Despite opposition from dozens of residents seeking a referendum, Boca Raton’s mayor and three council members vowed Tuesday to continue negotiations with Terra and Frisbie Group for a future megaproject slated to be built on about 31 acres of public land.
During a contentious “Government campus redevelopment partnership opportunity” update at the Boca Raton City Council’s meeting, John Pearlman, founder of Save Boca, announced that volunteers from the grassroots organization collected 5,200 signatures for an initiative ordinance that would require a voter referendum prior to any sale or lease of city owned land of more than half an acre.
According to Boca Raton’s city code, once the signatures are certified, council members have between 30 and 60 days to approve the initiative ordinance or put it to a special vote.
“The voice of the people is stronger than ever. They’re saying stop this project, they don’t want it,” Pearlman told council members.
At the very least, several residents said voters should have final say on a 99-year lease between Boca Raton and the Terra-Frisbie joint venture to construct a massive 1.5-million-square-foot “government campus” project on public land that includes the 17-acre Memorial Park. More than 30 people lined up to rally against the project, many of whom, like Pearlman, wore Save Boca t-shirts.
But while Mayor Scott Singer admitted that the city may not have a deal finalized by October, as initially planned, he said the city should continue moving forward. He said Boca Raton should gather input from the community, adding there are “people who aren’t in this room today who are supportive.”
“I think we are getting close to evaluating a plan that makes sense financially,” Singer said. “That we should just stop tonight, that is not giving an option.”
Under an interim plan approved by the council in June by a vote of 4 to 1, developer David Martin’s Terra and Palm Beach-based Frisbie Group would be entitled to build 912 residential units, 150 hotel rooms, 350,000 square feet of offices and about 152,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, about a half-mile from the Brightline station.
In exchange, the developers would pay Boca Raton $5.1 million a year in rent and make an upfront payment to the city of $10 million, though those terms are still being negotiated. Frisbie Group co-principal Rob Frisbie, Jr. insisted that the project would generate $3 billion in revenue over the next century. Frisbie also said that the net present value of the revenue from the 99-year lease is more than $350 million, which is enough to pay for the needed infrastructure improvements on the public land that dates back to the 1940s and 1960s as well as public amenities.
The developer would also build 20 new mini-parks, realign streets by the new downtown campus, and construct a new community center, city hall and police substation. According to city officials, Boca Raton’s city hall is falling apart, and its community center is outdated.
Yet, many residents appearing at the council meeting were against the removal of a baseball field, basketball court and tennis court from Memorial Park, a multi-recreational facility at 150 Crawford Boulevard that was dedicated in the late 1940s to veterans of World War II. The nearby Tim Huxhold Skate & Shuffle Board Park is also to be removed as part of the redevelopment.
Instead, 10 new clay courts and a tennis center would be built at Meadows Park about two miles from Memorial Park, while four new baseball fields would be built at Sugar Sand Park about three miles away. Plus, a new 60,000-square-foot skatepark would be constructed at the future North Park, formerly the Ocean Breeze Golf Course, about four miles from Tim Huxhold.
Council Member Andy Thomson said he was outright against the project, insisting that the project was too big, would bring too much traffic and cause too much recreational displacement. An independent audit of the Frisbie-Terra plan will not be completed until late September, he added. Plus, the developers would build the new city hall, police station and community center in exchange for a fee. He argued that the city would be better off finding another way to repair or replace city hall and the community center.
“The increasing number of residents speaking out [against this project] reflect in my view an erosion of trust. They don’t trust this process,” Thomson said, adding that the project should be delayed for half a year or be put to a referendum.
Mayor Singer and other members of the council insisted they had not decided on the project’s ultimate form, and that the city or the developers could walk away at any time. Singer also countered that Thomson supported making a deal with rival bidder Related Ross in February, which proposed building about 1 million square feet of offices at the same site.
Developers have become increasingly interested in Boca Raton and nearby unincorporated West Boca Raton as more affluent people move into the region. Within the downtown Boca Raton area, James and Marta Batmasian just gained the backing of the Planning & Zoning board to build two 12-story hotel towers by Mizner Park. Also, Group P6 and Mill Creek Residential were recently approved for the construction of a 12-story, 306-unit apartment building at 400 South Dixie Highway.
Elsewhere in Palm Beach County, Frisbie and Terra paid $20.9 million in June for a 16-acre site at the former Palm Beach Kennel Club dog track where they plan to construct a 400-unit apartment complex as the first phase of a larger 1,145-unit project. That same month, Hines and Frisbie Group paid $41.5 million for a 3-acre bayfront property in West Palm Beach where they plan to build two 28-story condo towers.
Meanwhile, Coconut Grove-based Terra Group has been busy in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Terra is moving forward with building a Mr. C West Palm Beach condo hotel project in West Palm Beach with Sympatico Real Estate, after securing a $285 million loan from Tyko Capital in August. Just eight months prior, Terra and One Thousand Group obtained another $285 million loan from Tyko for a Major Food Group-branded condo tower in Miami’s Edgewater area. Martin’s Terra was just revealed to be a partner of developer Michael Stern in his plans to build a 330-foot-tall condo tower in South Beach. Also, Terra and ESJ Capital Partners are moving forward with plans to acquire 5.4 acres of land from the city of Miami at Watson Island, to build 600 luxury condos.
