On September 10, 2026, Related Ross bought the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, the 124-acre former IBM site at 5000 T-Rex Avenue. Most coverage of the sale repeats the prior owner's 2023 zoning allowance for up to 1,243 homes. The city has not approved any of those homes as buildings. As of the city's April 2026 Projects in Review list, the apartment and retail site plans filed for the campus had no Planning and Zoning Board date. The only council vote on the property this year ended in a tie. If you are comparing central Boca neighborhoods along Military Trail, Pheasant Walk among them, the campus is a long-range question. Two concrete things are moving in the coming months, and neither one is the "micro-city."
What Changed Hands on September 10
BRiC sits between Yamato Road and Interstate 95, next to Boca Raton's Tri-Rail station. Its main building is a 1.7 million-square-foot brutalist structure designed by Marcel Breuer and built in 1969 as IBM research space. IBM created its first personal computer there.
The Real Deal reported that the sale price was not disclosed. The seller, an entity linked to Boca Raton-based CP Group, had paid $320.2 million for the campus in 2021, according to property records. The Sun Sentinel listed CP Group, DRA Advisors and Las Olas Capital among the sellers.
The new owner has not said much about its plans. In its September 11 announcement, Related Ross said it "will continue operating BRiC as an office and technology campus while advancing a long-term vision for the property." Executive Vice President Jordan Bargas described "a curated mix of amenities, retail and restaurants" built around the workplace. The Sun Sentinel reported that Bargas said the company would consult tenants, neighbors and the city before shaping that vision.
The company's record in Palm Beach County gives some context. Related Ross began with CityPlace in West Palm Beach in 1998. It now cites more than $10 billion in planned county investment, including the 71-acre Village Landing project in Wellington. That record shows a developer that holds property for a long time and works in phases. It says nothing about when phases would start in Boca.
Three Layers Behind One Headline
The campus has three kinds of public record, and they are easy to blur together. Each layer depends on the one before it.
| Layer | What the record shows | Where it stood |
|---|---|---|
| Entitlement | CP Group's 2023 zoning approval for up to 1,243 residential units, a 140-room hotel, 125,000 sq ft of retail, 85,000 sq ft of medical offices and a 55,000 sq ft entertainment venue | A ceiling on what could be built, reported by The Real Deal |
| Applications | BRiC Residences at 320 units, BRiC Apartments 1 at 380 units, BRiC Retail Village East and West, plus an Enhanced Mobility master plan for retail, restaurant, convention, museum and wellness uses | "Not Scheduled" for the Planning and Zoning Board on the city's April 2026 list |
| Decisions | A request to shrink the Boca Technology Center DRI on the campus | Failed on a 2–2 City Council tie in April 2026 |
The two filed apartment buildings add up to 700 units, a bit over half the 1,243-unit ceiling. The furthest any of them got was BRiC Apartments 1, which appeared on the June 16, 2026 Community Appearance Board agenda as a preliminary item. The agenda noted it had not yet been reviewed for code compliance. That board reviews appearance. It does not approve a site plan.
The master plan has been in review for a long time. The city scheduled a hearing in November 2024 on case SC-24-05, which would change the campus's 124.21 acres from Planned Mobility to Enhanced Mobility. Eighteen months later, the April 2026 list still showed the Enhanced Mobility master plan as not scheduled before either the board or the council.
Any of these items could have moved since April. Watch for the next city list or agenda that names BRiC.
The Vote That Ended in a Tie
The April vote shows what the next owner has to deal with. Boca Post reported that BRiC's owners asked the council to shrink the area covered by a Development of Regional Impact, or DRI, from 217.5 acres to 87.89. A DRI is a 1970s state framework that added county, state and regional review for large projects. City staff and the applicant both argued the designation carries little force today. Boca Raton has since been designated a Dense Urban Land Area, which exempts it from DRI rules. According to Boca Post, the request included no new development proposal. Approval would have let the owner pursue future building under current traffic rules, and the owner would have had to submit a transportation demand master plan.
Mayor Andy Thomson and Councilwoman Stacey Sipple voted yes. Councilwoman Michelle Grau and Councilman Jon Pearlman voted no, with one member absent. Grau gave her reason, as Boca Post reported it: "We have not been presented with a clear vision or even potential scenarios as to what comes next."
City Attorney Joshua Koehler said the tie created a legal gray area. City rules generally bar a denied application from returning for a year, and it is unclear whether a failed tie counts as a denial. He suggested the issue could come back as part of a fuller proposal with a transportation study and a description of future plans. Boca Post summed up the result: "nothing changes yet at BRIC."
The council said in April that it wants a clear vision before moving on the DRI. In September, Related Ross said it plans to consult the city before setting one. That puts the next step with the new owner, and a vision built through consultation takes months at the least. So the earlier filings may move faster, change or be replaced. As of the reporting since the sale, Related Ross has not said which.
Two Things That Are Actually Moving
Two changes near the campus have dates, leases or construction behind them.
D-Wave's headquarters. On January 27, 2026, D-Wave Quantum announced that it had picked BRiC for its corporate headquarters and U.S. research facility, moving from Palo Alto "before the end of 2026." The Real Deal reported a lease of roughly 25,000 square feet. CBS12 reported that the city's proposed incentive was tied to at least 100 full-time jobs averaging at least $125,000 a year. That is a target the city set, not a headcount. D-Wave's quarterly filing for the period ended June 30, 2026 still listed Palo Alto as its principal executive office. Florida Atlantic University has agreed to spend $20 million to buy and install a D-Wave Advantage2 quantum computer on its Boca Raton campus, with no install date announced.
The building at the Tri-Rail station. This is the one project nearby that is visibly under construction. Boca Post reported in February 2026 that Link at Boca had broken ground beside the station, with plans for 340 apartments, about 24,000 square feet of retail and a 650-space garage, and a build time of about two years. By August 3, Boca Daily News called the project Boca Village. It reported foundations going in for an eight-floor building and about 29,500 square feet of street-level commercial space. The two retail figures differ, so the final number will come from the completed building. The roughly two-year estimate points to early 2028.
Those 340 apartments are separate from BRiC. They are the first new homes actually rising near the campus, and they sit on a parcel the city had already removed from the DRI.
What a Buyer on Military Trail Can Watch
Pheasant Walk sits on Military Trail near Clint Moore Road, close enough that BRiC's future is part of the area's longer story. These public signals show whether that story is moving:
- A Planning and Zoning Board or City Council agenda that names BRiC. "Not Scheduled" in the April list becomes a hearing date here.
- Any new filing or withdrawal by Related Ross. That will show whether the inherited 320-unit and 380-unit apartment plans and the Retail Village survive the change in ownership.
- The DRI request coming back. Koehler described a likely path. It returns as part of a fuller proposal with a transportation study.
- D-Wave changing its principal office address. A future filing that lists Boca Raton confirms the move.
- Boca Village topping out. That is the next milestone in the one project already under construction near the station.
If you are writing an offer anywhere in the area, base it on what has been approved and built. The 1,243-unit ceiling describes what the campus could hold someday.
FAQ
Did the sale approve new homes or shops at BRiC? No. Related Ross said it will keep operating the campus as an office and technology site. The 2023 zoning allowance came with the property, but as of the city's April 2026 Projects in Review list, the site plans for specific buildings had no hearing date.
What did BRiC sell for? The price was not disclosed. The previous owner paid $320.2 million in 2021, according to The Real Deal.
Is D-Wave already at BRiC? D-Wave announced a move before the end of 2026. Its filing for the quarter that ended June 30, 2026 still listed Palo Alto as its principal executive office.
What exactly is being built by the Tri-Rail station? A 340-unit apartment building with street-level commercial space. Construction was underway as of August 2026.
This post is general information about public records. It is not legal, zoning or financial advice, so check how any land-use question affects your own purchase with the right professional.
If BRiC's future is part of how you are weighing Pheasant Walk or another neighborhood along Military Trail, Maximo Cortese can go through the current city filings with you and separate what is decided from what is still on paper before you write an offer. Schedule a free consultation.
