Boca Raton residents — mostly those who live in Tower 155 adjacent to a proposed 12-story hotel — are voicing their displeasure about this project. This latest uproar comes on the heels of a clamor about the proposed redevelopment of the downtown campus where City Hall and the Community Center now sit. Rendering provided
By Mary Hladky
Another protest over downtown redevelopment has erupted, this time over a proposal to build a 12-story hotel and retail project along Northeast Second Street to the north of the Tower 155 condo.
James and Marta Batmasian, the largest commercial property owners in the downtown, first proposed Mizner Plaza in 2023 but didn’t move forward with it.
They now are seeking city approvals and won the first round on Aug. 21, when the Planning and Zoning Board recommended by a vote of 5-1 that the City Council approve it and a related land sale despite strong objections — mostly from Tower 155 residents.
The nearly 2-acre project would replace retail buildings, the downtown U.S. Post Office and a small city-owned parcel that now is a public parking lot.
Mizner Plaza would have two towers with retail and restaurants on the first two floors and the 242-room hotel above them. A 56-foot-wide and 20-foot-tall staircase would separate the towers and would align with the plaza in Mizner Park. Parking would be on two levels underground.
The staircase is intended to be a “destination and experience for all,” according to the project application, but elevators and a pedestrian ramp also would be available. The project would be nearly identical to the one proposed two years ago, except that plan featured nine-story hotel towers and 266 rooms.
The nearly 0.3-acre city-owned lot that the Batmasians want to buy would become a pocket park. The couple already owns the rest of the land.
A 10-foot alley on the south side of the project site would be expanded to 20 feet to accommodate two-way traffic.
But just like the city’s plans to redevelop its downtown campus where City Hall and the Community Center now sit, the project is decried by nearby residents and some members of Save Boca, the residents’ group opposing the campus redevelopment that would include the addition of residential, retail, office and hotel to the 30-acre property.
Wearing red shirts and carrying signs that said, “Too Big, Too Close, All Wrong,” they and their lawyers voiced a host of objections at the Aug. 21 meeting. They said Mizner Plaza is too large and tall, the same objections lodged against Tower 155 when it was proposed.
Tower 155 residents also said the buildings are too close together, creating a cramped, canyon-like effect.
Ele Zachariades, the Batmasians’ attorney, said they were aware of the close proximity and pushed back the plaza so the two buildings will be 54 feet apart, far more than the city requires.
Other residents lamented the loss of small businesses that now sit on one parcel and said the downtown is in no need of additional restaurants. And while the alley width has been doubled, they said it will be too small a street to accommodate traffic, and delivery and sanitation vehicles.
None, however, voiced objections to the loss of the post office. Residents, including the Batmasians, strongly objected to its potential loss in 2018.
At the time, postal officials planned to relocate it because their lease was about to expire and they could not get another one from the Batmasians. James Batmasian said he had no idea the postal service wanted a new, long-term lease and offered to provide one. That lease now expires in 2028.
But a post office might remain, even though that was not mentioned at the meeting. At the City Council’s Aug. 26 meeting, City Manager George Brown said, without elaborating, that he believes “there is an intention” by the Batmasians to have a post office substation. Since the property is privately owned, the city cannot mandate that, he said.
Tower 155 attorney Richard DeWitt said there were legal problems with how the city has handled the matter. But he focused on the sale of the city-owned parcel to the Batmasians.
City staff recommended that the planning board authorize that sale. A staff memo states that the property was appraised at $2.4 million in April. But the Batmasians wanted to pay nothing, saying they should get credit for replacing 17 public parking spaces now on the lot and for park construction and maintenance costs.
Staff disagreed that they should get the land for free. After giving credits for construction and maintenance, they recommended a purchase price of $883,558.
But DeWitt said there was an earlier appraisal in 2024 that pegged the market value of the property at $3.3 million. The developer, apparently James Batmasian, balked at that amount and asked for a new appraisal. Even so, he indicated the city was only asking for $10 — essentially a giveaway. That’s when the city requested the second appraisal.
DeWitt asked the planning board to either deny approval of the property sale or table the matter so the board could fully evaluate the sale. That would include whether only the Batmasians would be entitled to buy the parcel.
Several residents questioned how the sale was being handled, with one saying it “seems like a very shady backroom deal.”
The Batmasians’ son, Armen, who is involved with acquisition and development for their company Investments Limited, pushed back against the criticisms.
“It is kind of disheartening hearing all this negative feedback from one building regarding the most important development in our city,” he said. “You try to do the right thing … and try to build a very amenable development and here we are getting bashed for it and it is just shocking.
“Our downtown depends on some retail. … There’s 100,000 other citizens that need a downtown and we don’t have one.”
Board members did not respond to DeWitt. They praised the project, with four describing it as “beautiful.”
As for the complaints, Board member Timothy Dornblaser said, “These are the same complaints I hear from residents about new projects.”
Comments