A joint venture between Beztak and Wexford Real Estate has received approval from Boca Raton’s Planning and Zoning Board to expand its previously approved apartment project. The development, called Bocora, is located inside the 21.4-acre Amtec Center business park at 6401 to 6421 Congress Avenue.
With this approval, Farmington Hills-based Beztak and West Palm Beach-based Wexford plan to add 21 more apartments, a fitness center, and a private school to the project. The original plan for Bocora included an eight-story building with 277 units. The proposed expansion will next go before the Boca Raton City Council for a vote.
As part of the agreement for additional units, the developers have committed to reserving four apartments for affordable housing and including a 2,086-square-foot fitness facility. Under Boca Raton’s commercial industrial multifamily development (CIMD) ordinance, developers may request extra residential units in light-industrial areas if they provide attainable housing and new retail amenities.
The owners of Amtec Center are also seeking conditional use approval for a 2,000-square-foot school within an existing office building on site. If granted, Xceed Preparatory Academy would be able to accept school vouchers at its hybrid tutoring facility there, according to project attorney Ele Zachariades.
Not everyone supports the expansion. Jon Ounjian, who owns an office building just north of Amtec Center, raised concerns about increased vehicular traffic impacting his property unless a turn lane is added.
Some board members and planning staff questioned whether the planned fitness center was being used merely to fulfill CIMD requirements rather than serve as genuine retail space. Board member Timothy Dornblaser commented on this trend: “All these apartments that are going up [have] no retail, so every time someone wants a cup of coffee or breakfast or something, they are leaving the site,” Dornblaser said.
Brandon Schaad, development services director, stated that under CIMD rules the fitness center must be open to the public and staffed at least 60 hours per week by an independent operator. Failure to comply could result in fines or legal action against the developers.
Zachariades responded that staffing may not be necessary: “It’s a small boutique gym. Most of them don’t have staff at all,” she said.
Schaad noted that this issue will be addressed when the zoning item reaches city council: “Unstaffed commercial gyms are a real thing in the world, but I’m not familiar with them,” he said.
Beztak is led by Sam Beznos; Wexford is led by Joseph Jacobs and Philip Braunstein. Plans for Bocora were announced in late 2021 after Beztak acquired part of Amtec Center for $12.7 million from Jupiter-based Catexor—led by Stig and Britt Wennerstrom—which still owns most of Amtec Center’s land and buildings dating back to the mid-1980s.
Boca Raton continues to see significant development activity. In July, Related Group bought ten acres of Office Depot Campus for $50 million as part of plans—alongside PEBB Enterprises and BH Group—to redevelop it into a mixed-use community with apartments, retail space and a large fitness center (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/07/16/related-pebb-bh-score-approval-for-office-depot-redevelopment-in-boca-raton/). Also in July, Group P6 and Mill Creek Residential received approval for a new downtown apartment building (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/07/10/group-p6-mill-creek-get-green-light-for-306-unit-apartment-building-in-boca-raton/) from Boca Raton’s Community Redevelopment Agency. In August, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints paid $152.5 million for Del Ola apartments (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/08/14/church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-buys-del-ola-apartments-in-boca-raton-for-153m/) while James and Marta Batmasians’ hotel project near Mizner Park advanced through city planning review (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/08/28/batmasians-propose-12-story-hotel-near-mizner-park-in-boca-raton).
Recent months have also seen resident pushback against some developments; last month thousands signed petitions seeking a referendum on Terra Group and Frisbie Group’s proposal for major redevelopment on public land.
“All these apartments that are going up [have] no retail, so every time someone wants a cup of coffee or breakfast or something, they are leaving the site,” Dornblaser said.
“It’s a small boutique gym. Most of them don’t have staff at all,” Zachariades said.
“Unstaffed commercial gyms are a real thing in the world, but I’m not familiar with them,” Schaad said.
