By Abigail Hasebroock
Plans for building Boca Raton’s Center for Arts and Innovation at Mizner Park have been nixed, at least for now. The center, which was to be an arts-oriented destination featuring attractions such as a rooftop terrace and renovated amphitheater, is instead plotting a new path forward.
In a letter addressed to the Boca Raton City Manager, the center’s CEO Andrea Virgin said the organization’s board of directors unanimously voted to terminate the development agreement between the city and the center.
“This decision was reached after careful reflection and with the utmost respect for both donors’ contributed resources as well as the collaborative efforts between The Center and Boca Raton, despite our current and unfortunate impasse,” the letter states.
In the letter, she cited four primary issues that ultimately led to the center’s decision:
— The fundraising schedule, Virgin wrote, “diverges from expectations of major capital donors” by requiring them to make monetary donations to the project “on a more accelerated timeline than is customary or necessary for projects of this magnitude.”
— “Inaccessible” funding from the public sector, which Virgin attributed to the lack of protections on the site.
— An inability to access public funding because the current agreement does not address “assurances from the City to safeguard the land’s intended civic use during the design and construction process.”
— Development rights, or lack thereof, “created uncertainty with donors.”
— No cure periods, which are akin to grace periods within contract agreements, presented “impractical challenges in accommodating the intricacies of a multi-year, large-scale project,” Virgin wrote. “Unfortunately, based on Boca Raton’s responses to date and our further discussions, it seems we are unable to resolve these matters at this time,” Virgin wrote.’
In an emailed statement, Virgin wrote that the center will begin to “actively explore alternatives,” which includes re-engaging with Boca Raton.
A brief history
For more than eight years, the team behind the center had worked to find a home for the organization and began eyeing Boca Raton early on, ultimately settling on the north end of Mizner Park where the city’s current amphitheater and art museum reside.
The City Council conceptually approved the location for the center in 2019, and then in 2020, the center received approval to begin raising money for the project, which was then $120 million.
In 2022, the city and the center entered into a lease agreement that allowed the center to use city land to build its project so long as the center met its fundraising goals each year. In 2023, the fundraising goal was met. In 2024, it was not.
In October of 2024, Virgin went before the City Council and revealed the center was millions of dollars behind the $50 million it needed at that time. Virgin and her team were rebuked by council members who felt they’d been in the dark.
Despite this, council members offered the center an extended deadline to meet its fundraising goals, but Virgin and her team declined this offer, instead proposing a new fundraising schedule and timeline for the center in which it wouldn’t open until 2032.
The revised fundraising timeline and path forward was submitted to the City Council on Nov. 25, and the councilmembers were set to review it on Jan. 13.
During a public meeting on Nov. 4, Brian Hickey, an attorney representing the center asked the councilmembers to grant an “opportunity” to “work together” and “try to come together with something that ensures the success of this project.”
But now, about two months later, all of that has come to end.
What’s next?
According to Virgin’s letter to the city, a future collaboration isn’t out of the question, at least not for the center.
“It is our hope though that this decision will provide the necessary time, space and opportunity for both parties to identify whether or not a new agreement can be made in the future,” she wrote.
But Virgin also reiterated a point she’s made in the past, which is that she sees the center coming to life no matter what, it just might not be with Boca Raton.
“While we remain optimistic and hopeful about the potential to develop a new agreement that secures The Center’s home in Downtown Boca, we understand that The Center and Boca Raton may necessarily need to explore alternatives,” she wrote, adding in her emailed statement that “The value of the work produced to date is not tied to a specific site.”
And as for the millions of dollars the center has collected over the last few years from donors, Virgin said much of it is “non-site specific” and will help the center in its efforts to fulfill the project, wherever and whenever that may be.
“We remain committed to realizing the center’s vision and ensuring it becomes a vital resource for the region and beyond,” Virgin wrote.