Boca Raton CRA approves assignment of Meisner Park commercial leases amid public objections

The Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency on Feb. 9 voted 5-0 to approve Resolution 2026-02 CRA, consenting to assignment of the retail lease, Phase 2 residential lease and two office leases at Meisner Park and authorizing execution of related documents.

Deputy City Manager Mr. Camejo told the board that the agency’s discretion to block the assignments is “quite limited” under the existing lease agreements and that the board’s review focuses on whether the proposed entities have financial wherewithal and lack disqualifying criminal convictions. “In determining this assignment, the board would evaluate whether the proposed entity has the financial wherewithal equal to or greater than the existing entity that controls the leases,” he said.

The presentation identified Brookfield as the current tenant and described the property layout — retail boxes along Federal Highway, a Phase 2 residential component on Plaza Real, a department-store space under Office Lease 1 and a commercial building with a Ruth’s Chris on the ground floor under Office Lease 2. Brookfield’s counsel Bonnie Miskill said the proposed single-purpose assignee entities would “step into the shoes” of the current lessee and assume all rights and obligations under the existing leases.

Board members pressed for clarity on whether parent or affiliate companies would be required to guarantee obligations of the single-purpose entities. Jim Zervis, who reviewed the financial submittal, said the board received a 10-Q for Stepstone Group, Inc. and consolidated statements from larger partners, but he would not—and did not claim to—legally tie parent assets as guarantees for the SPEs’ lease obligations. “I did review what was submitted… I can’t tell you that those assets actually guarantee the obligations of the special purpose entities. That’s more of a legal question,” he said.

During the public hearing several residents objected. A Save Boca representative said Meisner Park had been “a sham,” alleging the city paid substantially more after an earlier private sale and citing bond and valuation figures; the speaker argued the new lease structure could produce similar taxpayer losses. The speaker’s claims included figures such as a roughly $28.5 million purchase price, a $58 million bond issuance and an asserted $40.5 million CRA payment; those numerical assertions were presented as the commenter’s allegations and were not verified during the hearing.

Attorney and staff responses emphasized different points of legal context. City counsel (questioned by a commissioner) clarified the prior dispute involving Meisner Park related to how to value a contractual option to purchase the leased land; he said that dispute did not equate to an existing option to buy under the downtown campus master partnership or lease being considered at this meeting. “That contractual right in the Meisner Park lease was an option to buy… the dispute… had to do with how to value that purchase option,” he said.

After discussion that revisited the project’s history and the alternatives that would have resulted had voters not approved the earlier option, the board voted by roll call to approve the assignment resolution. Miss Siddons announced the motion carried 5 to 0.

The agency had no other business on the agenda. Staff reported there would be a mobility update at the board’s upcoming workshop; the CRA adjourned at about 2:01 p.m. and reconvened for the scheduled workshop shortly thereafter.