Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer began his pitch to New York City businesses even before the November election, when Zohran Mamdani was only a candidate for NYC mayor. Screen grab provided
By Mary Hladky
Now that democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani decisively won the Nov. 4 New York City mayoral election, Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer is doubling down on his efforts to lure companies here.
Betting last summer that company officials would flee the Big Apple to escape higher corporate taxes and a new tax on the wealthy that Mamdani has called for, Singer embarked on a media blitz and spent $70,000 of city funds on a huge Times Square billboard touting Boca Raton.
With Mamdani’s mayoral win no longer a hypothetical, Singer once again has blanketed conservative media outlets, Palm Beach County newspapers and TV stations, and social media with his pitch to relocate.
“Another message this morning from New York business owners looking to move to @CityBocaRaton,” he wrote on X the day after the election. “Expected to be a busy day. Many companies already have made the move. If you’re thinking about it now, we can help!”
Asked about what response the city is getting, Singer said, “With expected regulation, tax increases and a potential change in policing that will affect New York business leaders, we received inquiries right after the election results and expect more inbound calls.”
While city officials can’t say how many of those inquiries will result in relocations, five companies committed to coming to Boca Raton during this year’s third quarter, before the election. The two that have been announced so far are not from New York City.
“Five in a quarter is pretty impressive,” said Jessica Del Vecchio, the city’s economic development manager. Four pay six-figure salaries, and one falls slightly below that.
The announced companies are ADMA Biologics — headquartered in New Jersey and a manufacturer of specialty biologics for treatment of immunodeficient patients — which is establishing a Florida campus in the city; and BioStem Technologies, relocating to the city from Pompano Beach, which develops advanced wound care products. The others will be named once negotiations are completed.
Del Vecchio said staff compiled a list of vetted companies that might be open to a move to Boca Raton and gave that to Singer to make the pitch.
Singer’s frequent social media posts touting his efforts have drawn blowback from some city residents, who accuse him of exacerbating overdevelopment and clogged roads by drawing more people to Boca Raton.
In response, Singer has said he does not intend to bring a big influx of new residents. He also said the goal is not necessarily to attract large corporate headquarters. Regional or back offices would be fine.
‘The buzz is real’
Yet Singer is not alone in sensing opportunity to attract companies with well-paid jobs.
Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner launched his own Times Square billboard in November to attract New York businesses, the Miami Herald has reported.
The billboard, paid for by real estate developer Russell Galbut, shows a Miami Beach lifeguard stand with the message: “Miami Beach is open for business. Everyone welcomed! Mayor Steven Meiner.” A second billboard is in the works.
The Business Development Board of Palm Beach County is well ahead of both mayors.
It launched its Wall Street South campaign 15 years ago to lure financial firms away from New York. Major companies that opened offices in the county include Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Citadel and Elliott Management.
Immediately after Mamdani’s election, BDB president and CEO Kelly Smallridge was fielding calls from companies, prompting the board to reactivate its Wall Street South campaign.
The effort includes the board’s own billboard in Times Square that says, “Dear NYC, it’s not you. It’s me,” reflecting that companies are willing to leave for greener pastures.
“The buzz is real,” Smallridge said. “The inquiries certainly had an uptick since the election.”
Smallridge said it’s too soon to say how many companies will relocate since that’s a lengthy and expensive process. Some possibly are waiting to see if Mamdani follows through on his taxation plans.
But they are kicking the tires. “Companies are inquiring about what offices are available, public and private schools, the permitting process…” she said. “They are calling us for exploratory conversations.”
Realtors see interest
Similarly, several Realtors contacted by The Coastal Star are seeing increased interest from New Yorkers. But unlike the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was a buying surge, the pace is slower.
“Despite the social media chatter, this isn’t a frenzy. It’s deliberate, calculated and very real,” Steven Presson, who is with the Corcoran Group, wrote in a Facebook post.
“The migration wave is coming again — just not as a sprint,” he wrote.
“This time, it’s a marathon. But make no mistake: South Florida will once again be the clear beneficiary.”
While the COVID surge was prompted by health concerns and related lockdowns, the current interest is the result of Mamdani’s election, Presson wrote. For some affluent residents and business leaders, that has prompted them to speed up their decision to buy in Florida, he wrote.
In the post as well as in an interview, Presson told of a recent client who toured four properties and bought a $3 million home in the Manalapan area as a way of establishing a toehold in Florida. Within three years, he expects to make a more significant purchase.
“With virtually every buyer from the Northeast, we spend a portion of every showing talking about the dynamics of New York City and how they are concerned and how things have changed,” he said.
Joseph Liguori, broker/owner at Premier Estate Properties in Boca Raton, concurs that a smaller wave is coming.
“The pandemic was the tsunami,” he said. “Now significant waves have been coming in periodically since then.”
Most of the people who wanted out of New York, whether for tax, political or economic reasons, already have left, he said. But he is seeing an increase in people making inquiries and plans to look at properties.
But with or without Mamdani, the South Florida market is strong, he said, with buyers paying $10 million to more than $60 million for a home.
Jackie Feldman, with ONE Sotheby’s Realty in Boca Raton, also agrees a mass exodus from New York won’t happen.
But she knows many people there, and says younger ones with families are leaving the city and moving to suburbs like Westchester County. Older ones who leave are coming to South Florida.
“I think this will be a significant trickle effect,” she said. “Most people are terrified about what will become of New York City.”
Speaking of Mamdani’s policies, she said, “The people who are high net worth, they don’t want to live like that. The changes that are going to come to New York City are too drastic for these people to accept. They want to live the way they have been living, and unfortunately that will change significantly for them.”
Mamdani plans to raise the corporate tax rate to 11.5% to bring in $5 billion that will fund his other initiatives such as free child care, and a 2% tax on New Yorkers earning more than $1 million annually.
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