Article Courtesy of The Palm
Beach Post
By GRETEL SARMIENTO
Published June 19, 2008
BOCA RATON — Not all recognize it for its name.
Those who do are happy to crack sarcastic jokes about it. But asked what
the ugliest building is in the city today, many would point to 300 W.
Palmetto Park Road: the Eden.
It might soon become "Pearl."
Planning and Zoning board officials will approve or
deny today the latest plans developer Boca East LLC has for the
condominium, which for years has sat incomplete and shy of the luxury and
amenities promised to unit owners.
Because of its nature - a 248-unit residential
rental community - the plan only requires the planning board's vote. The
city council doesn't have to approve it. However, according to the city
code an applicant could bring an appeal before the city council.
Planning board chairman William Fairman wouldn't
discuss the plan ahead of today's meeting, but said he's quite familiar
with the history of that property.
This is the third plan submitted this year by Boca
East for the Eden site. The plan, which these days go by the name of
"Pearl," also calls for a one-story 5, 000 square feet leasing
office between buildings A and C, demolition of some garages for
new-surface parking and renovation of the existing recreational building.
There are pending investigations by the Office of
the Attorney General, Economic Crimes Division, and the Florida Department
of Business and Professional Regulation on Boca East and Adam Schlesinger,
Eden's project manager.
Rumors suggesting the state investigations had
scared away Atlanta developer Roy Dickson, of Parc Communities, who last
year stepped in suggesting he would make a luxurious rental community out
of the Eden, are not true.
Dickson said earlier this month he is still on
board.
But the question remains, if the plan passes, what
will happen to the unit owners currently living in the partially-finished
Eden? To their regret, the city's role has been one of an adviser and less
of a protector. City officials have repeatedly said any issues should be
worked out between the residents and the developer. The planning board
could approve the plan as it stands or with conditions, such as making the
developer buy unit owners out.
New board member Neil M. Schiller will not be able
to vote on the project because he has represented some Eden unit owners
pro-bono in the past.
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