BOCA RATON — Since purchasing the property that once housed the long-closed Wildflower restaurant, the Boca Raton City Council has been seeking a “revenue generating” use for the land.
A new restaurant seems the popular choice for the prime parcel located on the Intracoastal at East Palmetto Park Road.
But downtown property mogul James Batmasian recently urged the council to scrap the restaurant idea in favor of rental housing. He said there are currently 150 to 200 eating spots in the downtown, all of which “are suffering” because of the poor economy, heavy competition and the “need for more bodies” in East Boca.
Rental property, he said, would deliver those bodies, to dine at the existing restaurants and help keep them afloat.
Batmasian and architect Douglas Mummaw made a presentation at a recent council workshop. City officials had no questions for either of them and took the matter under consideration.
The city bought the property for $7.5 million in 2009 after deciding the site has strategic importance to the downtown. But Batmasian noted that both the Wildflower and Maxwell’s Chophouse previously failed on that block.
“Another restaurant is certainly not a guaranteed business plan for the Wildflower property,” he said. “A restaurant would have to be substantial, similar in size to the original Wildflower restaurant, in order to lease the land from the city.”
Batmasian said the city would be hurt if the restaurant succeeds since it would draw customers from other eating places that may be on the financial edge. But failure of a new restaurant would also hurt as it would add another empty building to the cityscape.
He said a rental housing development would be compatible with surrounding homes. He also said the Wildflower land could be used for public access to the Intracoastal and revive Silver Palm Park on the south side of the Palmetto Park Bridge.
In total, Batmasian said he wants the site to have the dual function of a public park/boardwalk along the water, with some modest-sized (900-1,000 square feet) rental apartments.
The priority of the concept would be to extend the public park realm of Silver Palm by creating a continuous boardwalk and additional boat docks. This would create continuity beneath the bridge and “give the water to the public.”
“Moving parking into a compact structure both below and at grade, would mitigate parking concerns,” Batmasian said. “Small-scale rentals would mean an increase in residents living east, which would help promote commerce as these individuals would be shopping locally, dining and paying taxes in the east Boca quarter.”
The council is current considering five potential uses for the Wildflower: an outdoor center, a dockside market or three eating spot plans from the Hillstone Restaurant Group, Guanabanas Restaurant and Bricktops.
Following an Oct. 18 meeting, the council received 61 emails. Eleven favored passive recreation while 45 opted for a “destination” such as a restaurant, concession, amphitheater, a place for food trucks or a site for art shows, among others.