City’s Inaction Puts Boca Raton at “Unparalleled Financial Risk”

BOCA RATON, Fla. – October 24, 2018 – Six months after Crocker Partners notified the City of Boca Raton of its intent to sue under the Bert Harris Act, the Boca Raton-based commercial real estate company officially filed the lawsuit related to its Midtown Boca properties in Palm Beach Circuit Court on October 23.

The suit follows a 150-day notice period, required before filing for the purpose of encouraging dialog between parties. During this period, the City did not make a single attempt to communicate with Crocker Partners or its counsel. Three years ago, the Company acquired three properties near the Town Center Mall, including Boca Center, for almost $300 million with the vision of redeveloping these properties and the surrounding area into a work-live-play environment, which they branded Midtown Boca.

The suit is seeking $137 million in damages related to the City’s failure to put updated land use regulations in place consistent with the City’s Comprehensive Plan for the area, which has gone without new development for over 30 years. Because the City did not attempt to find a compromise with Crocker Partners, taxpayers are now at risk for incurring the cost of these damages, which would be the equivalent of 63% of Boca Raton’s entire proposed 2018/2019 budget.

According to Managing Partner Angelo Bianco, this marks a sad day for his company, which has called Boca Raton home for over 30 years.

“Due to the fact that the City has taken an obstructionist, non-cooperative approach, we are left with no choice but to move forward [with the lawsuit],” said Bianco. “We are saddened that the City has forced our hand in this matter and is endangering the financial health of our community and placing a tremendous burden on its citizens and our neighbors.”

The City designated “Midtown Boca” as a Planned Mobility District in 2010, recognizing the need to revitalize the blighted area with mixed-uses, including residential, and to improve mobility. But for the last eight years, the City has failed to put the state-required zoning in place which would allow landowners to bring projects up for review and approval. Rather than adopt regulations, the City Council further delayed the process this past January by voting to develop a “small area plan” instead; a requirement not mentioned anywhere in the City Code and something that had never before been required from a developer.
“This is unparalleled financial risk for the City.” said Henry Handler, Crocker’s attorney in the litigation.

Florida’s Bert Harris Act provides for relief to landowners whose property rights have been abridged by governmental actions. In a decision earlier this year, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, the appellate court for Palm Beach County, ruled in favor of a property owner and ordered a lower court to consider the owner’s claim for damages as it found that the governmental entity violated the owner’s existing use. The appeals court found that the owner’s existing use included “reasonably foreseeable, non-speculative land uses which are suitable for the subject real property and compatible with the adjacent land uses.” Crocker Partners claims to be seeking uses consistent with and allowable under the City’s existing Comprehensive Plan for Midtown.