The transportation authority that runs the Tri-Rail passenger train service selected a site for its second train station in Boca Raton, but the owner of the site doesn’t want to sell it.
Angelo Bianco, managing partner of Crocker Partners, told the Palm Beach Post the real estate development firm has other plans for the 2.12-acre site and is “not inclined at this time to sell the land.”
The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), which operates Tri-Rail, didn’t contact Crocker Partners before publicly announcing that it selected the firm’s land at Northwest 19th Street and Military Trail as the best location for Tri-Rail’s second train station in Boca Raton.
SFRTA could acquire the land through eminent domain, a costly legal maneuver that Crocker could contest in court.
Natalie Yesbeck Pustizzi declined to tell the Palm Beach Post whether SFRTA would consider the eminent-domain option.
Crocker Partners is planning a mixed-use development called Midtown Boca Raton which encompasses the site where SFRTA wants to build the city’s second Tri-Rail station.
Crocker Partners is suing the city government, charging that city leaders have illegally delayed the Midtown project, which the firm proposed two years ago. [Palm Beach Post] – Mike Seemuth