Terra won't just be co-developing a large mixed-use community in Boca Raton's downtown area. The Miami- based development company is also partnering with property owners to potentially build more than 1,000 residential units and other commercial uses at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus.
On February 11, Miami-based Terra Group was picked by Boca Raton's elected officials as the preferred developer to transform 30 acres of publicly-owned land at 201 W. Palmetto Road into a mixed-use community with about 2.5 million square feet of residential, retail, office, and hotel uses. The exact details of that project will be worked out through negotiations between the developers and city officials, but as part of the preliminary deal Terra will build the municipality a new city hall, police station, and community center as well as a new urban park by the nearby Brightline Station and a pedestrian bridge leading toward Mizner Park.
Yet about five miles from Boca Raton's city hall campus, Terra is also developing plans to "reimagine" Boca Raton Innovation Campus, a 124-acre office area at 500 T-Rex Avenue that's also known as BRIC, into another mixed-use community with a "walkable retail and restaurant village, along with residential buildings offering a mix of uses with luxury residences and market-rate apartments," said David Martin, CEO of Terra Group.
The new community, which is being designed by Minneapolis-based RSP Architects, will "introduce diverse uses and public experiences with a focus on wellness, art and innovation to activate the campus year-round," Martin added.
"Terra is partnering with a development entity consisting of Rialto Capital Management, DRA Advisors, and CP Group to reimagine the iconic BRIC as a mixed-use, transit-oriented community that will include a variety of residential types, as well as commercial, retail, and office space," Martin said in a written statement to the Business Journal.
The ultimate form the future BRIC will take is still being worked on. However, in October 2023, CP Group managing partner Angelo Bianco told the Business Journal that the owners sought to secure the right to build 1,243 residential units, 125,000 square feet of retail, 85,000 square feet of new medical offices, a 55,000- square-foot entertainment venue, and a 140-room hotel.
A significant step toward securing those building rights took place on February 11 when the council approved on second and final reading a land use amendment that would change BRIC's designation from planned mobility to enhanced mobility. Part of the reasoning for the designation was BRIC being a half-mile away from the Boca Raton Tri-Rail station.
BRIC, which consists of 1.7 million square feet of office space, was originally built in the 1960s by IBM as a research park. CP Group, Rialto Capital, and Siguler Guff paid $179 million for the campus in April 2018. They later sold part of their interest to an investment team led by DRA Advisors and Las Olas Capital Advisors for
$320.2 million in December 2021.
CP Group is still a managing partner of BRIC, and CP Group's managing partner Bianco previously told the Business Journal that adding residential, retail and other amenities is the best way to ensure office projects such as BRIC stay viable.
Boca Raton and neighboring West Boca Raton has experienced a slate of new development projects thanks to an influx of high-income families from around the globe, including other parts of South Florida. At 6600 N. Military Trail, just two miles from BRIC, another team of developers are moving forward with plans to redevelop Office Depot headquarters into a mixed-use community that includes 500 apartments, 43,000 square feet of retail, and a 37,000-square-foot Equinox gym. And at the Tri-Rail station 13th Floor Investments and Adler Group plan to build Boca Village, a mixed-use project with 340 apartments and just over 30,000 square feet of retail.
