We’ve seen this movie before. In 2019, KIMCO Realty (NYSE:KIM), headquartered in Jerico New York, applied for and was granted the ability to convert commercial retail space to residential space for its property at Camino Real and Dixie Hwy in Boca Raton. The proposal was to build the Camino Square project in two phases: residential hi-rise first, retail low-rise second (see 2019 article Camino Square: What you Need to Know for more). But at the October 20 2925 CRA meeting, a totally different phase 2 plan to build two 8-story residential towers with almost 400 units was proposed. At the end of this article is a screencast of our presentation to the Citizen Pedestrian and Bike Advisory Board on a solution to make Camino Square thrive.
How is it that in 2025, as we spend millions to fix the unfixable problems created by mindless construction of concrete boxes with windows and parsley on top, are we not preventing history from repeating itself in subarea D with Camino Square?
The ability to convert from commercial to residential for the 2019 proposal was contentious and legal action was threatened. But for the thousands of residents affected, the big issue was the impact to traffic and quality of life. This was because the property was in subarea D of the CRA and as such, the City of Boca Raton guaranteed that the infrastructure would handle the needs of the property. The problem was that the 2015 CRA excused themselves from doing the required road improvements. So legally, KIMCO could build what they wanted without regard for the road design never being upgraded to handle the increased intensity. That was the City’s problem and born by the thousands of residents who live work and play there.
The Bait
Long story short, Palm Beach County agreed to implement its 1988 roadway design (below) by exempting KIMCO from the usual impact fee and used it to pay for the improvements. A keen eye will notice that the East and West bike lanes were wiped out by this design but it was approved anyway. However, two attentive Council Members who voted against the project, listened to residents. With the help of City Staff, they negotiated a land swap with Fresh Market so the bike lanes could be retained. Those lanes would not exist were it not for those council members.
Below is what the proposed Camino Square was supposed to look like after both phases. The right half is the hi-rise residential phase now built. The left half is the low-rise retail space publicly accessible from SW 3rd Ave as well as via a shared entrance with Valero on Camino Real.
The Switch
At the October 2025 CRA meeting, the applicant returned with a new proposal for phase 2 that replaces the promised retail plaza with two 8-story residential towers, a similar height parking garage and some token retail embedded within the complex. Oh, and there weren’t enough building units available in subarea D so “pretty please may we take some from another part of the downtown?”
Fortunately, three council members Wigder, Drucker and Nachlas vociferously criticized the project and cast doubt on the wisdom of transferring valuable building units from the core downtown to the Camino Real outlier subarea (D). In the end, the new phase 2 design was rejected and the applicant sent back to the drawing board.
Council members Wigder, Drucker and Nachlas vociferously criticized the new phase 2 proposal and cast doubt on the wisdom of transferring valuable building units from the core downtown to the Camino Square outlier subarea.
Camino Square looks like another problem development project
After 30 years of Boca Raton’s downtown concrete tsunami style redevelopment, we the taxpayer, are spending millions on consultants to analyze what can be done with the resulting un-fixable, un-walkable, and resident un-friendly downtown. Unfortunately, Camino Square is headed for the same relentless packed in boxes with windows treatment. Arguably, while the roadway design was upgraded for the allocated building units of subarea D, the pedestrian infrastructure was not. The sum total infrastructure for getting around in something other than a car is a lone six foot wide sidewalk that meanders through and around a bazillion dizzying lanes of traffic with a dash and pray crosswalk in a curve and hidden by landscaping.
How to make Camino Square Thrive
Somehow, the Camino Square Phase 2 proposal was approved by City Staff without making it compliant with Boca’s Complete Streets ordinance. No doubt some loophole allows that but now, in 2025, as we spend millions to fix unfixable mobility problems downtown, how are we not preventing history from repeating itself in subarea D?
As residents and users of the CRA and subarea D for decades, we looked at the situation and came up with what is at least a starting point to reverse the current disastrous course and, instead, make Camino Square Phase 2 a shining example of what the CRA is touted to be. To wit, if it’s part of the CRA, it should look and act like the CRA.
Below is our presentation to the Citizen’s Pedestrian and Bike Advisory board. In it we present:
- The current infrastructure deficiencies.
- The truth about the property frontage.
- How the project, as-is, will create another un-walkable area of the CRA that will inhibit the success of Camino Square.
- How the pedestrian/bike infrastructure can easily be upgraded so Camino Square project will thrive for future residents of Camino Square as well as for the thousands of single family homes surrounding it.
What you can do
If you agree that the mobility infrastructure in and around the Camino Square project must be upgraded in concert with Camino Square phase 2 so it becomes a thriving walkable environment for everyone, contact your City Council and tell them make a plan to fix it and make Camino Square implement its piece of it along their frontage.
Good governance begins with citizen involvement. Have your voice heard at City Hall by contacting your City Council/CRA Members at Citycouncil@ci.boca-raton.FL.us
Council Members (left to right): Council Member Marc Widger, Yvette Drucker, Mayor Scott Singer, Council Member Fran Nachlas and Andy Thomson
