneymaker, it’s hardly a drain on the city. Boca officials can wait as the developers debate whether they want all or part of the land, how much mitigation would be needed after so many years of fertilizer use and how much they would be willing to pay.
It’s part of a trend. Compson won approval from Palm Beach County to develop the former Mizner Trail Golf Course in Boca Del Mar. Developers are eyeing other private and public courses. Whether through a teardown (Mizner 200) or a conversion (the golf course), developers want that Boca brand.
Good news for Arts Garage
Three days after a rough night before the Delray Beach City Commission, Arts Garage got some better news from the Community Redevelopment Agency.
In a special meeting on Friday, the CRA board voted to give Arts Garage nearly $70,000 in programming reimbursement. The payment covers the period from last July to last September—the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. The CRA had withheld the payment because of questions about Arts Garage’s financial management.
Though the group provided enough information for the CRA to release the money, there remains no financial agreement for the current budget year, which is well into the second quarter. Last year’s agreement brought Arts Garage almost $300,000.
The CRA’s finance director recommended that the agency not approve any agreement until Arts Garage meets four conditions: submitting a full 2014-15 audit that addresses concerns in a management letter; securing a lease for its city-owned space through Sept. 30 or beyond; completing new policies and procedures; and completing a strategic plan.
Arts Garage President and CEO said, “We are grateful to both the city and the CRA for their support, and we look forward to working with them to continue expanding the dynamic cultural force that Arts Garage has become during these past five years.” So, Arts Garage and its parent organization, Creative City Collaborative (CCC), however, got the same message that they received from the commission. CCC and the city are working on a new lease; the current one expires on March 15. The commission also wants a management shakeup.
That may have started with a board shakeup. At its meeting Thursday, the board named Brian Rosen chairman. He had been vice chairman. Former Chairman Steve Michael, a principal of Hudson Holdings, remains on the board. Rosen told me Monday that the board is “trying to address” every issue the city and the CRA raised.
City obstruction in Delray?
Atlantic Crossing has appealed a Delray Beach advisory board’s denial of a site plan that includes an access road from Federal Highway. The appeal should be on next Tuesday’s city commission meeting.
The discussion should be interesting. The commission asked for an access road, without ever making a choice. A traffic consultant chose the one Atlantic Crossing submitted. City staff recommended denial of the plan because a separate consultant said the road would cause traffic problems instead of being a helpful outlet.
If commissioners uphold the denial, Atlantic Crossing will cite it as one more example of city obstruction. The developers are suing Delray over what they allege is an attempt to kill the project. If commissioners reject the denial, they will have voted against the access road they asked for. Residents who oppose Atlantic Crossing also might object to that decision.
In a statement Monday, Don DeVere, the vice president of Edwards Companies, said, “We continue to make every effort to work amicably with the city to get Atlantic Crossing underway.”
About the Author
Randy Schultz was born in Hartford, Conn., and graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1974. He has lived in South Florida since then, and in Boca Raton since 1985. Schultz spent nearly 40 years in daily journalism at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, most recently as editorial page editor at the Post. His wife, Shelley, is director of The Learning Network at Pine Crest School. His son, an attorney, and daughter-in-law and three grandchildren also live in Boca Raton. His daughter is a veterinarian who lives in Baltimore.
