The Big Buzz over Boca Raton Campus Redevelopment Project

For a wealthy city boasting rapid growth and modernization, Boca Raton’s civic facilities aren’t entirely up to par. Increasingly outdated public spaces are prompting swift action from the city council, as a years-long government campus redevelopment project is coming to fruition. 

After months of discussion, the Boca Raton City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to approve a short-term agreement between the council and a private company, Terra and Frisbee Group, to carry out the project. That has some residents thrilled, but others say their concerns haven’t been taken into consideration.

Conversation around the need for new civic buildings began in the Boca Raton City Council in 2017. Council members cited aging facilities, stressed infrastructure, outdated public spaces and the need for new civic facilities. 

“We have a city hall and a community center that are way past their useful life,” said Boca Raton City Council member Andy Thomson in a council meeting on Feb. 11. “They leak, they flood at times, it’s just not a good spot for our very talented and hardworking staff to work in. I don’t want our people to be working in places like that.” 

Thomson was the lone dissenting vote at Tuesday night’s meeting.

After little action on the concept over the last eight years, the project was reintroduced. However, what started as mere improvements to city buildings has become a plan to redevelop the entire area, from Crawford Boulevard to Dixie Highway – 30-acre project that is now slated to include a new community center, city hall, dining, shopping, office space and a new hotel.

The government-owned land currently hosts a variety of civic facilities, and also boasts public recreational areas. The baseball and softball fields, tennis and basketball courts and skatepark that have been a hub in east Boca for generations will be torn down, though a city spokeswoman notes that there are 49 other parks in Boca Raton.  The current proposal includes tennis and basketball courts, but the city plans to relocate all other recreational areas. Office buildings, residential rentals, a hotel and retail spaces will take their place, along with the newly developed civic facilities. 

Although the city and project partner have plans to relocate the recreational facilities that are not included in the plan, some residents still have concerns about whether these new areas will be as accessible or suitable for the community’s needs.

“Don't take away our [facilities]. Don’t take the ones that we can walk to,” decade-long resident Elizabeth Decker told MediaLab, referring to the recreational areas currently on the property. “And don’t take away these spaces that children have to just be kids.” 

The project will be carried out through a public-private partnership (P3) between the City of Boca Raton and a private sector company. 

The deadline for potential partners to submit proposals was Jan. 9. In February, the council made its decision. Teaming up in a joint venture under the name Boca Raton City Center LLC, real estate development companies Terra and Frisbie Group will carry out the project as  Public-Private Partnership (P3), beating out several other bidders. 

“We are committed to planning and executing this project in a way that works for everyone,” said Robert Frisbie, a managing partner at Frisbie Group during the City Council workshop meeting on Feb. 10. “Our project is much smaller than other proposals, as it aims to be right sized and authentic to the character of the city.” 

Although talk around this project began in 2017, some people still feel blindsided. 

“I feel like they’ve been rushing it,” said Decker. “They’ll say, ‘Oh, we’ve been working on it for ten years.’ Well, I only found out about it in January, so from my perspective, you’re rushing it.” 

As someone with previous experience in Boca politics, former Deputy Mayor Andrea Levine O’Rourke says this is not a typical occurrence. 

“The process and the speed at which this project is happening has been quite unusual in how quick that the timeline has been,” Levine O’Rourke told MediaLab.

Not only do some feel the process is moving too quickly, but they feel too few community members have been brought into the decision-making process. 

“I love Boca, and I think this project has me in a really weird spot because we do need new offices,” said resident Jon Schwartz, who grew up in Boca Raton, at a recent city council meeting. “But, I think public awareness for this project is low. Let people know this is happening, so people don’t feel surprised. I think I’ve talked to 20-30 residents, maybe three out of 20 know what’s up.”

Beyond recreation, some residents have concerns about traffic and overdevelopment. 

“I don’t think we need more congestion here. It takes 30 minutes to get from five blocks on Federal Highway,” said resident Audra Simovitch at the Feb. 11 city council meeting. 

“I grew up in Miami, I actually moved to Boca because it is a community. I don’t want to live on Brickell. My daughter lives on Brickell. I don’t even go visit her because it’s ridiculous with all the high-rises, all the people, all the traffic. It’s uninhabitable,” said Simovitch. 

The City of Boca Raton said it is working with CBRE, a global commercial real estate service that helps with real estate planning, development and management, to ensure feasibility and quality of the project. 

This is a multi-year plan, and the project is still in its earliest phase. 

A master partnership agreement is set to be negotiated by Oct. 28. Once this is finalized, the project will move into its next phase, including detailed design, permitting and construction. There is no set date for the start of construction, nor a date for completion. 

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Renderings of the proposed downtown campus. (Courtesy Terra and Frisbie Group)