Three new buildings could be going up in the heart of downtown Boca Raton. Some residents are fighting to keep what’s left of Boca’s historic main street as new high-rises and traffic are becoming the norm.
The project, known as Aletto Square, would include a luxury apartment building, office space, and a 357-spot automated parking garage. The plans were submitted to the City in November.
Resident Alan Neibauer, who lives in Tower 155, just down the street from the proposed project, is concerned about traffic that could result from the automated parking garage.
“If that automatic garage faults or has a failure, and they often do, they only have 300-plus cars that have no place else to go, there’s no alternate parking for those cars here," Neibauer said. "When they’re working well it works well but when it doesn’t work it can be disastrous for the center city area.”
In documents submitted to the city, developers and engineers behind the proposal estimate that the project would approximately double traffic in the area.
In December, City Council member Monica Mayotte sponsored an automated parking garage ordinance. The architect of the new proposed buildings, Derek Vander Ploeg, told WLRN that he helped author the ordinance.
In a Community Redevelopment meeting on January 24, Vander Ploeg said that automated parking garages are not a new technology — he’s utilized them in the design of several condominiums where people have multiple cars and don’t need access to all of them at the same time. He says automated garages are environmentally friendly and help reduce architectural mass and scale when designing new buildings.
Residents are worried that the new buildings will dwarf Sanborn Square and destroy what’s left of Boca Raton’s original main street. Sanborn Square is a popular destination for yoga in the park, art shows and outdoor movies.
“The new buildings will block the morning sunrise in the park. Instead of yoga in the park it will be yoga in the dark,” says Neibauer’s wife, Victoria Milazzo.
“What we’re hoping is that they can take and modify this plan, to make it more compatible to not increase the burden on traffic, parking and the danger to pedestrians. That whole proposal is so large on a small lot that it only works if you can have that garage,” Neibauer said.
Part of Aletto Square would be built along Boca Raton Road, a narrow street just east of Sanborn Square and a block south of Mizner Park. It currently has limited on-street parking. The garage is an essential part of Aletto Square’s design proposal.
Neibauer has an online petition aimed at stopping the Aletto Square project that has gathered more than 520 signatures. He’s urging the city to deny the developer’s plan.
The Boca Raton Historical Society posted their concerns on Instagram. If Aletto Square is approved, the historic Cramer House, built in 1925, would be demolished. It is not protected under the City’s historic preservation code.
City Council is scheduled to review and vote on the proposed ordinance next week.
