Boca Raton Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Downtown Redevelopment Plan, Elect ‘Save Boca’ Ticket

Jon Pearlman (left) and a sign from his ‘Save Boca’ movement. (Photos: Boca Daily News)

Voters in Boca Raton have, in a sweeping fashion, rejected a proposed plan for two private developers to obtain a 99-year lease of public land in the downtown sector on which they would have built hundreds of residential units and a hotel. Proponents of the now-failed effort believed the revenue generated by the lease would have provided funding to build a new city hall building and nearby parks, but objectors cast great doubt on the revenue projections, urged caution on turning public lands over to a private firm for a century, and accused officials of attempting to stack the deck in favor of the developers.

After the grassroots ‘Save Boca’ movement developed in response to the plans, the city council agreed to place the question of the lease and contract with Terra Group and Frisbie Group – the two developers that ultimately named their proposal “One Boca” – on Tuesday’s ballot. Residents overwhelmingly rejected the proposal by a staggering 74.4 percent of voters choosing ‘no’ and just 25.56 percent voting ‘yes.’

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

A photo of a sign objecting to the proposed downtown Boca Raton redevelopment plan. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

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Moreover, a group of members of the Save Boca movement formed a city council ticket and swept the municipal election, fundamentally reshaping the governing body. The movement’s founder, Jon Pearlman, received 9,751 votes – defeating incumbent councilman Marc Wigder, who received 5,909 votes and Meredith Madsen, who received 2,796 votes.

Another member of the ticket, Michelle L. Grau, received the most votes of any council candidate in the entire race, winning a seat with 12,287 votes. Grau defeated Christen Ritchey and Bernard Korn, who received 4,592 votes and 1,585 votes, respectively.

Stacy Sipple, the third “Save Boca” candidate, was also elected for a term on the council. Sipple received 10,248 votes, compared to 5,052 for her closest challenger, Robert S. Weinroth, and 3,089 for former planning board member Larry Cellon.

Save Boca did not endorse a mayoral candidate.