Boca Raton council opens 60-day competitive window for government campus redevelopment

The Boca Raton City Council on Monday directed staff to begin a competitive public bidding process for redevelopment of the city’s government campus after staff reported two unsolicited public‑private partnership proposals.

Mayor Singer moved the directive, citing the council’s long‑standing priority to create a transit‑oriented, walkable downtown community. “The whole goal here is a transit oriented community, or at least a downtown walkable community,” Mayor Singer said, urging a concise solicitation and a public engagement phase that would follow shortlist presentations. She asked staff to set the acceptance window at 60 days inclusive of the meeting date, concluding Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025.

Deputy City Manager Andy Lukasick told the council the city received proposals from Related Ross and a Terra Group/Frisbee joint team that meet the city’s qualifying project standards under the city administrative policy. Lukasick described the area under consideration as roughly three acres near the Brightline station and said staff and CBRE have begun initial reviews. “We received those proposals in late October, and we’ve started doing some initial review of those proposals,” he said.

Lukasick outlined two statutory procurement pathways under the public‑private partnership process in Florida: a procedure that could accept a qualifying unsolicited proposal with published findings, or a public bidding process that opens a window for competing proposals (statute provides a 21‑ to 120‑day range). Staff and CBRE recommended a competitive selection process, using an offering memorandum (a high‑level solicitation document) rather than a prescriptive RFP to allow proposers flexibility.

Councilmembers repeatedly favored the shorter window and less prescriptive solicitation. “If people are listening and have been paying attention, 60 days is plenty of time for them to come forward,” Councilmember Drucker said, urging that the city keep the offering high level to encourage innovative concepts. Several councilmembers also said they expect the downtown to retain a public‑facing City Hall component while moving some back‑office functions and possibly the police facility off‑site to free downtown space for more public activity.

Clarissa Willis of CBRE, the city’s consultant, told council the firm can meet the condensed timetable and that the email advertisement template in the presentation was ready to send immediately. “We can blast it out tomorrow,” she said, noting CBRE’s developer and broker database reaches more than 25,000 contacts.

Mayor Singer moved the staff directive under the city’s administrative policy and Florida Statutes 255.065 to: proceed with the public bidding process for the qualifying projects; publish notice that the city deems the proposals qualifying projects and will accept competing proposals for the same project; and set the acceptance period to 60 days inclusive of the meeting date, concluding on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

Council members and staff emphasized that selecting a proposer is the beginning of a longer, multi‑stage process. Lukasick said an interim agreement with a selected proposer would trigger detailed project planning — design, environmental analysis, financing, geotechnical studies and budgeting — and that those steps will take substantially longer than the 60‑day solicitation window.

The council adjourned the workshop at 2:24 p.m. and resumed the suspended CRA meeting.