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Boca Raton CRA delays decision on Center for Arts and Innovation landlord plans after staff, architects present major changes
Summary
After a staff presentation and developer briefing on revised landlord plans for a downtown performing arts center, the Boca Raton CRA voted 5-0 to postpone a final landlord-plan approval until Oct. 21 so staff can pursue additional technical review and the city can consider hiring an independent consultant to evaluate costs, circulation, acoustics and other impacts.
The Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency on Sept. 23 postponed a decision on landlord plans submitted by the Center for Arts and Innovation (TCAI) for a proposed performing arts center at Meisner Park, citing material revisions to the concept plan and outstanding technical questions.
Deputy City Manager Chrissy Gibson told commissioners staff had reviewed the landlord plans and identified notable changes from the originally approved concept. Among the items Gibson flagged: demolition of the existing amphitheater and conversion of that parcel into an open piazza; relocation and re-orientation of the main venue so it faces west toward the Boca Raton Museum of Art; an underground parking garage proposed beneath the amphitheater parcel with a proposed garage entrance on 5th Avenue; an increase in total square footage compared with earlier concept ranges; and a retractable shade system ("tendidos") that provides shade but does not provide full rain protection.
"We felt that they met everything that we asked them to do in the PCDA and that we didn't know that these material changes rose to the level of the threshold concept plan change as adverse issues," Gibson said, describing staff's recommendation to forward the landlord plans but also noting operational concerns that need further analysis.
TCAI's team — led by Andrea Virgin and accompanied by designers including theater planner Joshua Dax and architect Antoine Shaya — described the project's program and flexibility. Dax emphasized the facility's adaptable staging and seating configurations, saying the main venue can operate as an 800-seat proscenium theater or be converted into a larger flat-floor space for up to about 1,200 people. Architect Antoine Shaya highlighted sustainability features and community goals and told the board the roof plan calls for roughly 80,000 square feet of photovoltaic panels; he said that roof area "should produce 1.8 gigawatt hour per year," which he said would be enough to run the museum.
TCAI said it has met an early fundraising milestone (about 25% of hard construction costs on a roughly $100 million base), has engaged technical consultants for acoustics, traffic and parking, and plans to submit regulatory applications through the city's IDA (individual development approval) process within the timeline set by the pre-construction and development agreement (PCDA).
Several commissioners said the changes involve risks and unknowns that require more analysis. One commissioner urged that the city retain an independent consultant to review financial sensitivity, operational impacts, access/circulation and construction impacts adjacent to the museum; another noted the timing constraints of the landlord-plan approval window and cautioned against delaying the center's fundraising timeline. "My recommendation then, and it remains now, is that the city ... hire our own independent consultant with specialized experience on these matters," one commissioner said.
After extended discussion about parking, valet and circulation plans, construction impacts of underground parking near the museum, acoustics for the flexible indoor/outdoor configuration, and the business-plan and fundraising schedule, the board amended a pending motion and voted to postpone action on the landlord plans until the CRA meeting of Oct. 21. The board directed city staff to research independent consultant options and report back before that meeting. The postponement passed on a roll-call vote, 5-0.
The PCDA requires TCAI to submit detailed landlord plans and provides thresholds for minimum capacities (for example, a minimum seat count for the main theater and the piazza). Staff and the developer said they believed the submitted plans meet the PCDA minimums, but commissioners pressed for additional technical assurances during the IDA process and asked staff to obtain cost, traffic and operational studies and to consider an independent owner's representative or consultant to support the city review.
