CRA adopts amendment to Royal Palm Place hotel approval, authorizing 7‑story garage and parking deviation

The City of Boca Raton’s Community Redevelopment Agency on Feb. 23 adopted an amendment to the Royal Palm Place Hotel approval that removes planned below‑grade parking, reduces the hotel from 144 rooms to 137 and authorizes a new seven‑story parking structure with ground‑floor retail.

Senior planner Susan Lesser told the board that the amendment modifies the previously approved Individual Development Approval (IDA) for the Royal Palm Place property — a combined, approximately 15.4‑acre site — and reflects an overall net improvement in the site’s parking situation. Staff calculated that the code requirement under a shared‑parking analysis would be 1,905 spaces and that the applicant proposes 1,417, a difference of 488 spaces; staff recommended approval, saying the proposal eliminates an existing parking deficit and increases open space by about 7,000 square feet.

Ellie Zacharias, counsel for the applicant, said the change is driven in part by rising construction costs that have made the originally approved below‑grade parking economically infeasible. “Construction costs have gone astronomical since COVID, making those two‑and‑a‑half levels of underground parking economically infeasible,” Zacharias said in her presentation. She described the plan as a reconfiguration that replaces a 24‑space plaza with a multi‑level parking structure offering 501 spaces, plus 205 spaces on the hotel parcel, nearly 11,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor, pedestrian improvements and a covered bridge connecting the hotel to the garage.

Commissioners and staff pressed the applicant for details. City staff confirmed the approval includes two technical deviations: (1) use of an alternative shared‑parking rate and (2) a limited reduction in required drive‑aisle width on a reconfigured lot. Staff also said a condition requires the parking structure to be started before construction of the hotel because the hotel’s parking depends on the structure.

The proposal drew several public commenters who said the project would change downtown character and questioned whether the city needs more hotel rooms and a large garage. Resident Richard Warner said the project “will continue the pattern of destroying what charm Boca used to have.” Other commenters asked why the applicant needed a parking deviation and whether the hotel could be built without it.

In response, Zacharias and staff said the downtown parking code was written decades ago and that an alternative downtown parking approach is consistent with how nearby jurisdictions treat dense, mixed‑use downtowns. Zacharias said the applicant’s alternative plan eliminates the prior deficit and produces a modest surplus to allow tenant turnover without repeated CRA approvals.

After discussions about sequencing, pedestrian access and design compatibility with surrounding 1960s‑era buildings, the board voted to adopt Resolution CRP0002R7 as amended. The clerk recorded the votes as: Tonson — Yes; Drucker — Yes; Nacquis — Yes; Singer — Yes; Wachter — Yes. The motion passed 5‑0.

The resolution authorizes the amended IDA to reduce hotel rooms to 137, eliminate the below‑grade parking, construct a 7‑story parking structure with ground‑floor retail, implement the two technical deviations noted above, and proceed with related site improvements. A condition added during the hearing requires the parking structure to be initiated prior to hotel construction. The CRA meeting adjourned at 3:40 p.m., and the board reconvened immediately for a workshop.

What happens next: the resolution allows the applicant to move into permitting and construction sequencing under the approved condition; any required building permits and subsequent inspections will follow standard city processes.