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Council approves mixed-use conversion at Park of Commerce including 72,400 sq ft 'sports garden' and 243 rental units
Summary
City council adopted two resolutions approving a CIMD conversion of an existing office building, an indoor amateur recreation facility, restaurant space and construction of 243 apartments with 10% affordable and 5% workforce units.
The Boca Raton City Council voted 5–0 April 8 to approve two related resolutions authorizing a commercial industrial multifamily development (CIMD) at approximately 791 Park of Commerce Boulevard.
Heather Hansen, senior planner in Development Services, told council the project converts an existing 130,510-square-foot office building to a mix of uses including a roughly 72,428-square-foot indoor amateur recreation facility (described by the applicant as a "sports garden"), about 11,447 square feet of indoor fast-casual restaurant space with outdoor dining, and 46,635 square feet of retained office space. The site plan also authorizes construction of 226 units in an eight-story residential tower with an integrated parking structure and 17 units in five three-story townhome buildings, for a total of 243 units. The development requires a technical deviation for parking aisle length and an abandonment of a portion of a 12-foot waterline easement.
Staff and the Planning & Zoning Board recommended approval with conditions. The city’s Community Appearance Board recommended screening, mechanical equipment screening, decorative treatment for the west facade of the parking structure and shielded parking garage lighting. Staff noted the project will provide 25 affordable units (10%) and 13 workforce units (5%) under a restrictive covenant for 30 years following certificate of occupancy.
Applicant representative Elie Zacharaitis emphasized adaptive reuse of an underutilized office building and said the project supplies more parking than code requires after a shared parking analysis. The recreational component will operate indoors and include multiple activity areas — pickleball and padel courts, a climbing wall, "ninja" and activity courses, mini golf, trampolines, a tag area, and a food court — and will be open to the public. The applicant proposed design treatments for the parking structure and a landscaped streetscape with sidewalks and street trees.
Several members of the public, including Jonathan Unjin, spoke in favor while raising design and streetscape expectations. Staff said the site plan complies with the CIMD eligibility criteria and the Comprehensive Plan and that the restrictive covenant ensures the affordable and workforce units.
The council adopted Resolution No. 45-2025 (conditional use approval for the amateur recreation facility) and Resolution No. 46-2025 (site plan amendment/CIMD approval) on voice votes. No council member requested amendments at the time of the vote.
