North Ocean Blvd. Property Proposed Development Site - Ocean Strand

The property was purchased to protect it from development, so is the city now considering breaking this promise to neighbors on North Ocean Blvd.?

Developer proposes Boca Raton park district land for private beach club
By Angel Streeter Sun Sentinel - Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Many hailed the purchase of the Ocean Strand property in 1994 as a major victory for preserving green space. For $11.88 million, the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District secured the city's last sizeable piece of undeveloped oceanfront property, saving the 15-acre site near Gumbo Limbo Nature Center from development. And there it has sat, undeveloped, untouched, in the midst of condominiums, single-family homes and other city parkland. Now, a developer is proposing building a private beach club on a portion of the property as part of a major development planned for downtown.

But residents who live near the property worry a beach club, possibly with dining and bars, could change the quiet, residential character of the coastal neighborhood."It would destroy the area," said Alan Goldman, who is on the condominium board of the Aegean, condominiums just south of Ocean Strand. "You've got an area here with no commercial property on the ocean side."District commissions have yet to agree; their lawyer is looking into the proposal.

"They said, 'We can think about this,' " said Bob Langford, park district executive director. "But there's a ton of things to think about. "The proposed beach club is critical to development of Via Mizner, a $1 billion redevelopment project at the northeast corner of Federal Highway and Camino Real, Penn-Florida Companies says. The mixed-use development, approved by Boca Raton's Community Redevelopment Agency in 2006, could consist of a 118-room luxury hotel, office space, 192 condominiums and high-end retail stores and restaurants. Penn-Florida has stressed to city and park district officials that the beach club would be a necessary amenity to attract an exclusive international hotel that has expressed interest in the Via Mizner project. And that hotel is critical to the success of Via Mizner overall.In an April 27 letter to City Manager Leif Ahnell, Penn-Florida President Mark Gensheimer asked the city to help the developer get access to the oceanfront portion of the Ocean Strand property to build a "low-rise beach club.

"In addition, a western portion of the property would be needed for beach club parking. In addition, Gensheimer said, Penn-Florida would help develop the Ocean Strand property as a passive park. In response, and at the direction of the City Council, Ahnell wrote to the park district board, stressing the importance of Via Mizner to the downtown and "its huge economic development potential. "He said the council was interested in exploring the beach club idea and getting public input. The developer's lawyer proposed the beach club to the district in December. Although at the time, the commissioners didn't know who the lawyer was representing or what major development he was referring to, Langford said. That had been the only contact the district had with Penn-Florida, he said.

At the December meeting, the developer's representative explained that the developer would want to lease the oceanfront property for the private beach club. But many questions remain unanswered: How much land does the developer want? How much is the developer willing to pay? When would the developer want to build the beach club?And a critical question for the park district is whether it should turn over public land to a private entity that wants to develop it.

"We haven't been too aggressive about building anything out there," Langford said. "We didn't buy it to develop it. We didn't buy it for any particular use. "The district bought it because neighbors and the city didn't want the previous owners to move forward with plans to build 79 condominiums and six beachfront homes on the site.Since the purchase, the district has done very little with the property.

Early on, it removed some old homes and duplexes. But nothing else has been done. And the land gets very little use. Neighbors seem to like that. They worry a beach club would bring traffic and noise. "It's basically like a nightclub in the middle of a residential area," said Mike Graham, who lives just north of the Ocean Strand property.While he approves of the Via Mizner project Penn-Florida plans downtown, he is skeptical about the district leasing prime real estate to a developer for a fraction of what it's worth."I'd sure like to know more about it," he said. "The beaches are nice. The traffic is minimal. It's our last piece of prime ground.

"Penn-Florida stressed it would work with neighbors to create a low density, low-rise beach club that would enhance the neighborhood, said Bonnie Kaye, a Penn-Florida spokeswoman. "The plans are conceptual," she said. "Nothing is finalized because the goal is to work with the city and the neighbors in a collaborative effort. The plans are to make it a showpiece and a welcome part of the community."