Even in Sol-A-Mar’s scaled-back version, four of the seven proposed buildings
would still exceed the city’s 120-foot height limits.
Rendering provided
By Mary Hladky
The New Mizner on the Green “ultra-luxury” condo project has a new name, a new architect and a completely new look.
It’s now called Sol-A-Mar. The project’s original “starchitect,” Daniel Libeskind, whose list of credits includes the original master plan for rebuilding the World Trade Center in New York and the Jewish Museum in Berlin, is out. West Palm Beach-based architectural firm Garcia Stromberg is in.
And following through on promises made in January to significantly downsize the project, developer Elad National Properties has scrapped plans for four towers, with the tallest reaching 30 stories, that had stirred outcry from residents who do not want high-rises in the downtown.
The re-envisioned residential project has seven buildings. Four would have 13 stories. Three four-story buildings would front Southeast Mizner Boulevard.
But the changes so far have not moved Elad closer to gaining city approval to build.
The four taller buildings still would exceed the city’s maximum height limit of 120 feet at the project’s location on nine acres near the Boca Raton Resort & Club. Yet they would be in line with additional height allowable under interim design guidelines for the core downtown area.
Elad attempted to resolve this problem last month by seeking City Council approval of two changes to a city ordinance. But that effort fell short when Deputy Mayor Robert Weinroth pulled the item from the May 26 City Council workshop agenda.
Weinroth, who had requested the matter be placed on the agenda, said he acted because one of the developer’s representatives was not able to attend the meeting.
“It’s now deferred,” Weinroth said after the meeting. “It probably will not come back until after Labor Day.”
Contacted after the meeting, attorney Charles Siemon, who represents Elad, said the delay was a “collective decision” spurred by confusion about what properly could be discussed at the meeting.
Elad asked for “two minor amendments” to the downtown development rules. One would include the Sol-A-Mar property within the downtown area where taller buildings are allowed. The second would increase the number of allowable stories in that area to 13 from 12, although the maximum building height of 140 feet, plus 20 feet for architectural amenities, would not change.
Mayor Susan Haynie and council member Scott Singer, speaking at the end of the meeting, said it was not the right time to consider Elad’s request.
The city first needs to finalize downtown design guidelines, they said. City officials and the city’s urban design consultant are in the process of deciding whether the interim design guidelines, which outline what can be built downtown and give developers latitude to build up to 160 feet, need to be changed before they are formally adopted. The temporary guidelines have drawn criticism from some city leaders and residents who believe they have failed to produce attractive downtown buildings.
“It is premature to consider expanding the area of the downtown that is eligible to develop” under the interim design guidelines, Haynie said.
“It is a tough sell why we should be expanding the boundaries at this time,” Singer said.
Elad’s request angered city residents who remain opposed to the developer’s plans.
“They are not minor adjustments,” Ann Witte, a financial and economic consultant who is a board member of the city watchdog website BocaWatch, said of Elad’s proposed ordinance changes. “This has been carefully orchestrated.”
The Sol-A-Mar property, which is east of the downtown core, was never intended to be included in the area where taller buildings are permitted. And Elad wants to allow 13 stories throughout the entire downtown core — an idea never before even considered, Witte said.
But Siemon said the 13-story proposal would not add to Sol-A-Mar’s height or density. “Every (additional) floor allows bigger units, which we think is a shortfall in the city,” he said. “Most of the condominiums are fairly small and don’t rise to luxury condominiums.”
The Sol-A-Mar property should have been included in the area where taller buildings are permitted from the beginning, he added. “Our position is that of all places in the downtown, this is the most suitable parcel. Why it was not included in the fist place, nobody has a clue as far as I can tell.”
Sol-A-Mar remains in limbo. Elad submitted its new plans in May, but city officials did not accept them for review because the four tallest buildings are not permitted under the existing ordinance. Without the ordinance changes Elad proposed, the project can’t move ahead.
Siemon expects Elad officials to make a decision soon on how they are going to proceed.
“I think it is an attractive project and would be a great boon to the city,” he said. “This is the kind of quality we have not been able to attract to downtown.”
Siemon hopes the city will soon finalize downtown design guidelines to provide a clear vision for what kind of downtown the city should have and a roadmap for developers to follow — guidance they have been waiting for since the guidelines were temporarily approved in 2008. “And here we are, still waiting,” he said.
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