Developer revises downtown campus plan, reduces density and pledges more green space; council and residents call for more outreach

A developer team presenting an updated proposal to redevelop Boca Raton’s downtown government campus told the City Council Sept. 8 that the plan has been scaled back and reworked to add more park space, preserve banyan trees and reduce residential and commercial intensity while still delivering funding to pay for new civic facilities.

David Martin of the Boca City Center team and partner Robert (Rob) Frisbie told the council they reduced the project’s footprint and density after community feedback. The latest plan, the presenters said, lowers the project’s residential total to about 740 units from earlier counts (initial plans showed roughly 1,100 units, and an intermediate iteration was about 900). The team also said it removed a proposed hotel and one previously proposed office building, reduced retail from about 140,000 square feet to roughly 80,000 square feet, and relocated the children’s playground beneath an existing stand of banyan trees to preserve the canopy.

Martin framed the changes as responses to public input: “We’re here today to show you that we’ve been listening,” he said. The developers described several public‑realm elements including a new Memorial Park plaza with a dedicated monument, an expanded multipurpose green (presented as roughly 300 by 200 feet), a community center with an indoor gymnasium and flexible space, a mobility hub east of City Hall, and a minimum of eight tennis courts with the option to add courts later. The proposal retains two office buildings adjacent to Brightline to concentrate jobs near transit, the presenters said.

Developers presented economic estimates that they said still produce “significant funding” for the city over the proposed 99‑year ground lease. They said a prior, larger plan projected about $3 billion in gross revenues over the lease term (about $344 million net present value) and that this scaled plan projects roughly $2 billion in gross revenues (about $228 million net present value). Developers said pricing terms were held constant on a per‑unit basis as density was reduced.

Council members said the revisions reflect some community priorities but urged a slower, more transparent process. Multiple councilmembers explicitly said the Oct. 28 milestone previously discussed for final action is not realistic and asked the developer and staff to hold additional public workshops; the developers said they plan community workshops on Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 and will coordinate further outreach. Councilmember Thompson said any final transaction should be conditioned on voter approval.

Public speakers raised several concerns during the workshop. Gardeners from the Susan Welchill Community Garden said they learned through others that the garden might be relocated as part of the government campus redevelopment and asked the city to ensure the garden community is directly involved in any decision. Several residents urged the council to preserve the 17‑acre Memorial Park and its historic ball field and objected to any perceived privatization of the site; others supported revised elements including the preservation of the banyan trees and the proposed memorial. Traffic, parking spillover into adjacent neighborhoods and the phasing of recreation relocations also drew repeated comment.

Staff said they will re‑evaluate technical analyses (traffic, infrastructure needs and phasing) in light of the new plan. City staff also confirmed they have had prior discussions about acquiring an undeveloped parcel at Palmetto Park Road and N.E. Fifth Avenue but were unsuccessful in negotiating a price acceptable to that owner in the past.

No formal approvals were taken at the workshop. Councilmembers agreed to extend the outreach and review period; the mayor and several councilmembers said the item will require more public engagement and additional staff analysis before any final decision is scheduled.