Boca Boom

[attryx99759]

Hello, this is my first post.

Does anyone have any information about Boca Raton Highrises? Ive seen quite a few big ones go up around East Boca around Federal Highway (well big for our standards). Our current tallest building is the bright pink Boca Raton Resort & Hotel Tower at (a whopping?) 28 floors, 300 ft.

I also didnt realize but Boca's unincorporated area (which i live in) ismassive. If you include this in the population figures Boca would have around 120,000 people (about the size of coral springs). i found this information at Guide to West Boca (http://westbocaguide.com/)

[renner01]

From the February 27, 2004 print edition
Boca Raton bank makes way for mixed-use tower
Ed Duggan

A nine-story retail, office and condominium tower is planned for the current site of the Washington Mutual office on the corner of Palmetto Park Road and Southeast Mizner Boulevard in Boca Raton.

Projected to cost $95 million, the 146-unit tower will have ground-floor retail, offices and 560 parking spaces.

In a high-stakes version of musical chairs, Washington Mutual will move into an adjacent building, currently under construction at 240 E. Palmetto Park Road, before its existing two-story office is demolished for the tower project.

Boca Raton-based Vander Ploeg & Associates is architect for both the bank and the tower.

"There is a downtown design criteria that we follow, and the tower design is my version of Mediterranean revival, Mizneresque and Worth Avenue," firm President Derek Vander Ploeg laughed.

The tower's developer is George Rahael of Coral Springs-based Amera Corp., a company active in the redevelopment of Coral Springs' downtown.

Rahael was traveling, an office spokeswoman said, and no one from the Amera office returned calls for additional project information.

Initial prices are slated to be in the high $300,000s or low $400,000s, Vander Ploeg said. Apartments will range from 1,000 square feet to penthouse suites of 3,600 to 3,800 square feet.

"I'm neither gung-ho on it nor negative," said Freddie Molson, a broker salesman with Prudential Florida WCI who is not affiliated with the project and has a cautious, wait-and-see attitude on the tower, depending on its final density and pricing.

With a lot of new products, market observers are wondering how strong demand will be.

"The early Boca Raton projects did well, but the last few projects have had a number of investor-buyers intent on renting or flipping them at completion and the buyers are now running into some problems," said Janet Russell, Molson's real estate partner.

The tower's identity has morphed.

It was originally approved for a different mix of spaces, including similar ground-floor retail, upper floor offices and parking. But in 2001, the plans included 190 hotel rooms. Permit time expired for that portion of the project and the owner had to make a new application.

On Jan. 12, the Boca Raton Community Development Board made usage changes to the property. It said the hotel room portion could now be 146 condo units, planned ground-floor retail could be expanded slightly and office space reduced slightly from what was previously approved, public records show.

E-mail residential real estate writer Ed Duggan at eduggan@bizjournals.com.
http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2004/03/01/story7.html

AND THIS OTHER PROJECT

Meridian at One North Ocean
Location: Boca Raton, FL
Address: sales center, located at 309 Plaza Real in Mizner Park, opens in June.
Floors: 5
Year (start): break ground in October
Year (end): jUNE 2005
Job Status: Approved

Developer: Sunrise-based developer Opus South Corp.

Additional Info
Low Rise Luxury
After years of uncertainty as to how a two-acre lot at the corner of Palmetto Park Road and A1A in Boca Raton would be developed, plans have finally been approved for a 31-unit luxury condominium project on the site. Sunrise-based developer Opus South Corp. is scheduled to break ground in October for The Meridian at One North Ocean. With unit prices starting at $1.25 million and ranging to over $3 million, the homes of 1,845 to 3,800 square-feet are to be completed by early 2006. The Mediterranean-style project will consist of a five-story, L-shaped building with two-, three- and four-bedroom units. Luxury features include Italian wood cabinetry, granite countertops and marble master baths with Jacuzzi tubs. Kitchen appliances include a Sub-Zero refrigerator, Wolf double ovens, ASKO dishwasher and Sub-Zero wine cooler. Four of the residences are ground level Lanai units, two with private pools and two with private spas. Building amenities include concierge service, clubroom, fitness center, resort-style pool, deck and spa. The sales center, located at 309 Plaza Real in Mizner Park, opens in June. 24-hour valet and concierge services. The units, ranging in size from 534 to 1,271 square feet, are scheduled for June occupancy.

http://www.southfloridaceo.com/Archived%20Issues/2004_Issues/MAY04/Art/Pipeline-3.jpg

[MIAballinboi]

hopefully the 30+ story tower will be built

[renner01]

Name of pricey Boca condo to say it all: Luxuria

By Robyn A. Friedman
Business Correspondent
Posted October 19 2004

Email story
Print story
An Aventura-based development firm has announced plans to build an oceanfront condominium in Boca Raton that it claims will bring the most expensive condominium units ever to South Florida.

Boca Ocean Development LLC, a subsidiary of The Trump Group, (no connection to developer Donald Trump) will build the project -- called Luxuria -- on a 2.5-acre site of an aging condominium on A1A south of Camino Real in the process of being demolished. The project will feature 24 units ranging in size from 4,300 to 21,000 square feet -- and in price from $4.3 million to $21 million. "We're creating one of the most expensive buildings in South Florida," said Michael Goldstein, president of marketing and sales for the developer.

At least one real estate industry expert agrees. "I don't know anything in South Florida in the $20 million price range, so it's unique," said Michael Cannon, managing director of Integra Realty Resources in Miami. "At that price point, you're competing with luxury, single-family homes on the water."

Units in the 10-story building will feature restricted-access elevators incorporating thumbprint technology, gas fireplaces, gourmet kitchens and 14-foot-deep terraces, each with its own outdoor spa and kitchen. Three of the units will have private swimming pools. "It will be just like a house," Goldstein said. "The only difference is that it will be located in a high-rise and attached."

The project's amenities will include two pools, a fitness center, a social room with catering kitchen, an outdoor bar and grill and a pool/beach attendant. Purchasers will receive Premier Club membership privileges at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, but will be responsible for their own annual fees.

Luxuria will rise on the site of a 40-year-old condominium called Villa del Mar at 2500 S. Ocean Blvd. In an unusual transaction that closed earlier this year, all the owners there agreed to dissolve their condominium association and sell the units en masse to a single buyer rather than to pay an assessment of over $1 million to rehabilitate the building, which was in need of structural and safety upgrades. Goldstein said he's targeting two types of potential buyers: local empty-nesters who own large estate homes in country club communities and Northeasterners. He's already receiving calls from people seeking more information, including a call from an attorney representing an individual interested in downsizing from his 20,000-square-foot house into a 7,000-square-foot condominium, Goldstein said.

But Cannon said that owners of single-family estate homes might not want to live in a multi-family development. "The question is whether somebody will opt for multi-family living over having their own residential enclave," he said, adding that usually affluent homeowners want their privacy. "They want to be incognito." The official groundbreaking is slated for summer 2005 and completion of Luxuria is expected in the first quarter of 2007.

The architects for the project are Boca Raton-based Vander Ploeg and Associates Inc. and Robert M. Swedroe Architects-Planners of Miami Beach. The principals of The Trump Group -- Jules and Eddie Trump -- also developed the 80-acre Williams Island in Aventura and the 51-story Acqualina Residences & Resort in Sunny Isles Beach. They also have residential real estate holdings in California and commercial real estate holdings in New York.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-zcondo19oct19,0,4626835.story

[renner01]

From the February 7, 2005 print edition
Developer finds risk has rewards in Boca Raton
Ed Duggan

Call it the art of the risky deal that wasn't so risky after all.

West City Partners paid $38 million for three office buildings and vacant land at Palmetto Park Road and Federal Highway in downtown Boca Raton in 2001.

"When we bought it, it was a gamble. The stock market was starting to tank and the office building sector was weak," said President Ken Simigran.

More than three years later, the group can expect $35 million to $40 million just for the site's Bank of America building which it just put up for sale. Recent sales of Class A office buildings have been in the range of $300 a square foot.

On the remaining land, West City is planning 281 new residential units with two nine-story towers, plus 20,000 square feet of retail space.

While downtown Boca Raton has undergone a residential boom in recent years, West City will add a new twist, with 10 lofts that can be used for both offices and residences.

The 110,000-square-foot, eight-story Bank of America Building is being listed with Manny de Zarraga of Miami-based Holliday Fenoglio Fowler.

The two-story Smith Barney office building on the site will be demolished for the new structures, but West City will still have a five-story building that houses Merrill Lynch.

Sellout of the new buildings is roughly estimated at $90 million to more than $120 million, depending on market conditions and final project design.

It's the last two phases of development on a 9.44-acre tract that includes Palmetto Place, a mixed-use residential condominium tower that West City doesn't own.

Zoning changes for the new project are minor and include dropping some office use in favor of residential and retail.

"We are switching the previous phases four and five and tweaking to align them with market needs," Simigran said. "This is a prominent Boca location and we are working closely with the city to make it a showplace."

A nine-story, mixed-use condominium tower with 123 apartments, two residential/office lofts, 20,000 square feet of retail bays and a restaurant will sprout as the next phase of the overall parcel's development.

A similar nine-story condominium structure, with 148 apartments, plus eight residential/office lofts, will replace the Smith Barney building on First Street.

The law firm of Larsen and Simon submitted the development revisions for Boca Raton Planning Advisory review in late November. The Planning Advisory staff gives comments, environmental cautions and recommendations on a project before an official submission for approval.

Downtown residential properties have been hot sellers in Boca Raton, but the Palmetto Project - the development's unofficial working title - will introduce a small number of 2,000-square-foot lofts with studios or offices on the ground floor and residential quarters above. They will face an extension of Mizner Boulevard.

Prices for the lofts are expected to start in the $600,000s, but firm prices have not been established. The condominium flats haven't been priced yet.

"The live/work units are a new configuration for a downtown Boca Raton residence and we expect good market response," Simigran said.

The project architect is Boca Raton-based Marc Wiener & Associates, whose office is near the site. Wiener expects to submit a final site plan modification within the next few weeks.

Negotiations for project financing have not started and unit sales are not expected to start until near the end of the year.

West City Partners has two other $100 million-plus projects under way in Broward County: Weston Commons in Weston and Veranda in Plantation.
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/real_estate/residential/2005/02/07/southflorida_story1.html?f=et180

[EAT my SHORTS!!!!!!]

THE SPRAWL OF THE SOUTH FLORIDA BOOM