Boca Raton City Council members face major decisions over the next two weeks about the ambitious downtown redevelopment plan. The countdown begins Tuesday.
During its workshop meeting, which will start at 8 a.m. to allow maximum time for discussion and public comment, the council must provide what Deputy City Manager Andy Lukasik calls “high-level guidance.” Based on that guidance, the staff will craft for the council the interim master plan for the 30 acres around City Hall. It could be on the June 10 agenda.
Two decisions matter most. Council members must decide what they want to keep, eliminate or modify in the Terra/Frisbie plan. They also must decide sizes for the new City Hall and community center, which will form the “civic space” of the project with new parks and private development.
Lukasik, who has been the nexus between the city and Terra/Frisbie, agreed when we spoke Wednesday that there is no way to overstate the project’s financial and logistical challenges. The total cost will top $1 billion. Employees must move out of the current City Hall and return, while maintaining good service. Get it right, and the project will redefine Boca Raton in a good way for decades. Get it wrong and, well, no one wants to contemplate the consequences.
For the staff, Lukasik said, “It’s an exciting time. There are so many moving parts and such a level of complexity. It’s a once-in-a-career opportunity.”
Before the pandemic, a previous council rejected a consultant’s redevelopment plan because the public cost was too high. This iteration is a public-private partnership with Terra/Frisbie; the company will build and pay for all private projects—apartments, offices, a hotel, shops and restaurants.
As for the public space, “That’s a big question,” Lukasik said. “How are those costs being distributed?”
Terra/Frisbie will pay for the city hall and community center, but not directly. Lukasik and Rob Frisbie, a company principal, said the money will come from lease payments and what Frisbie calls “other revenue” from the private development. Lukasik believes that there will be no net cost to the city for the city hall and community center.
Lukasik said Terra/Frisbie will pay for all “private infrastructure” improvements, but the city may pay for other infrastructure. The two sides must decide cost distribution for new parks and a police substation. Separately, city money will go toward new softball fields, tennis courts and a skate park to replace facilities displaced by redevelopment.
By June 10, the council will need two sets of figures that list the city’s costs and Terra/Frisbie’s costs. These numbers will be separate from the roughly $175 million the city will spend to replace the police station that also is being displaced. Voters must approve a property tax bond for that project.
Lukasik acknowledged that staff might not have all those numbers by Tuesday. He expressed confidence that council members will have them by June 10. On Tuesday, some council members may restate their worries about a rushed decision.
As for the plan itself, Frisbie said, “I think we’ve crossed a threshold into something exceptional” after changes in response to public comment. “I hope everyone is really excited.”
As for the city’s readiness, Lukasik said, “Confidence is high” about meeting that June 10 deadline. “We’re geared up to make this a success.”
Boca Raton City Staff presents options for new city hall
The staff has presented four options to the council for the new city hall; only three likely will warrant discussion.
Lukasik said staff is “not giving a lot of thought” to the smallest of four options. It would be a “ceremonial” city hall of just 15,000 square feet, less than one-fourth the current size. It would have the council chambers and offices and offices for the city manager and city attorney. The others break down this way:
- A “partial” city hall with all those elements and a few other departments, such as the city clerk. Size: 20,000 square feet.
- A “full” city hall with most departments except development services. Employees of the recreation department would work in the adjoining or nearby community center. Size: 65,000 square feet.
- A “full” city hall with the development services department. Size: 99,000 square feet.
The city had previously planned a separate headquarters for the building department near the current City Hall. One option thus could be building the second-largest city hall and leasing space for development services and its roughly 150 employees. Lukasik said all options anticipate space needs through 2035. Construction of the entire redevelopment could last until 2032.
Council members must balance the benefit of having as many employees as possible in the new City Hall—to activate the area—against the cost. Lukasik estimates construction at between $800 and $900 per square foot. The higher the cost, the less the city may receive in lease payments.
In contrast, the size of the community center has stayed at roughly 30,000 square feet, roughly three times the current cramped facility. Given the demand for programs and meeting space, Lukasik said, the center might even need to be bigger.
Another public cost will be lease payments for space to house employees during construction of the new City Hall. Staff have identified five locations, all in the northwest. Two are at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC).
Lukasik hopes the council will “really solidify” its wishes by that June 10 meeting. During the summer, the council meets just once a month. I’ll have more after the meeting.
Palm Beach County commissioners change hiring process for new administrator
This week, the Palm Beach County Commission changed the process for hiring an administrator.
A citizen task force was supposed to interview the six finalists it chose. Instead, only the commission will interview the finalists, on June 16 and 17.
The commission majority appears set to hire Clerk and Comptroller Joe Abruzzo, from a field that includes three high-ranking county employees.
I’ll have more before the interviews.
Watchdog group claims local hospitals tried to suppress poor ratings
A hospital accountability organization is claiming that five local Tenet Healthcare-owned facilities want to suppress its release of unfavorable safety ratings.
The Leapfrog Group named West Boca Medical Center, Delray Medical Center and three others in its response to the hospitals’ federal lawsuit. Both received F grades. According to Leapfrog, it bases grades on “22 evidence-based measures of patient safety, including the (Centers for Medicare Services) Medicare Patient Safety and Adverse Events composite which includes 10 component measures.” Leapfrog “calculated a numerical score for all eligible hospitals in the U.S. The numerical score was then converted into one of five letter grades,” from A to F.
Leapfrog receives funding from a range of sources, including The Business Roundtable—which includes CEOs of some of the country’s largest companies—and The Commonwealth Fund, a health care research group.
An attorney for the hospitals said they had stopped applying for the ratings four years ago, citing a “burdensome” process. Yet Leapfrog went ahead and issued “reckless, misleading and commercially motivated” safety grades.
Boca Raton Regional Hospital received a B.
Whelchel Group to hold public meeting for townhouse development plan
The Whelchel Group will hold a public meeting May 28 on its plan to build 42 townhouses near Addison Mizner School in Boca Raton. It will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. at the site—2 S.W. 12th Ave.
Whelchel, which owns the property, previously tried to build an adult living facility on the site. Neighbors opposed that project. They also oppose the townhouses.
Memorial Day
My next City Watch post will be May 29.
