Related Group starts 494-home remake of Boca Raton's Office Depot campus

Construction has started on Broken Sound Residences, a 494-unit apartment community in Boca Raton and the first piece of the former Office Depot campus's transformation, Connect CRE reports.

Related Group is developing the project with PEBB Enterprises and BH Group. MSA Architects designed it; Balfour Beatty is the builder. The 28-acre plan wraps retail, wellness and office space around the apartments, which will be split into three distinct residential offerings.

The amenity list is long. Indoors, it spans more than 23,000 square feet. Outdoors, it covers more than half an acre. There are two pool decks, private cabanas, hot tubs, a cold plunge, a pavilion bar, grilling stations, lounges, a second pool and a jacuzzi, plus a resident wine lounge. Inside: a hidden speakeasy, private dining, a golf simulator, coworking lounges, clubrooms and a fitness center.

Equinox will be one of the first tenants, which tells you the intended renter: someone who wants a resort calendar without leaving the property.

The apartments are the easy underwrite. The office component inside the 28 acres is the untested half: can a former corporate campus attract a new generation of office users once the housing and retail are in place?