Government

New Downtown Boca Proposal: More Green Space, 769 Apartments, 196 Condos, 180 Room Hotel

by
Daniel Nee
October 30, 2025

The embattled firms vying for the chance to develop a proposed city government campus in downtown Boca Raton shared more details on a revised plan this week in the face of continuing opposition to a public-private partnership that will ultimately go before voters.

The plan pares down the area in which the development partners, Terra Group and Frisbie Group, would lease from the city for private ventures, but still include 769 apartments, 196 condominiums, a 180 key hotel, restaurant and retail facilities, and 150,000 square feet of office or commercial space.

Rob Frisbie, speaking on behalf of the Terra-Frisbie partners, said at a city council meeting this week that the reworked plan calls for the private firms to build their facilities on seven acres of property near the Brightline rail station to allay concerns from residents that they could come back to the city at a later date and propose more development. The new layout “protects public land, expands parks and amenities and connects the civic center to public land,” Frisbie said.

A rendering of revised conceptual plans for downtown redevelopment, Oct. 2025. (Terra-Frisbie/ City of Boca Raton)

Under the revised plan, there would be no private development west of NW 2nd Avenue. That area would house a significantly-upgraded Memorial Park, the new city hall building and recreational facilities. While the firms would provide their expertise, the ultimate control of the 15.4-acre area would remain fully under the city’s purview.

“Everything west of 2nd Avenue becomes an enhanced Memorial Park, and that entire space remains up to the city, the residents, and the council to what that part of the city should look like,” Frisbie said.

The private development would occur on the eastern portion of the site, closer to the Brightline station. Two greenways would be constructed – one at Memorial Park and one that would serve as a pedestrian connection from Palmetto Park Road to the Brightline station. Frisbie termed the north-south walkway “First and a Half Avenue.” Seven buildings are proposed to the east side, including the office space, condominiums which would be built on private land, a hotel adjacent to that, plus two residential buildings between 2nd and 3rd avenues, with two more just north of NW 1st Avenue. New park space would be added just off Palmetto Park Road. The residential buildings would include retail and restaurant uses on the first floor.

All of the buildings south of 4th Street would stand 125 feet tall while the office buildings would stand at 100 feet tall. Frisbie said the height of the office buildings was reduced in response to concerns from residents who live nearby in the Library Commons community.

“We’re dramatically increasing the green space – the usable space – and preserving all of the Banyan trees on site,” said Frisbie. “On the east side, we found the ability for additional park space and an amazing promenade that leads from Palmetto Park Road all the way up to the Brightline.”

Revised renderings of facilities proposed for the Boca Raton city government campus complex, Oct. 2025. (Terra-Frisbie/ City of Boca Raton)

Frisbie said the group would share more financial details at a city council meeting scheduled for next week, but the project was still forecast to generate $3.8 billion in revenue over the course of the 99 year lease, a net present value of $370 million that would fund the development of a new city government building, a community center, plus expanded parks and recreational space that would ultimately be laid out by the city.

“When you look at the value that’s being created on those eight acres – it will be higher than if the properties were sold fee-simple,” Frisbie said, adding that the developers are actively working to see if the downtown U.S. post office could be added to the site, given the fact that there is more than sufficient room to do so.

Revised renderings of facilities proposed for the Boca Raton city government campus complex, Oct. 2025. (Terra-Frisbie/ City of Boca Raton)

The city government campus and Memorial Park redevelopment area, Boca Raton, FL, Oct. 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

At one point, Frisbie said the city could use the revenue generated by the project to “purchase other land or invest in other infrastructure,” which elicited a number of groans from the large crowd assembled both inside and outside the council chambers, almost universally in opposition to the plan. Two residents spoke in favor of the proposal while dozens said they were opposed to it.

Several residents opined that the developers took the project and simply fit it into a smaller area, with some mocking the fact that buildings were shaded in the color green in renderings displayed in a PowerPoint presentation, presumably to accentuate the open space aspect of the project.

“That’s an insult to the intelligence of everybody in this room,” said resident Joseph Majhess. “Rob Frisbie is a great salesman, but he belongs in Palm Beach, not Boca Raton. The residents demand a clearly-articulated public benefit that is unassailable.[This] is not a public benefit, this is a developer’s benefit.”

“We’re still trying to work for what is the common good, and we may not all agree on that,” said Mayor Scott Singer. “We only saw yesterday, for the first time, the pivots on the east and west sides.”

Singer said the city has multiple third parties doing analysis “beyond what the partner is submitting to us.”

The city government campus and Memorial Park redevelopment area, Boca Raton, FL, Oct. 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Deputy City Manager Andrew Lukasik said his staff is currently evaluating the project’s proposed master plan, conducting a high-level review of traffic counts and revenue projections given the modifications to the project.

“We’re starting to do a re-evaluation of the infrastructure costs that will be associated with the project,” he said. “We want to make sure we have an understanding of what facilities will be needed and the cost of the facilities that will be needed.”

Lukasik also said the staff is evaluating the cost per square foot of operating a new city government complex, the park facilities, the proposed community center and other recreational facilities such as tennis courts, basketball courts and a multipurpose field complex that could be constructed on the 15-acre public portion.

“At the same time, we’re working on moving forward with the master partnership agreement,” he said. “It will dictate the terms.”

The viability of the project will ultimately be up to voters, however. The council voted Tuesday night to place two citizen-initiated referenda on the Jan. 13, 2026 special election ballot that would require an addition public vote on any sale or lease of public land greater than a half-acre in size.

The city council will next meet on Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. for a special session that will encompass a meeting of the Community Redevelopment Authority, a work session meeting of the council, followed by a regular meeting. It is expected that additional details on the project will be shared at those meetings.