By Mary Hladky
A new downtown construction spurt will be starting soon.
Demolition work started in January to make way for the Mandarin Oriental Boca Raton hotel and Monarch Boca Raton, the new name of the Mizner 200 luxury condominium.
Coming down are buildings along Federal Highway north of Camino Real. The 164-room Mandarin Oriental will go up next to 101 Via Mizner, a 366-unit apartment building that marked the first phase of the luxury Via Mizner project developed by Boca Raton-based Penn-Florida Cos.
Al Piazza, Penn-Florida’s senior vice president for development, said construction of the hotel’s foundation would start by mid-March. He anticipated that construction of the third component of the project, the 92-condo Residences at Mandarin Oriental, would start a few months after that.
“We are finally on our way,” Piazza said in February. The 12-story hotel and condos will open in 2020, he said.
Also in March, Penn-Florida will start a redo of the now-named Via Mizner Golf Club, an 18-hole course about 3 miles away between Palmetto Park Road and Camino Real just west of Military Trail. Golfing legend Jack Nicklaus redesigned the course, at 6200 Boca Del Mar Drive.
Six months after a contentious battle over approval of plans for the now-rebranded Monarch Boca Raton ended in compromise, developer Elad Group is about to begin construction of the 384-unit, nine-story luxury condo.
Demolition of the Mizner on the Green townhouses, now occupying the Monarch site on nearly 9 acres along Southeast Mizner Boulevard, began in January. Some of the townhouses were still occupied as of February, but all occupants were expected to be out in April.
Elad plans to break ground on Monarch Boca Raton this summer.
Downtown residents were stunned when the project was unveiled in 2014 as four towers rising as high as 30 stories.
That concept was shot down because the towers well exceeded downtown height limits. The project was redesigned five times until neighbors and city officials were satisfied.
“The demolition process marks an important milestone in our journey to bring this landmark project to the Boca Raton market,” Elad CEO Yoel Shargian said in a news release. “After working collaboratively with the city of Boca Raton and its community members to create a plan for this unique development, we are eager and enthusiastic to bring this project to market over the next few months.”
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