By Mary Hladky
Boca Raton officials are firming up plans to build a new police headquarters costing as much as $175 million on city-owned land immediately east of the Spanish River Library.
The new facility, described by Deputy City Manager Jim Zervis as the “largest public works project this city has undertaken,” would be financed with a 30-year, tax-exempt general obligation bond. Residents would foot the cost by absorbing a property tax increase that would end when the bond is paid off.
Voters will decide if that will happen. They likely will be asked whether or not to approve the bond issue in the March 2026 city election. By having the election then, the city would avoid the cost of holding a special election.
The new headquarters would replace the existing headquarters that was built in 1987 across Northwest Second Avenue from City Hall and is now too small and in poor condition.
Zervis and Police Chief Michele Miuccio told City Council members on May 12 that the new building is badly needed. When the current headquarters was built, the city had 145 police employees. It now has 331 and is “busting at the seams,” Zervis said.
As a result, police personnel and equipment are in five locations, creating significant inefficiency, they said.
Although the existing building is in the downtown government campus that is in the process of being redeveloped, the move to a new location is not directly related to that, officials said.
The current headquarters is on 4.4 acres, which is not enough land to accommodate the centralization of police operations.
The city parcel at the intersection of Spanish River Boulevard and Broken Sound Boulevard is 20 acres, but city officials do not yet know how much of that land would be needed for the new headquarters.
Another reason for the proposed move is that the current location is no longer considered to be in the center of the city. Because of city growth north and west, officials see the Spanish River site as more central with much better access to major roadways that will give police better and faster access to all parts of the city, they said.
Miuccio said that police response times will not be reduced for any part of the city as a result of the proposed new location. The downtown campus redevelopment plans call for inclusion of a 10,000-square-foot police substation.
The city has penciled in a new police headquarters cost of $175 million, but that amount is an estimate that could be reduced.
If the bond issue is approved, construction is estimated to start in early 2027 and finish in early 2029.
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