Features Sunshine State of Mind

Is Boca the Nation’s Newest Hotspot?

Photo courtesy of Jin

The roar of the crowd was louder than anything ever heard on campus. Fans were screaming out of their dorm rooms, loud cheers at the TV, seemingly the whole university and the entire nation had their eyes squarely fixed on Boca Raton, Florida. More specifically, the idyllic palm-tree-lined campus of Florida Atlantic University, which is known as its first and largest of the university’s campuses.

The FAU Owls basketball team, not known to many before a few months ago, soared to the prestigious Final Four. However, the real victory has come not just for the Owls but for the city that houses them, Boca Raton. This was the first time sports fans and even non-sports fans looked at a city they had only heard joked about during “Seinfeld” as a real, full-fledged and very attractive place to live.

The truth is even before the Final Four, Boca was already well on its way to being a tech hub, with both established companies and startups moving into the city in recent years. To grasp the whole story, you need to look at the numbers and not just the number of residents. The Boca real estate market is booming with new apartment complexes, condos and brand-new developments. Bonnie Heatzig is the director of luxury sales for Douglas Elliman and has specialized in luxury homes in Boca for more than 20 years. She said that every day, she is seeing more people move to Boca Raton. Some are heading to Florida for lower taxes, and others are seeking a better climate. She’s seeing new buyers from New York, the Midwest and more recently, an influx of new residents from California.

“Some of the wealthiest and most established people from those states are calling me and asking me to find them homes in Boca,” said Heatzig. Even Heatzig’s Instagram page shows the hustle of Boca. “I could be out every night in Boca trying a new restaurant or dining at restaurants like Trattoria Romana or New York Prime, both top restaurant choices. Days can be filled by taking in the wide selection of special exhibitions at one of Boca’s premier art galleries or taking a break from showing properties on a Saturday morning to play a round of golf at The Boca Raton. It is no exaggeration that there is now so much to do here for all ages and interests,” Heatzig said.

What makes this place so hot? Exactly that, the heat. “Many of the families moving here want the year-round warm weather. I am moving people to Boca every single day,” said relocation expert and owner of Good Greek Moving Spero Georgedakis. “The truth is, all of Florida is hot right now, but Boca might be growing the fastest.” So, while the FAU Owls will try to make the Final Four again next year, the seeds have already been sewn for Boca’s success. The city has found a winning combination that many locations can only dream about.