Four companies want to redevelop the area around Boca Raton City Hall. Some are thinking big. Others are thinking even bigger.
Long Island-based Namdar and Atlanta-based RocaPoint last week joined two local bidders that had sent unsolicited proposals. One is a joint venture between Miami-based Terra Group and Palm Beach-based Frisbie Group. The other is Related Ross, led by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who has shifted operations from New York City to South Florida.
I had reported the specifics of the private aspects of Terra/Frisbie’s project: 1,129 apartments; 250,000 square feet of office space; a 150-room hotel; roughly 150,000 square feet of retail and entertainment; 3,434 parking spaces. Related Ross goes much heavier on office space—nearly 1 million square feet—and lighter on residential—660 units. The hotel also would be much larger—400 rooms. The retail/entertainment space would be about the same.
Namdar envisions almost a new city within those 30 acres. The company proposes 6,600 apartments, 2,600 of them designated as affordable housing (for perspective, Boca Raton’s population in 1960 was roughly 7,000). Namdar’s hotel would have 180 rooms. Office would be a minor presence. Combined with retail/entertainment, it would be just 250,000 square feet.
RocaPoint’s plan includes 940 rentals and 90 condos. The hotel would have 155 rooms, and office space would total 115,000 square feet, with retail at 145,000 square feet.
But the key to this public-private partnership, known as a P3, is the public space that the developer would build in return for the income-generating properties. Most notably, Boca Raton wants a new city hall and community center. City council members also want the developer to create outdoor areas that will make the area a draw for residents and outsiders who might ride Brightline to the station at the north end of the target area.
The current City Hall, which everyone agrees is beyond outdated, is about 63,000 square feet. The similarly outdated community center is just 13,000 square feet.
Other notable public facilities include the library, which would remain next to the Brightline station, and the police station. City council members have said it would move to Spanish River Boulevard, next to the library. A new substation would serve downtown.
The area also includes the main tennis center—most of the bidders envision racket facilities—and two athletic fields. The city already plans a separate facility for the building department separate from City Hall.
Terra/Frisbie proposes about 136,000 square feet of public facilities, including city hall, the community center, racket courts and the substation. All would be at the north end, near the library. The proposal calls for 265,000 square feet of park space. That’s about 6.5 acres, or roughly 22%.
Related Ross proposes just 75,000 square feet of civic space. There would be 5.8 acres for parks. One would go on the current City Hall site, focused on the existing banyan trees.
Namdar is the most ambitious on public space. The proposal calls for a 170,000-square foot city hall and a 50,000-square foot community center. Despite the talk of moving the police station, Namdar includes a 235,000-square foot police facility. The current station is 36,000 square feet. There’s also a 50,000-square foot performing arts center and a 10,000-square foot synagogue, to be donated.
RocaPoint also proposes a police station of identical size. The company would build a 162,000-square foot city hall and 35,000-square foot community center. The proposal shows park space, but there are no specifics.
All bidders have sustainability aspects to their proposals. All seek to match the council’s lofty goals. Related Ross wants to create an “18-hour destination.” Its proposal compares what could happen in Boca Raton to Singapore and Paris. Namdar would turn Northwest Second Avenue, the spine of the area, into a “promenade” that the city could close to cars during special events. Related Ross would create something similar with a “new street”—Northwest Third Avenue—where the current City Hall stands. Terra/Frisbie wants to create “a sense of place that is authentically Boca Raton by right-sizing the scale and massing and prioritizing the pedestrian experience.”
On Jan. 27, the four bidders will make one-hour presentations to the council at a meeting that might start earlier than the usual 1:30 p.m. The city has posted all the proposals on its website, with a way for residents to comment.
Two speakers Monday wondered what would happen to the tennis center and ballfields. Deputy City Manager Andy Lukasik said consultants are analyzing how much those facilities get used. The current plan seems to involve moving the softball and soccer fields. There has been almost no talk about the skate park and shuffleboard courts.
Mayor Scott Singer stressed again that the council wants public comment. Councilman Andy Thomson said the city should go “above and beyond” to hear from residents on what could be a $2 billion project.
Singer and Thomson also reiterated that there is no “plan” yet. Realistically, though, the council is all in on a makeover that likely would spread from those 30 acres and even could connect the area to Mizner Park. Staff and the city’s consultant, CBRE, will meet every week in hopes of having a preliminary agreement in two months. There’s no way to overestimate how big Boca Raton is thinking.
Separating blame from facts in Delray Brightline collision
Delray Beach City Commissioner Rob Long worries that the reaction to the Dec. 28 collision between a city ladder truck and a Brightline train has been like the response since the Los Angeles fires began: many accusations, few facts.
Last Wednesday, Mayor Tom Carney asked City Manager Terrence Moore to release more information about the incident, in which the truck drove around closed crossing gates on Southeast First Street. Three fire department employees on the truck and nine passengers were hurt.
“I understand,” Carney said in his email, “that some information needs to held confidential as the investigation continues, but there is so much that is considered public information (or would be deemed to be public information) which is still (sic) has not been disseminated. This is causing the public to feel that they are not being told everything.”
A day later, the city released the 911 call, confirming that the truck had been responding to a structure fire roughly four blocks from the crossing. The city also announced that the police department has asked the sheriff’s office to take over the investigation, to avoid perceptions of bias. Two federal agencies and Brightline also are investigating. The city previously had released the names of the driver and four other department employees who have been suspended with pay.
As Long said, accusations are flying. There’s talk of fire department employees having their licenses suspended. There’s talk of whether the driver violated department policies. There’s talk of whether policies existed for such situations.
Long wants less speculation and more patience. That’s a tough ask in Delray Beach, where social media natterers seemingly never sleep and politics run wild.
One key point for investigators involves that 911 call. You can hear that responding vehicles were recalled when the smoke was due to poor ventilation, not a fire. Did the driver know that before going around the gates?
If there are issues within the department, attention might shift to Keith Tomey, the former chief whom Moore fired last May for policy violations. Ronald Martin has been on the job only since October.
Carney acknowledged that Martin is “digging into” some of those issues, “but I do think the scope of the accident points to a need for action sooner rather than later.” The more facts Delray Beach has, the more effective that action will be.
100% graduation rate for Spanish River and Olympic Heights
Spanish River and Olympic Heights high schools graduated 100% of their students last year.
Those numbers emerged last week, when the state released the latest reports. Palm Beach County’s overall rate of 92.1% topped all of Florida’s largest school districts. For schools directly under district control, the rate was even better—95.9%. That was up nearly two points from 2022-2023.
West Boca High School was nearly perfect, at 99.1%. The rate at Boca Raton High was 95.7%. Atlantic High School in Delray Beach graduated 92.3% of its seniors.
Approval for new development on Boca agenda
On the agenda for tonight’s Boca Raton City Council meeting is approval for a mixed-use project on roughly eight acres near the Tri-Rail station.
The development would include 340 apartments and about 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurant. Fifty-one of the apartments would be affordable and workforce housing. The residential complex would be eight stories tall.
To allow the project, the city must create a zoning category to permit residential. That is on the agenda for approval before the project itself. City planners recommend approval of the new zoning and the project.
