Boca Raton council sets schedule for government campus plan; residents urge more study

Boca Raton — The Boca Raton City Council met in a special session Tuesday, Jan. 7, to align council direction and staff work on a multi‑year government campus master plan that could be developed under a public‑private partnership. Mayor Singer said the city received two unsolicited proposals last year and is accepting additional submissions under Florida Statute 255; he reminded the public that a submission deadline is set for Thursday, Jan. 9.

The council agreed on a revised review schedule that includes public presentations by proposers, a ranking of proposals in February and a goal date for an interim agreement in March. Mayor Singer said the timeline is intended to avoid confusing prospective partners and to preserve transparency: “...we received 2 unsolicited proposals and then set us on the stage where we are now in the process of accepting other interested, proposals from other interested parties under Florida statute 255,” he said.

Why it matters: The redevelopment plan could reshape downtown Boca Raton for decades, affecting city facilities, public open space, the police headquarters and the community redevelopment tax base. Several residents said the process felt rushed and urged more community analysis and clear program criteria before the council selects a lead proposer.

Most important details - Deadlines and schedule. The council confirmed that proposals are due by Jan. 9. The council expects proposer presentations to be made to the city on Jan. 27, 2025; council discussion and ranking of proposers is targeted for Feb. 11, 2025; and staff is to work toward placing an interim agreement on a March 18, 2025 agenda for council consideration. The council directed staff to post materials publicly and solicit broad public input at workshops and meetings throughout the review process.

- Interim agreement approach and consultant role. CBRE, the city’s retained consultant, told the council an interim agreement can generally be prepared within one to two months and offered to prepare a draft form of interim agreement immediately. CBRE’s representative, Mike McShay, said the firm will make itself “completely available” to support drafting and refinement once submissions are received.

- City hall space and temporary relocation. Council members discussed options for temporary leasing or purchase of off‑site space to house city functions while the campus is redeveloped. CBRE offered a planning benchmark of roughly 180–220 square feet per employee; using a midrange figure of 200 square feet per employee and an illustrative staff population, the consultant estimated a rough city‑hall footprint in the neighborhood of the mid‑tens of thousands of square feet (66,000 square feet was used as an illustrative example during discussion) but noted the figure depends on final program decisions and growth projections.

- Police headquarters. Council members reached consensus that the police headquarters could be relocated to a site on Spanish River Boulevard while maintaining a downtown substation. Council members said moving the police headquarters would improve connectivity in a mixed‑use downtown and address operational concerns about the existing site.

Public comment and community concerns. Multiple residents who live adjacent to the study area asked the council to slow the schedule and to provide more transparency on environmental, social and economic analyses, and on how much publicly accessible open space the final plan would preserve. Lorraine Blank, who said she lives four blocks from the proposed site, told the council she was concerned about impacts on “the oldest communities in Boca” and urged the council to “slow down” and make analysis public. Neighbor Alfred Bonner asked the council to commit to meaningful public‑space percentages in submitted proposals so neighbors could evaluate tradeoffs between revenue‑generating uses and public amenities.

Other technical and process points discussed included: land valuation work and a dashboard of financial and program metrics to help evaluate proposals; adherence to the post‑submission “cone of silence” limiting private communications; and the need for public open houses and online materials so residents can review plans without attending in‑person meetings.

What the council directed staff to do. The council asked staff to: finalize a more specific estimate of city‑hall space needs within two weeks; continue land‑use and overlay planning work to support the campus redevelopment; begin drafting an interim agreement form (using templates and consultant input) to speed negotiations with the highest‑ranked proposer; and post proposer materials and host public engagement opportunities in advance of final decisions.

Next steps. Proposals are due Jan. 9, 2025; proposers will present Jan. 27; council ranking is targeted for Feb. 11; the council’s goal date for placing an interim agreement on an agenda is March 18, 2025. Staff and CBRE will provide interim updates at workshops and council meetings, and the council emphasized that public comment will be solicited throughout the process.

The meeting closed after roughly 100 minutes of discussion; council members said they intend additional public engagement before any binding commitments are executed.