A developer behind an ultra-luxury private members club has dropped $10 million on a parcel in downtown Boca Raton, pushing plans for The Sanborn closer to reality in the city’s walkable core. The deal, announced Tuesday, is a key step toward an eight-story club with hotel-style suites, multiple dining rooms and a rooftop pool. Neighbors and downtown watchers are already eyeing what comes next in the city review process, especially around traffic and parking.
Sale Locks In Prime Downtown Turf
As reported by South Florida Business Journal, an entity tied to the group developing The Sanborn paid roughly $10 million for the site. According to the Business Journal, the transaction gives the developers full control of the parcel as they pursue entitlements and design approvals from the city.
Club Concept Leans Into Quiet Luxury
The Sanborn is being pitched as an eight-story private members club with curated dining, wellness and hospitality components, a rooftop pool deck and eight hotel-style suites, as detailed by PR Newswire. The announcement credits HDA Architects with the design and notes that membership will be invite-only. “This is not a scene-driven club - it is a sanctuary for purposeful connection,” General Partner Steven Newman said in the release.
City Filing Lays Out What’s Planned
City records show developers filed an Individual Development Approval for an eight-story, roughly 67,144-square-foot private membership club that would include a public ground-floor café, restaurant space and a below-grade valet and mechanical parking structure, as outlined by City of Boca Raton. The filing is logged as case PZPAR-2025-00049 and remains under staff review.
Address, Current Use And Target Opening
The parcel at 100 N.E. First Avenue, a roughly 0.31-acre lot in the downtown core, was previously held by the Jacqueline T. Higgins Trust, according to local reporting. Florida YIMBY and other outlets note the project would replace an existing mixed-use building, and that developers are targeting a spring 2028 completion if approvals stay on schedule.
What The Sanborn Signals For Downtown Boca
Industry coverage frames The Sanborn as part of a wider South Florida shift toward boutique, members-only hospitality concepts that trade broad foot traffic for higher margins and exclusivity. Trade and development outlets say those concepts are increasingly being pitched in affluent cores like downtown Boca Raton, where a compact, high-end footprint can command premium memberships and dining revenue, as Traded reports.
Next up, the developers will pursue the city’s Individual Development Approval and move through the Planning & Zoning process, where neighbors and city boards will have opportunities to comment. If entitlements are approved on the schedule the team has outlined, construction could begin in roughly 18 to 24 months, with a targeted opening in spring 2028.
