BOCA RATON, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — A proposed downtown hotel and retail development south of Mizner Park moved forward this week after the Boca Raton Planning and Zoning Board voted 6-0 to recommend approval of the Mizner Plaza project.
The March 5 vote supports an individual development approval for a 12-story hotel and retail complex planned for roughly 1.65 acres at 132 and 170 Northeast 2nd Street, just south of Mizner Park in downtown Boca Raton. The recommendation now moves to the Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency for further review.
Plans presented to the board show a 275,412-square-foot development containing 219 hotel rooms, approximately 30,840 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and an internal parking garage. The proposal includes a technical deviation that would reduce the required number of off-street parking spaces from 557 to 328.
The project also includes the transfer of 154,815 square feet of office-equivalent development rights from downtown sub-area D to sub-area B.
City planner Susan Lesser told the board the application had changed since it was last reviewed in 2025. A city-owned parcel previously included in the proposal has been removed.
The applicant’s attorney said the earlier version of the project had included a plan to convert the city parcel into a public park with underground parking beneath it. The revised proposal removes that component following opposition raised during earlier hearings.
With the parcel removed, the hotel count dropped from 242 rooms to 219 and roughly 4,000 square feet of restaurant space was converted into a spa.
The hotel would consist of two towers, with 115 rooms in the east tower and 104 rooms in the west tower. Lower levels would include retail and restaurant space along with lobby areas and a large staircase facing Northeast 2nd Street and aligned toward Mizner Park.
City staff said the project would provide about 46 percent open space where 40 percent is required.
Vehicle access would come primarily from the alley along the south side of the property. The applicant proposes widening the alley to 20 feet to accommodate two-way traffic.
Access points would include Northeast 1st Avenue and a right-in, right-out connection from Northeast Mizner Boulevard.
Traffic estimates presented to the board showed daily trips reduced from about 1,407 in earlier plans to roughly 1,100 in the current proposal.
Parking and alley traffic were among the most debated issues during the hearing.
Staff said the applicant’s traffic engineer argued the city’s downtown parking requirements rely on older demand models that may overestimate the amount of parking needed in walkable urban districts. The proposal also includes a transportation demand management program and a financial contribution toward downtown transit initiatives.
Residents of nearby Tower 155 raised concerns about both construction impacts and the increased use of the alley.
An attorney speaking on behalf of Tower 155 residents told the board the condominium building is already involved in construction defect litigation and could be more vulnerable to nearby construction activity.
The residents requested additional safeguards including documentation of existing conditions at the building and analysis of potential vibration impacts from construction.
Several residents also raised concerns about a two-way alley serving hotel traffic, delivery trucks, garbage trucks and moving vehicles. Others objected more broadly to the scale of the development and continued downtown growth.
One nearby homeowner told the board the project would add hotel capacity and walkable amenities to the area and said residents who choose to live downtown benefit from that kind of urban development.
The applicant’s attorney responded that the primary deviation requested by the project is the parking reduction and said the design intentionally reduces impacts on neighboring properties.
The building would sit more than 54 feet away from Tower 155, and the project leaves more than 200,000 square feet of potential development capacity unbuilt compared with what could be constructed under the applicable development envelope.
The widened alley, the applicant said, would be larger than East Boca Raton Road.
Before the vote, the board added two conditions to its recommendation: a survey documenting existing conditions at Tower 155 and vibration monitoring during the construction process.
The motion to recommend approval passed unanimously.
Board members said they heard the concerns raised by neighbors but noted that similar objections had surfaced years earlier when Tower 155 itself was proposed.
One board member also expressed disappointment that the city-owned parcel is no longer planned to become a park.
The Mizner Plaza proposal now moves to the Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency for further consideration.
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