Boca Raton council approves interim agreement with developer for downtown campus; residents press for protected recreation

Boca Raton officials on Tuesday approved an interim agreement that lets the city begin formal due diligence with the Tara Frisbie team on a multi‑block proposal to redevelop city‑owned land into a mixed‑use downtown campus, while residents pressed elected leaders to preserve existing recreational facilities.

The City Council voted 4‑1 to authorize the city manager to execute the interim agreement with Boca Raton City Center LLC (Tara Frisbie), allowing the proposer to prepare an interim master plan and begin a 150‑day due‑diligence period that staff said will include geotechnical studies, traffic and mobility analyses, infrastructure capacity reviews and community design charrettes.

The interim agreement establishes a timeline of milestones, with an interim master plan due in May and a planned council review of that document in June; staff said a final partnership agreement and master plan would be expected in the fall if due diligence and public input proceed as scheduled.

Why it matters

City leaders described the agreement as a procedural step to allow a ranked proposer to perform studies, respond to staff comments and bring forward a cohesive plan for council review. Supporters said a well‑designed campus could knit together isolated parts of downtown, create pedestrian connections and finance replacement of antiquated municipal facilities. Opponents said the public needed clearer guarantees that current recreation — notably the downtown tennis courts, skate park and softball fields — would be replaced on or near the site and questioned using city land for long‑term private leases.

What the agreement does and how the process will work

Deputy City Manager Andy Lukasick told the council the interim agreement establishes a framework for a 150‑day due‑diligence phase followed by a finalization period leading to a possible master partnership agreement. Lukasick said the due‑diligence work will include technical studies and frequent community outreach, starting with a design charrette before an interim master plan is submitted on or about May 12. He described June meetings as the time staff and the proposer would check in with the council on direction.

Staff and the proposer will be required to produce a sequence of studies — mobility and traffic analyses, infrastructure capacity reviews and site planning work — and the timeline in the agreement was revised after the proposer requested accelerated milestones.

Public concerns and staff responses

Dozens of residents attended the meeting to press concerns about recreation, parking and traffic. Speakers from East Boca urged the council to preserve the Boca Raton Tennis Center’s 10 courts and sought a firm guarantee that replacement courts, softball fields and the skate park would remain available and accessible to downtown residents. Several speakers asked that any loss of recreational amenities not force residents to drive farther to use facilities and that replacement amenities be built before demolition.

Mr. Lukasick and city staff told the council that the city is committed to replacing the recreation amenities, that the developer has proposed supplemental facilities, and that staff is working on a plan to provide replacement tennis courts and softball facilities outside the downtown during the project’s phasing. Staff also said the police department is adding traffic enforcement resources for downtown and that the city plans at least one additional officer dedicated to downtown traffic enforcement in next year’s budget.

Council debate and vote

Council members debated the pace of the timeline and whether the interim agreement should include campaign‑contribution restrictions on the proposer. Council member Jonathan Thompson led a failed motion to add a decades‑old city contract clause that limits political campaign involvement by vendors; council later amended the agreement to require the partner to comply with state and county ethics laws and agreed to workshop a broader policy on campaign contributions and proposers before future long‑term public‑private transactions.

The council approved the interim agreement by a 4‑1 vote. Council member Thompson cast the lone no vote, saying he wanted more time to evaluate campaign‑contribution language and that he felt the timeline might be too aggressive.

Next steps

Under the interim agreement as revised, Tara Frisbie will deliver an interim master plan in May, followed by a council review in June. Staff said the interim report and a refined plan are expected in early September, and the city could consider a final master partnership agreement in October, though staff also said the council retains authority to extend any due‑diligence deadlines if more time is needed. The council directed staff to continue public outreach and scheduled additional workshops on campaign‑finance safeguards and project parity issues for other proposers.

Provenance

The council opened the public hearing and staff presentation on the campus interim agreement beginning with Deputy City Manager Andy Lukasick’s remarks on the interim agreement and timeline (transcript excerpt: "Good evening, mayor and council, Andy Lukasick, your deputy city manager"), and closed the public hearing with the council vote recorded later in the meeting (transcript excerpt: "Motion passes 4 votes to 1").