By Mary Hladky
The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency has consented to the transfer of long-term commercial ground leases in Mizner Park to four entities led by CP Group, the owner of the Boca Raton Innovation Campus.
Brookfield Properties, the current owner of Mizner Park, now holds those leases and also must approve the transfer. Brookfield owns most of the buildings in Mizner Park. The CRA owns the land underneath them.
Brookfield wants to sell the iconic retail, dining and cultural destination and has been in negotiations with a prospective buyer, widely believed to be CP Group, for about one year.
No deal has closed yet, and CP Group has not confirmed it is the buyer.
The Boca Raton CRA commissioners, who also are City Council members, unanimously consented to the transfer on Feb. 9. But they could withhold it only if they determined that the new lease holders do not have the financial ability to fulfill their obligations.
“I am excited” about the new lease holders, said CRA Chair Marc Wigder, adding that he hoped they would improve the 35-year-old property. Mizner Park has looked run down for several years.
In addition to CP Group, the new lease holders are subsidiaries of StepStone Group Real Estate, a global private markets investment firm; ACRE, a multifamily owner, operator and developer; and Georgetown, an owner and developer of office, residential, retail and recreational properties.
Deputy City Manager Jorge Camejo, who focuses on the CRA, noted in an interview that CP Group is the direct descendent of Crocker Partners, led by developer Tom Crocker, which built Mizner Park.
“From that standpoint, I am excited, because I think CP Group may have a better understanding and desire to move Mizner Park in a direction that will improve the conditions, and therefore improve the value,” he said.
The other companies joining with CP Group have “the knowledge and experience to make a center like Mizner Park more successful,” he said.
Camejo was Boca Raton’s CRA executive director until he left to take a similar position in Hollywood before returning last year and seeing Mizner Park’s current condition.
“I think we can do better, and I am looking forward to doing better,” he said.
Mizner Park was put up for sale in 2023, with at least three potential buyers wanting to acquire the property. The offers submitted were for as much as $290 million, The Real Deal reported. However, no deal was finalized.
It also went on the market in 2016 but was pulled off after pricing fell short of expectations, the Palm Beach Post reported at the time.
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