The problem with Boca’s Government Campus.

To be blunt, Boca Ratonians don’t want it. It’s not that residents don’t want our government campus without a leaky roof, moldy office space , worn down Police Station, dated community center or other complaints, it’s that everyone is scratching their head:

• WHY didn’t past city leaders keep up with the property maintenance and growth?
• WHY is this not a referendum like Mizner Park, the “Mizner Look” Ordinance 4035 and Intracoastal Park Protection Ordinance that saved all our water front parks from commercial development?
• And finally, WHY are some city leaders willing to give over all our public recreational amenities, community center and public parking for 10 to 12-story apartments, hotel, condos and a 25-STORY OFFICE BUILDING????

When billionaire New York and Miami real estate developer Stephen Ross came a courting last summer, the tune changed yet again and googly-eyed city leaders are now talking bulldozing everything except the library and Brightline.

Some city leaders are lobbying for resident interests and to not rush the deliberations. Mayor Singer is clearly the main driver accelerating the Government Campus project into the current request for proposal process initially telling staff to cut the proposal collection process in half. And if criticized for fast-tracking the redevelopment, Mayor Singer says they’ve been “talking about it” for two years. While true, context matters.

When Brightline came courting in 2019, city leaders talked about a TOD surrounding library on public land, residents said “NO”.

When Mayor Singer spent a quarter million taxpayer dollars on a single item special election to extend existing and future City Council Member terms by a year, residents said “NO”.

When the Community Advisory Panel held a public input session in January 2024 on what should be done with the aging government campus, residents said “NO” to redeveloping the Recreation/Sports facilities and community center into a TOD:

But when billionaire New York and Miami real estate developer Stephen Ross came a courting last summer, the tune changed yet again and some googly-eyed city leaders are now talking about bulldozing everything except the library and Brightline, and giving away the land in exchange for a shiny new city hall. So here we are, sitting through 4 hour meetings about developers and proposals from one “Goliath” and three “Davids” on how to obliterate the last remaining open space in downtown (not considering the Aletto vacant lot unable to build for lack of office space financing). Nobody said “NO” better than resident Elizabeth Decker in a recent post on Nextdoor (Click the graphic to read):

The problem is the process.

There will be no referendum on whether to renovate our campus with our own funds (socked away for years to the tune of $10M/yr) versus give our public lands away in a Public Private Partnership in exchange for new buildings. That has been decided by fiat in spite of public input to the contrary. At this point, we are not being asking what flavor ice cream for our cone. At best, we get to suggest some toppings. City leaders will pick the size cone and ice cream thank you. You can suggest your toppings here:

In addition to the official ranking meeting Tuesday, there’s a meeting Monday at 1pm with a time for public comment. For a discussion about the redevelopment proposals and a comparison by fellow resident Bonnie Miskel (now on retainer with Terra/Frisbie), see our article EVALUATION: The Government Campus Proposals.

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UPDATE FEB 8 2025: Edited to show Miskel has since joined Terra/Frisbie group