Boca Raton developers are attempting to move forward with building two eight-story buildings with nearly 400 residences in the city’s downtown, adding to a multi-building residential project that, if approved, would in total have more than 700 residences.
The project is called Camino Square and already is home to two eight-story buildings with 346 apartments at 171 W. Camino Real, which is directly west of Dixie Highway and near other projects such as the still-under-construction Mandarin Oriental and the Boca Raton resort.
Now, developers are proposing a Camino Square sequel directly west of Phase One with 394 residences, restaurant and retail space, office space, a business center and amenities such as a pocket park, courtyard and fitness space.
But after a flurry of opposition was expressed during a public city meeting on Tuesday, the Community Redevelopment Agency members — who also are the same people serving on City Council — agreed to postpone the project.
“The biggest question for me remains, does it satisfy what the vision is of the downtown and is it true to the vision, and is this thoughtful growth?” Fran Nachlas, the city’s deputy mayor and a CRA commissioner, said during the meeting.
History of the site
Before Camino Square was built, the land housed a shopping center originally developed in the 1960s, said Brandon Schaad, the city’s planning, building and code enforcement director.
Winn-Dixie used to be the center’s anchor store, but after leaving in 2010, the site became a rare source of blight in Boca Raton, said Ele Zachariades, a Miskel Backman planning lawyer representing the project.
That shopping center was demolished to make way for Camino Square, which was initially discussed by city officials in 2017. The two residential towers that have since been built are nearly fully occupied.
The original plan for Phase Two of Camino Square was more than 37,000 square feet of retail, but the proposal has since shifted to an emphasis on residences instead, with a much smaller side of retail.
“Retail in the past has served an important function here for the downtown and also for the neighborhoods to the west,” Schaad said. “When it comes to achieving the downtown vision, we feel that the walkable design that’s been proposed here will provide both residents of this development and surrounding areas the opportunity to decide not to get in a car for certain activities and services and actually have the opportunity to walk.”
Camino Square, part two
During Tuesday’s meeting, Zachariades was ready to defend the change from a retail-heavy project to more eight-story residential towers.
Zachariades said a suburban shopping center is not viable because an anchor tenant cannot be secured — and she believes the area is not in need of any more grocers anyway.
“You have Fresh Market, you have Trader Joe’s and you have Publix all within walking distance,” she said. “We are a downtown, so a suburban shopping center with a sea of parking lot is not something I’m hoping anybody sitting at the dais would desire.”
Approximately 8,600 square feet of retail now is being proposed.
“I want to remind the council that we are a downtown without density, and I understand that that word sometimes causes heartburn for some, but without density, we will never have a vibrant downtown,” Zachariades said.
‘A retail void’
A mixture of reasons drew city residents to the lectern on Tuesday, though the comments generally were united in distaste for the project.
“The more dense these projects in that area kind of get, the harder it is for people to move from those neighborhoods into the downtown, and a lot of people do bike and walk to that area,” Boca Raton resident Martha Parker said at the meeting. “In East Boca, we have to get in the car and drive 15 minutes-plus to Western Boca, Delray, Deerfield to get to retail like Ulta, HomeGoods, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Target. We live in a retail void.”
Another city resident, Pam Paschke, said she is “very disturbed” by the eight-story height of the proposed buildings, and she called the proposed pocket park a “joke.”
Community redevelopment agency members’ thoughts about the project were not nearly as harsh, but they had enough issues to warrant postponing a decision on whether to move forward.
CRA Chair Marc Wigder said he had “significant retail concerns.” Similarly, CRA Commissioner Yvette Drucker called the retail reduction a “real big issue.”
“Perhaps the best course of action would be to postpone the project, give us an opportunity to work with the developer and the developer of the community to create a little bit more of a village-y feel, commercial, retail and revisit this,” Wigder said.
Camino Square Phase Two will again be discussed on Nov. 17.
