Boca's North Park Opens Its Paid Building Before Its Free Ones

"We didn't have any parks to go to in our neighborhood." Diane King, a retired city staffer, said that at the North Park groundbreaking in September, as the Boca Raton Tribune reported. She remembered growing up without a park nearby and liked the idea that kids could someday walk five blocks to this one.

That "someday" has a date attached now, but it isn't the first date coming up. The Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District bought the defunct Ocean Breeze Golf Course in the Boca Teeca section of east Boca Raton in 2018. It now goes by North Park, 212 acres at 5800 NW 2nd Ave. The first building to open there is a membership racquet club, set for Nov. 18. The free trails, dog park and playground have a June 2027 target. Once the club opens, and until the trails do, a resident who wants to use this public land has three ways in: a restaurant, a day pass and a painted bike course for kids. The bike course is the only one open today.

Why the Racquet Club Got There First

The order comes down to how each piece was built. Boca Paddle by CityPickle is a public-private partnership. The District picked the Malcolm Butters group in March 2024, and the private team built a $17 million indoor and outdoor pickleball and padel facility on the southeast corner of the park. The District owns the building and the land, and Boca Paddle runs the club. The partnership broke ground in June 2025 and started construction that August.

The public east side went through the District's own bidding process, and it took three rounds. According to the District's September 2026 capital projects overview, all four bids in the first round came in over budget and were rejected. The second round also drew four bids, but the City took over the pedestrian tunnel portion of the project during the evaluation, which changed the bids enough that they were rejected too. The third round, with a revised scope, ended with a contract for Butters Construction in June 2026.

The same builder now sits on both tracks. In an October Q&A with the Boca Raton Tribune, Malcolm Butters said the District gave his company the North Park contract because Boca Paddle had gone smoothly and because it was the lowest bidder. The private club still opens about seven months ahead of the public grounds around it.

The Door That Costs Nothing

The cheapest way into Boca Paddle is dinner. Farmer's Kitchen by Farmer's Table is a full-service restaurant, café and bar from Mitchell Robbins, who founded Farmer's Table Boca Raton, and the Tribune reports it will be open to the public with no membership or day pass needed to dine. TAPinto Boca Raton names Chef Michael Schenk as the kitchen's lead. Butters described the restaurant as the "central focal point and gathering area" of the building, and the club calls the food health-centered. The club hasn't published restaurant hours or a menu, so for now the walk-in policy is the only confirmed detail.

The restaurant sits inside a large building. Butters told the Tribune it is 100,000 square feet on 8.1 acres with 25 courts: 19 pickleball courts, including a stadium court for tournaments, and six high-clearance padel courts. Sixteen of the courts are climate-controlled indoors. Five of the nine outdoor courts have canopy cover. He called it the largest indoor facility of its kind in Florida. Even if you never pick up a paddle, a seat by the courts comes with the meal.

If you'd like to see the building before Nov. 18, the club is offering public hard hat tours you can schedule online.

Where a Day Pass Stops Making Sense

Boca Raton residents get a lower price for playing. The club's FAQ lists 2026 day passes at $35 for Boca Raton residents with proof of residence and $40 for everyone else. A day pass covers the club's amenities for the day and lets you book courts and join Intro Clinics at member rates. In other words, the pass gets you in at the member price, and court rental is charged on top of it. The same is true for every membership tier.

That makes the comparison simple. On the club's membership page, the entry-level Community tier costs $49 a month. Two resident day passes in a month cost $70. Here is how the levels compare:

Someone who plays once a month comes out ahead with the day pass. At two visits a month, Community costs less and gets you a three-day booking window instead of 24 hours. Community's programs only run weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., though, so that tier fits players who are free during the workday. People who play in the evenings or on weekends will find the cheapest membership most limited.

A few other terms from the club's own pages:

• There is no initiation fee, and annual billing includes one free month.
• Members can cancel with 30 days' notice, but annual fees are non-refundable.
• Couple memberships start at $268 a month and family memberships at $399 a month, both at the Standard level.
• A non-member can come as a member's free guest once every 60 days.
• The first round of memberships is capped at 1,000 members.

The club says full programming details and schedules are still coming, so the timing of leagues, clinics and open play will matter as much as the prices above.

The Part of North Park That's Already Free

One corner of the park has been open for more than a year. The North Park Traffic Garden is on Jeffrey Street west of NW 2nd Ave., on pavement that used to be tennis courts. It's a car-free course with painted bike lanes, crosswalks and small stop, yield and one-way signs where children can practice bicycle and road safety. The District's project page says restrooms and shaded seating for parents have been added since it opened, and there is a parking lot next to it. District sources list the opening as August 2025 in one place and September 2025 in another.

The garden was meant as a stopgap. The District built it as a pilot on the old courts because resurfacing was cheaper than sodding and irrigating the site. The capital overview says it was "intended as a temporary amenity" and will stay open for community use until the site is redeveloped, and that it has been popular with families and schools. It's also a short drive from the new club on the same street, so a bike session can be followed by lunch at Farmer's Kitchen once the club opens.

What Comes Next, in Order

The rest of the park is on its own schedule:

1. Nov. 18, 2026. Boca Paddle opens, along with Farmer's Kitchen. The date in the Tribune's October reporting matches the grand opening date on the club's homepage.
2. Now underway. The east side broke ground on Sept. 3, as Boca Post reported. Crews have begun removing invasive plants, according to a District update. The plans include more than five miles of walking and riding trails, a dog park, a playground and exercise equipment along some trails.
3. In permitting. The skatepark and pump track, designed with American Ramp Company, won unanimous approval from the Community Appearance Board on Sept. 1 and from the Planning and Zoning Board on Sept. 3. The District has now started the permitting process. The design includes a street course, pump tracks, bowl areas and shaded green space.
4. June 2027. This is the District's target for substantial completion of the east side. It's a construction milestone, not a promised ribbon cutting.
5. Not yet approved. The District has floated a field house and aquatic facilities as possible additions in later years.

Money shouldn't hold up the free parts. The District paid off the North Park purchase bond in summer 2025, almost seven years ahead of schedule. For the nearer term, the Boca Green Market's Sunday season at 5th Avenue Shops, 2000 N. Federal Hwy., runs through May 2, 2027. That's about a month before the trails are scheduled to be done.

If you're keeping an eye on North Park because it's down the street, or because walking-distance trails would change how you'd use a home nearby, Andrew Ferreira follows these east Boca projects as they move from approvals to openings and is glad to share what he's seeing. Let's Connect.