Boca Raton council approves conversion of Holiday Inn to 125-unit multifamily development with proffered trail parking

Mayor Thompson and the Boca Raton City Council on May 12 adopted Resolution 45-2026, clearing a developer’s request to convert the Holiday Inn-style hotel at 701 Northwest 53rd Street into a 125-unit commercial-industrial multifamily development (CIMD) that includes an affordable and workforce housing component.

The council’s decision follows a staff recommendation and unanimous Planning & Zoning Board endorsement. Senior planner Owen Devlin told the council the application would add 125 rental dwelling units, including 13 affordable units and seven workforce units, and would add a 5,543-square-foot restaurant, roughly 4,500 square feet of retail, a new eight-foot shared-use path linking to the El Rio Trail, a shuttle shelter and improved pedestrian connections. “The development services department recommends approval of the project subject to the conditions outlined in the accompanying resolution,” Devlin said during his presentation.

Applicant counsel David Millage described technical compliance and community benefits, saying the conversion would reduce daily trips compared with a hotel use and preserve most mature oak trees on site. Millage summarized the proposal: “We’re converting the 183 hotel suites to 125 apartments, of which 13 are affordable and 7 are workforce housing units,” and outlined the project’s multimodal connections to Tri-Rail and the El Rio Trail.

During questioning, council members pressed the applicant on energy and transit provisions. Councilmember Drucker asked whether the project would include EV-ready parking; the applicant said no EV spaces were proposed but that the team would assess conduit and transformer capacity and could add spaces if feasible. Drucker also asked about transit incentives; Millage said the project provides a 30% subsidy on Palm Tran and Tri-Rail passes for residents.

Councilmember Koehler (city attorney/staff counsel) and development staff negotiated language putting the applicant’s voluntary offer of five nonexclusive public parking spaces for trail access into the development order. Staff recommended that the proffer be recorded and that the applicant be allowed to set reasonable hours for those spaces subject to the development services director’s approval. The council amended the resolution accordingly.

In a roll-call vote to adopt the resolution with the proffer language included, the council voted: Drucker Yes; Perlman No; Sippel Yes; Thompson Yes; Grau Yes. The motion passed 4–1.

The project as approved remains subject to the conditions listed in the development order and to normal permit and inspection processes. The council’s vote adds 125 rental units to the city’s inventory, with the minimum income-restricted component required under the CIMD framework.