On the morning of Sept. 3, all five commissioners of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District stood at the corner of NW 2nd Avenue and Jeffery Street with shovels in the dirt. Behind them were 70 acres of the old Ocean Breeze golf course, now officially under construction. Suzi Vogelgesang, Steve Engel, Erin Wright, Bob Rollins and Craig Ehrnst did the digging. Afterward, guests toured a finished-looking building at the edge of the same parking lot.
That building is Boca Paddle, an indoor and outdoor pickleball and padel club. It is scheduled to open in November, months before the trails, dog park and playground the shovels were there for. "It means the end of the beginning," District Chair Bob Rollins said at the ceremony, according to BocaPost. The order follows the money. The private operator paid to build Boca Paddle, so it opens first. Public funds pay for the trails and dog park, and those took three rounds of bidding. The largest piece of the property has no funding and no plan.
Who Pays Decides What Opens First
North Park sits in Boca Teeca on land the District bought in February 2018. At the time, The Real Deal reported the price as $24 million and said a Wells Fargo entity had foreclosed on the course in 2016. Eight years later, this is the order in which the pieces open:
- The Traffic Garden, open since September 2025. The District repaved and repainted the old tennis courts at the northwest corner as an inexpensive interim use. That way it avoided the cost of sodding and irrigating the site.
- Boca Paddle, expected in November 2026. The operator is paying for this $17 million facility. The District owns the building and the land.
- The east-side park, targeted for substantial completion by June 2027. The District is paying for it, and the contract had to be bid three times.
- The skatepark and pump track, now in permitting with no construction start date. The City has committed to fund two-thirds of construction.
- The west side, about 140 acres. As of September 2026, no proposal is under consideration.
Each step down the list depends on more public money and more public decisions, and each one opens later.
What a Day Pass at Boca Paddle Actually Gets You
The club's address is 50 W. Jeffery St. It has 19 pickleball courts: 14 indoor, 4 open-air and 1 covered stadium court. It also has 6 padel courts, 2 indoor and 4 covered. CityPickle, the New York company behind the pickleball courts at Central Park's Wollman Rink, manages the club. Farmer's Table runs the restaurant and full bar. The club is also the home of the Palm Beach Royals, a Major League Pickleball team, so pro matches and exhibitions are expected on site during the season.
A membership does not include court time. Court rentals, open play, clinics and leagues are all charged separately at member rates. For a resident who wants to try it before committing:
- Day pass: $35 for Boca Raton residents with proof of residence, $40 for everyone else. You can buy one as often as you like.
- Booking window: Day-pass holders can book courts only 24 hours ahead. Members can book 10 to 14 days out.
- Intro clinics: Open to non-members at member prices, $40 for pickleball and $50 for padel.
- Guest visits: Anyone can visit free as a member's guest once every 60 days.
- Restaurant and bar: Walk-ins are welcome and no pass is needed.
- Memberships: No initiation fee. Standard is $149 a month and Plus is $299 a month. Plus includes 12 open-play passes and 2 guest passes. Paying annually gets you one month free.
The first membership pre-sale sold out. The District's September announcement said only a limited number of memberships are available this year. With that kind of demand, the 24-hour booking window matters for anyone planning to rely on day passes. As of the latest update on Sept. 25, neither the club nor the District had named an opening day in November.
The Deal That Put a Club on Park Land
The District picked the Malcolm Butters group for Boca Paddle in March 2024 through a public-private partnership process. The Board approved the contract that August. According to the Boca Raton Tribune's report on the agreement, the term is 49 years and 61 days. The concessionaire builds at its own expense, and profits are shared with the District through monthly payments. The Board approved it 4–1. Commissioner Craig Ehrnst voted no, objecting that there was no firm figure for the property's projected value after 25 years. In 2023, the Palm Beach Post reported the District's projected revenue from the deal at $13.1 million over 49 years. The published summaries do not give the exact profit-share percentages.
Residents raised questions before any of this was built. At a September 2023 District meeting, speakers asked for free outdoor courts with no monthly fees. Some questioned whether the District had the authority to turn over use of public property this way. District counsel said the arrangement could be structured within the District's charter.
The deal also moved the public parts of the park forward. Under the concession agreement, the District has to bring sewer, utilities, parking and road access to the club's property line. In August 2025, the Board authorized Butters Construction to do that work. That same month, the Board voted to encapsulate contaminated soil beneath the club's footprint instead of hauling it away. This is a method approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The District said the choice saved money and cleared the way for the pavilions, trails and playground planned next door.
The Free Park Is Due by Summer 2027
The east side took longer because the District is paying for it. In July 2025, the District asked for qualifications to build that part of the park. All four bids in the first round came in over budget. A second round fell apart after the City took over the pedestrian tunnel part of the project, which changed the bids. The third round went to Butters Construction in June 2026.
The plan includes more than five miles of walking and riding trails, with exercise equipment along some of them. It also includes a dog park, a playground and more than 1,000 native trees east of NW 2nd Avenue. Crews have already begun removing invasive trees and plants, which the District said is required by code. The District's target is substantial completion by June 2027, about eight months from now.
The skatepark is also planned for the east side. The Board approved a 42,000-square-foot design in January 2026 with a street course, a bowl, a pump track and a snake run. Skating features sit more than 300 feet from homes, with landscaping to buffer noise. In May, the Board approved a construction agreement with American Ramp Company, on the condition that work starts only after all permits and City approvals are in place. Boca Raton's Community Appearance Board approved the project unanimously on Sept. 1, and the Planning and Zoning Board did the same on Sept. 3. The District has now applied for permits.
Twice the East Side, With No Plan Yet
The west side is about 140 acres, twice the size of the section now under construction. In July 2025, the District paid off the bond on that land early. Full ownership moved from the City to the District, and the District saved more than $1 million in future interest. The District then asked for proposals and received nine. They included Newell Golf, the YMCA of South Palm Beach County, Kemper Sports/Old Tom Capital, Boca Sports and Entertainment, Boca Surf, Wave House, Ellish Builders and 8AM Golf. Boca Surf scored highest, with 381 points.
On Nov. 3, 2025, the Board rejected the surf park and similar surf or aquatics projects, citing community compatibility and traffic. Two weeks later, it rejected every remaining west-side proposal. A separate proposal for a roughly 25,000-square-foot Boys & Girls Club on a 1.8-acre parcel at Jeffery Street and NW 2nd Avenue stayed in talks into 2026. The Board voted 3–2 on Aug. 17 to end those negotiations.
That leaves the Traffic Garden as the only thing open on the west side, and the District calls it temporary. The painted streets, child-sized stop and yield signs, and crosswalks on the old tennis courts will stay "until future redevelopment occurs." Boca Magazine reported that it is free. Motorized bikes, boards and vehicles are not allowed. The west pedestrian tunnel nearby is closed. The District has finished plans for structural and drainage repairs to its retaining walls, after the City's Code Compliance Division raised safety concerns.
This fall, North Park will have a free traffic garden for kids, a paid racquet club with a walk-in restaurant, and fenced construction zones in between. The trails and dog park are due by June 2027, and no date has been set for anything on the west side.
Wondering how North Park's timeline might affect a home in Boca Teeca or nearby, whether you're buying, selling or renting for the season? Tatsiana Tobina-Fotiou follows changes like this block by block and can walk you through the details in English or Russian. Contact Tatsiana for a personalized market consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
