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Luxury development in Boca Raton, Florida is booming. Consider when the ultra-luxe Mandarin Oriental was choosing a U.S. location for its 164-room hotel & resort with 92 luxury branded residences, the Hong Kong-based company, owned by Jardine Matheson chose Boca Raton. The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Boca Raton is the brand’s fourth in the United States and the sixth signature hotel and resort property in the country. With this coveted addition, Boca Raton now boasts the only 5-star hotel property in Palm Beach County.
The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Boca Raton are priced from $1.9 million to $20 million. The Mandarin project is located in Via Mizner, a $1 billion, two million square foot mixed-use luxury development in downtown Boca Raton, currently under construction. Penn-Florida Companies is the developer on Via Mizner and The Mandarin Oriental project. “Downtown Boca Raton has evolved into a global destination and Via Mizner, a 2,000,000 square foot urban resort, is the catalyst. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Residences is a testament to the caliber of the city, which is home to influential people and companies from all over the world,” notes Mark Gensheimer, founder & CEO of Penn-Florida Companies.
Clearly, this city long known for migrating retiring snowbirds from the northeast is aging younger. Today, the median age in Boca Raton is 47. To serve a younger population Boca Raton boasts 46 parks and two libraries. “With the new customs facility at the Boca Raton Airport, the Mandarin Oriental, currently underway, and the influx of companies relocating to Boca Raton, this is truly an exciting time for our city,” said Jessica Del Vecchio, economic development manager, City of Boca Raton. Now international passengers can fly into the Boca Raton Airport and clear customs at the Boca Raton Airport Customs and Border Protection facility which opened in May.
Mayor Scott Singer, 42, grew up in nearby Fort Lauderdale. He was attracted to Boca Raton, moving his young family there seven years ago. “We really punch above our weight class with business innovation, cultural and luxury offerings and a high quality of life usually found in much larger cities,” Singer said. Boca’s current population according to Del Vecchio is 91,797. Singer points to the 10,500 new jobs created/retained over the past eight years. “Now with the new U.S. Customs facility, we can attract more international investment,” he adds. To date 32 corporate headquarters, including Office Depot, ADT and Cancer Treatment Centers of America call the city home.