NEW HOTEL COMING TO BOCA RATON

NEW HOTEL COMING TO BOCA RATON

I found this one interesting. They say that there is no hotel in Downtown Boca Raton and that this would be the first. But did they forget about the Boca Raton Resort? It has the city’s tallest building at 27 stories and is a hotel and private club. Brushing that fact aside, the new hotel at 120 East Palmetto Park Rd. (the Southeast corner of Palmetto Park Rd. and Federal Highway) will be more centrally located and shorter at just 12 stories. It will be called Hyatt Place Hotel Boca Raton and feature 200 rooms. It will be right next to the Mark at CityScape, another new project, a 208 rental residential building. There will be 8,000 SF of retail / restaurant space which is highly rumored to be taken by the restaurant chain Del Frisco’s, who would not confirm or deny this. The project has full approval and will be built shortly although no timeframe for completion was mentioned. As you can see from the rendering above it will be a nice looking building and will surely be an amenity to the city. It is one of the many new residential projects going up in the area and more are being planned. They will bring badly needed residents, hopefully year round residents at that, to the Eastern part of the city. The retail in the area has always struggled for this reason, not enough customers. It is surely boom times again for the residential developers and they are going for it. Who can blame them as no one knows when the bubble will burst again. I am looking forward to trying that Del Frisco’s, which opened recently in Palm Beach and I have heard good things about. Like with any new project, you just hope there will be enough parking. We will find out soon enough. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.  

Boca's first downtown hotel moving closer to reality

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-08-26/news/fl-boca-first-downtown-hotel-happening-20140825_1_downtown-boca-raton-downtown-hotel-city-codes

PLAN FOR 2ND BOCA RATON HOUSTON’S RESTAURANT MOVES FORWARD

PLAN FOR 2^ND BOCA RATON HOUSTON’S RESTAURANT MOVES FORWARD

This has been in the works for years, and it was in fact the 3^rd time that Hillstone Restaurant Group had gone before the City Council in Boca Raton in hopes of opening a Houston’s restaurant on the intercostal at Palmetto Park Rd. and Northeast 5^th St. It would be the only standalone waterfront dining option in Boca Raton. But to be honest this is a somewhat confusing article. It says that the city is moving forward with lease negotiations. But it also says that it is already agreed upon that the restaurant will pay $500,000 per year in rent, plus a percentage of sales, and the restaurant is anticipating opening in 2016 (which is very quick for building something like this unless the already have an approved plan). So it sounds like a done, fully negotiated lease deal right? Not so the city and Hillstone say. The city is now looking to have Hillstone create boat dockage at the site, at Hillstone’s expense. Meanwhile, the biggest issue of concern with the project, adequate amount of parking, seems completely unresolved. Area residents are rightly concerned and it sounds like they (the city and Hillstone) are still working out the details, but parking is a lot more than a detail with a restaurant project; it is everything. And really I don’t see any way they can provide enough parking for it, but enough will be provided to “meet code”. That will allow the project to get built and then everyone will have to live with the consequences. The restaurant will be very successful there, on par with what they have at their Pompano Beach location, which is the most profitable in the country I am told. So people are going to park somewhere and it will be a mess. Sounds to me like a deal has already been fully negotiated and both parties are just going through the motions to cover themselves in case there is a big public outcry over the deal. Eventually the final details will be made public and when they are you will see them here. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Plan for upscale dining on Boca property advances

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-09-10/news/fl-boca-houstons-discussion-20140910_1_wildflower-property-hillstone-restaurant-group-silver-palm-park

TRI-RAIL GOING COASTAL?

TRI-RAIL GOING COASTAL?

Could it really be so simple as adding trains to the Florida East Coast Railway tracks? Those tracks run along Dixie Highway and pass through cities like West Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Ft. Lauderdale, and would complement not replace the existing Tri-Rail tracks along I - 95. While these plans have been in the offing for years, they might be close to realization now. If it were to happen, it would expand service to up to 22 new stations. Service would expand from the current Northern limit of West Palm Beach to Jupiter under the new plan. There would be new stations that would have to be built, creating jobs. The East station stops are more centrally located and would eliminate the need for the cumbersome Palm Tran buses that are needed now. Most of all, it comes down to money as usual. There is a 2 year study being conducted by the Florida Dept. of Transportation but the costs to link the FEC tracks (called the Tri-Rail Coastal Link) are between $720 and $800 million. Then another $100 million would be required annually to run it. The money would come from the counties, and possibly from some cities as well. To pay for the larger infrastructure costs, options such as transportation sales tax, gas tax or rental car surcharge have been discussed. I am extremely excited about this! This has been something sorely lacking in Florida, mass transportation, and this is a great and cost effective way to make it happen. We all know that our population in Florida is growing rapidly. We are the 3^rd most populous state now, having just overtaken New York, and the traffic problems are mounting. I have lived in Boca Raton since 2001 and this summer is the most traffic I have ever seen. If it stays this way there will no longer be an “off season” in the summer and fall, if it hasn’t happened already. So we must find a way to get some cars off the road and quickly. It sure looks like this is a viable plan so hopefully it will happen. I promise to provide more updates on it as soon as they are available. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Tri-Rail moving ahead with coastal railroad expansion

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-08-23/news/fl-tri-rail-coastal-link-20140816_1_tri-rail-service-coastal-tracks-second-track

FT. LAUDERDALE INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW PLANS FOR GROWTH

FT. LAUDERDALE INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW PLANS FOR GROWTH

Sorry, no photo associated with this article. Through past blogs we know just how huge this show is economically each year. It is bigger than a Super Bowl, and it happens every year! How about these numbers: 90,000 local jobs and $500 million dollar economic impact. But like every business in Florida these days, they have plans to grow. The plan is to attract new businesses, both locally and internationally, that are outside the marine industry. The owner of the show, Marine Industries Association of South Florida, is partnering with the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Alliance, who is Broward’s public-private economic development agency and the official tourism marketer for Broward County. They are going to sponsor a lunch on Oct. 30^th, which is the show’s first day, to promote the show and the economic impact it provides the entire state. The people attending the lunch will be a mix of foreign diplomats from 18 different countries along with local company executives from several different businesses. It is an invitation only lunch, and 220 people are expected. Attending countries that were mentioned include Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, France, Italy and Norway. Fittingly, the lunch will take place aboard the Floridian Princess boat. Strangely, this seems like the first attempt at growing the show, probably because it continues to grow each year with no efforts. But I bet with these efforts they will be successful in attracting even more businesses and participants to the show. It will be interesting to see how quickly it happens and who will be the newest participants. I have no doubt they are focusing heavily on South America, who Florida has seen massive growth from lately. It would also make sense to see Mexico and Canada there since they are our neighbors and have large areas of marine industry. I am going to try and make it this year, for the first time. One of the main detractors of the show is the expense and difficulty in parking during it. Wish me luck! As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Boat show expansion plans include new businesses

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-08-29/business/fl-boat-show-marketing-initiative-20140829_1_boat-show-marine-industry-marine-trade-group

GALLERIA MALL IN FT. LAUDERDALE PLANNING $1 BILLION DOLLAR DEVELOPMENT

GALLERIA MALL IN FT. LAUDERDALE PLANNING $1 BILLION DOLLAR DEVELOPMENT

Oh yes, this is a big one! What do you do when you have a mall that has struggled over the years, and has recently faced a rodent infestation? You build a city around it so you have more people to shop there! Duh! That is exactly what is happening with the Galleria Mall in Ft. Lauderdale now. Keystone Florida Property Holding Corp, the owner of the mall, is going to spend $1 billion dollars to make it happen. They will be building seven new buildings, which will include 1,600 apartments (sounds like a mix of rentals and condos), and 150 hotel rooms. One of the buildings will be 45 stories, which will be all apartments. That would make it the tallest building in Ft. Lauderdale. All the properties will be connected by walking paths, bike lanes and trees, and will essentially be a community itself. It is currently awaiting city approval now, but that is expected to happen shortly. Construction would begin in late 2015 and would be completed in phases over a 7 year period. The only concern is the parking at this point, and they will find a way to make it happen. This is a very exciting and interesting project. I am very happy to see that they took the time to make it into a walkable community, and I think it will be very successful. Many jobs will be created and property values will soar once this is approved. Congratulations in advance to Keystone, who should clean up here. I will provide more information on the project once it is released. I am very curious to see the renderings. I am certain that they will feature the most expensive apartment in the city, the penthouse on the 45th floor of the tower. I wish them the best of luck and look forward to seeing it get built. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Galleria mall plans billion-dollar development

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/blog/morning-edition/2014/09/galleria-mall-plans-billion-dollar-development.html?ana=e_sflo_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2014-09-10&u=imWEgan6Mo2Fr8QCA5ZmD1rCrgv&t=1410356288

ROSENFELD RESTAURANT REVIEW – BRIO TUSCAN GRILL

ROSENFELD RESTAURANT REVIEW – BRIO TUSCAN GRILL

It is hard to believe that I have never eaten at a Brio Tuscan Grill before today. After all, it is a national chain, and they were located in Town Center Mall for many years before they relocated to the Boca Center in Boca Raton. One of the reasons is that I try and avoid chain restaurants, and support the local operators. But I do go to them on occasion and I am glad I decided to go there for lunch today! Brio is a very large, bright, airy place that has many tables but enough space between them. It is very noisy but not so much that you couldn’t talk with the person across from you. The bread bowl is worth mention. It is a combination of flatbread crackers with sesame seeds, and warm sourdough bread. Both were awesome and I ate too much of each. We did have a bad service experience, but the food was right on the money (and not inexpensive), and that is what really matters to me. I met a friend there who has eaten there many times and always enjoyed it. He always gets the same thing, and did so again today, getting the brick pressed chicken, which is actually chicken marsala. It came with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables and looked awesome. He loved it. After picking the waiters brain, I went with the spicy grilled shrimp, which he said was the 2^nd most popular item on the menu. It was a little spicy, and came on a bed of orzo, faro, cherry tomatoes, spinach, asparagus, broccoli with a lemon pesto vinaigrette. It was really good. Normally I wouldn’t drink or have desert at lunch during the week but since the service was so bad they gave us free deserts. We accepted and both went with the pecan butterscotch caramel bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and crème anglaise sauce. It was served warm and was really amazing. It is worth noting that they also have smaller, shot glass size deserts as well (literally in a shot glass,  like you see at Seasons 52 or P.F. Chang’s, must be a chain restaurant thing), which also looked really good. There were quite a few other things that I would like to try here and I look forward to my next visit. I would love to hear about a place you have recently tried and enjoyed or about your favorite restaurant. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB GIVES WAY TO LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM AT CITY PLACE

B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB GIVES WAY TO LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM AT CITY PLACE

Yes we have written on a few of these articles recently, and sadly here is another article about a retailer that is closing its doors at City Place. But this one is not all bad, and might even be good (and we love writing about those stories!). The owner of B.B. King’s Blues Club is not leaving after all, they are just opening up a new concept in the same location. It is going to be called Lafayette’s Music Room. It will have a New Orleans kind of look and will offer Cajun food. They will also offer many different kinds of music, unlike B.B.’s did. The idea is to appeal to many more customers and do so year round. That means drawing in the younger crowd, which they couldn’t do before as B.B.s. This is a huge win for City Place, even though this is the first B.B. King’s location to fail. With 12,000 square feet on the 2^nd floor close to the movie theater, it would be extremely difficult to find a replacement tenant for this location. So the beat goes on for this tenant for a little while longer, for how long no one knows yet. But with the new Revolutions opening there recently, featuring bowling, it could prevent people from getting to the 2^nd floor if it is successful. That would be bad. But the convention center hotel is finally under construction, not a day too soon for all the retailers at City Place who hope it will be a source of new customers. That would be good. And we also know that the new Eat – Scene is supposed to open nearby as well, possibly bringing the types of customers Lafayette’s Music Room needs. Ones with deep pockets that can afford live entertainment and go out frequently for entertainment. City Place must find a way to turn things around since it is critical to the success of the area. It is the center of West Palm Beach, and when that is dying or sick, it reflects badly on the entire city. I really hope they can figure it out and soon. Maybe Lafayette’s will be the catalyst to invigorate the project, but I have my doubts. What do you think? We will soon see, and I wish them all the luck in the world. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.