A Week After Changes Pitched, Residents Continue Opposition to Boca Raton Development Plan

A revised downtown development plan with more green space. (Credit: Terra-Frisbie)

A week after a Boca Raton council meeting spanned more than six hours and drew 70 speakers – effectively all in opposition to the city’s development plan for the 31-acre government campus site – the “Save Boca” group has not budged in its quest to pursue a change to the city charter that would force a vote on any sale of publicly-owned land.

City officials last week agreed that a self-imposed deadline to sign a formal redevelopment agreement with partners Terra and Frisbie Group – both developers that submitted a joint proposal for a public-private partnership – will be lifted. Officials also acquiesced to demands from residents that the entire matter be placed on the ballot March 10, when residents go to the polls to elect a new mayor and council. The fate of the redevelopment plan as current constructed – which is valued at approximately $3 billion and includes thousands of residential units, commercial space and a potential hotel – appearing on the ballot would instantly up the stakes of the election, which will see Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas and Councilman Andy Thomson vying to become the city’s next mayor.

A flyer for the 2025 Boca Raton Mayor’s Ball, presented by the development group hoping to redevelop the government campus site. (Facebook)

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Political influence in civic events was also called into question this week when Save Boca posted a flyer advertising this year’s Mayor’s Ball, set for Nov. 1 and sponsored by the Rotary Club Downtown. The flyer for the event included the logos of both Terra and Frisbie Group, stating the event was being presented by the developers. The group also posted screenshots of a prickly exchange between one opponent and the club’s official Facebook account.

While the city, at the initial request of Thomson, has agreed to begin drafting language that will appear on the ballot, Save Boca officials say they have not given up on their stated goal of placing two ballot questions of their own up for a vote: an ordinance that would require future public votes for the sale of city property, and a city charter amendment that would effectuate the same. The group has announced it has reached its goal of collecting enough signatures to force the two votes, which has yet to be affirmed by the city. While both measures contain similar language, an ordinance can be modified or repealed by a council vote while a charter amendment can only be modified by another voter referendum.

Terra-Frisbie officials, at last week’s meeting, pared down the proposed project, which would see the developers receive a 99-year lease for the 31-acres under a public-private partnership style agreement. The developers would use the land to build the residential and commercial units, inclusive of public green space, while the city would theoretically recoup $300 million in revenue over the term which would fund the construction of a new city government campus and police substation. A new police headquarters near the Spanish River Library is a separate project.

Terra-Frisbie’s revised plan proposes to retain as green space the land that makes up Memorial Park and improve it, reduce the number of residential units from about 1,100 to 740, and eliminate the proposed hotel. The plan would also relocate the Children’s Museum building to the downtown green area, maintain six banyan trees that are located near the current city hall building, and reduce the total amount of commercial space in order to accommodate additional public space.

A revised downtown development plan with more green space. (Credit: Terra-Frisbie)

Memorial Park would include an eagle statute to reflect patriotism and honor veterans, the developers proposed. Other public offerings, in addition to the Children’s Museum relocation, would include eight tennis courts and a basketball court, a multipurpose field, a children’s playground, a mobility hub, a new community center, and potentially a new post office that would be relocated from a private property that is slated for unrelated commercial development.

David Martin, president of Terra, described the revisions as an “evolution” of the project.

“We are listening to the varied voices, and they continue to inspire us to have better ideas,” he said.

Save Boca members have countered that while the new proposal is less intensive, the principle of the matter – providing a 99-year lease to the developers for 31 acres of public property – is still outstanding.

“Why are we even looking at condos on public land?” asked resident Joe Majhess. “That’s our land, not your land, and certainly not theirs.”

“Insulting is an understatement,” he continued. “I heard a lot about all the green that’s on the map now, when it couldn’t be clearer that the only green they care about is the green that come out of all those buildings and condos that they’re going to profit off of.”

Officials, including the two mayoral candidates, both emphasized that no binding decisions have been made with regard to redevelopment. Nachlas voted in favor of the Terra-Frisbie partnership, while Thomson earlier this year favored a different plan that his opponent claims would have been more development-intensive. Thomson, for his part, said he was presented with a list of options, chose one, and has since advocated scrapping the entire effort and placing the question of redevelopment on the ballot.

“It’s important to remember that a decision has not been made yet,” Nachlas said. “This plan, we knew, would evolve somewhat.”