ONM&J ENGINEERS TRANSFORM DOWNTOWN BOCA RATON

ODonnell, Naccarato, Mignogna & Jackson (ONM&J) structural engineers, with offices in West Palm Beach and Orlando, announced today that they are under construction with Owner/Developer, Investment Limited, to transform Royal Palm Plaza, a 14-acre site and icon shopping center in Boca Raton. Boca Raton residents Jim and Marta Batmasian own Royal Palm Plaza; Investments Ltd., also of Boca Raton, is the property manager. Expected completion date is February 2004. This project is a gateway project bringing mixed use and new urbanism to downtown Boca Raton, FL.

WEST PALM/ORLANDO (PRWEB) November 11, 2003 -- ODonnell, Naccarato, Mignogna & Jackson (ONM&J) structural engineers, with offices in West Palm Beach and Orlando, announced today that they are under construction with Owner/Developer, Investment Limited, to transform Royal Palm Plaza, a 14-acre site and icon shopping center in Boca Raton. Boca Raton residents Jim and Marta Batmasian own Royal Palm Plaza; Investments Ltd., also of Boca Raton, is the property manager. Expected completion date is February 2004. This project is a gateway project bringing mixed use and new urbanism to downtown Boca Raton, FL.

Royal Palm Place, Phase I, is a 9 story and penthouse mixed use development consisting of 169 luxurious rental units, 28,000 sq. ft. of prime retail space, 35,000 sq. ft. of office space and a parking structure for approximately 450 cars. The Royal Palm Place project is a U-shaped structure with apartments, retail, restaurants and office space wrapping around the parking deck, topped with luxurious amenities, including heated swimming pool, great lawn, clubhouse, and paved walking area. Adjacent to this is a fully equipped athletic club with saunas.
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The Royal Palm Place project is designed to include one, two, and three bedroom apartments and lofts with two-story terraces overlooking downtown Boca Raton. A self-contained private paradise, Royal Palm Place is located in the heart of downtown Boca Raton, near the Boca Hotel and Resort and Golf Course, minutes from the Atlantic Ocean and world-class beaches of Palm Beach County.

The styling, in keeping with the grand historic nature of Addison Mizner and Boca Raton, is Italian Mediterranean with cast stone cladding and lintels, arches, steel-framed canopies with tinted glass decorative light fixtures, barrel clay-tile roof, decorative brackets at storefronts, and pedestrian bridges open to viewing fountains beneath.

According to Jeff Ballard, Project Manager for ONM&J Structural engineers, This is a post-tension concrete building on spread footings, with vibroflotation used for densifying the soil for improvement. The basement is approximately 18 feet below ground, and has a four-foot thick hydrostatic slab and 2 foot thick basement walls enabling it to withstand the ground water pressure."    

The ground floor showcases the retail and restaurant spaces, all with soaring, 16-17 foot two-story ceiling heights. This distinctive pedestrian streetscape is directly adjacent to other downtown amenities including the original Royal Palm Plaza, an 185,000 sq. ft. specialty retail center. Once known as the landmark, Pink Plaza," there is newly burgeoning interest sparked by the phased expansion and revitalization of the center, including expanded retail space, enhanced parking and traffic elements. The Plaza site has approval for 2 million square ft. of mixed-use development. Phases will include additional retail tenants, office space, structured parking facilities, residential units and a planned hotel facility.

Downtown Boca is experiencing the "New Urbanism" that is transforming many downtown cities. According to author William Fulton, New Urbanism is a popular movement in city planning that incorporates convenience, walkability, aesthetics, livability and ecological integrity into a city plan. It takes the automobile out of the place of prominence and replaces it with people. New Urbanist spaces employ a mixed use of space by juxtaposing business and residential together. New Urbanism has captured the imagination of the American public like no urban planning movement in decades."

Project Team Includes   
General Contractor- G.C. Maleta Construction, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Construction Manager-Joeseph Falso-Southern Construction
MEP-Kamm Consulting
Civil Engineering-Caulfield Wheeler, Inc., Boca Raton, FL

ONM&J is one of the State of Floridas largest structural engineering firms, and is annually responsible for providing services for projects with construction values in excess of 800 million dollars.

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