By Mary Hladky
Even as the residents’ group Save Boca tries to halt redevelopment of the city’s downtown campus, Boca Raton officials are moving ahead to relocate municipal offices that won’t be part of the new campus.
With Council member Yvette Drucker not present for a portion of the meeting, the City Council on July 15 voted 4-0 to buy the Meridian Office Center South, located at 6551 Park of Commerce Blvd. — west of Interstate 95 and south of Clint Moore Road — for $17.4 million.
The 70,000-square-foot building will accommodate 430 city employees who now work in City Hall and the nearby Building Administration and Code Enforcement building, which is the former downtown library.
Employees who work in the offices of the city manager, city clerk and city attorney will work in a new City Hall on the planned campus that is about half the size of the current one, but the rest would be relocated.
City officials previously planned to build new space for the code and building department offices near City Hall, but they changed course when the decision was made to redevelop the 30-acre downtown campus, which includes government and park space.
City staff and consultant CBRE evaluated 15 properties and city staff toured 10 of them. Most were located west of Interstate 95 and north of Yamato Road. The city’s northwest is its fastest-growing area and city officials now consider it to be the city’s center.
They considered leasing space, but high lease costs prompted them to consider a purchase. The $17.4 million is about half the cost of constructing new buildings for those employees on the campus due to the increase in construction prices, said CBRE’s Will Portfolio.
City officials also said the Meridian building will need very little refurbishing before city employees move in. City Manager George Brown described it as a “valuable asset to the city” that can be sold if city needs change.
“It was a superior, more efficient building,” said Council member Marc Wigder.
“Considering the costs of construction, it is a decent deal for the city,” said Council member Andy Thomson.
Referring to the fact that the current City Hall leaks, is old and in poor condition, “It gets our people into suitable working conditions,” he said.
Police station plans
The city also plans to build a new police headquarters on city-owned land east of the Spanish River Library, while a police substation would be on the downtown campus. City officials will provide details on that project by early fall. Voters will be asked to approve bond financing for the headquarters in the March 2026 elections.
Historic building may stay
Meanwhile, the city might backtrack on a decision to move three historically notable homes off the downtown campus and into Meadows Park — near Boca Raton Middle School — and the Boca Raton Cemetery and Mausoleum on Southwest Fourth Avenue. The relocation would cost $4.2 million.
“We are evaluating whether we need to move all three buildings,” Brown said July 14. Under consideration is possibly keeping the Singing Pines Children’s Museum building, which has the most historic significance, on the campus.
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