City’s Financial Consultant On Government Campus Will Make $2.8 Million If Deal Goes Through

In addition to being the financial consultant to the City of Boca Raton on the project, CBRE Inc. stands to make $2.8 Million in brokerage fees on the deal.  Over the course of the last year, the Mayor and City Council have used financial revenue estimates completed by this biased consultant to sell the benefits of the project to the citizens. 

CBRE is also earning a two-way commission from both the City and the seller--likely in the many hundreds of thousands--on the recent $17.4 Million purchase of the secondary City Hall Building, which was the direct result of the government campus plan.

The Mayor has repeatedly sold the government campus project to Boca citizens throughout the year by stating that revenue estimates for the City of Boca were in the billions of dollars, yet failed to mention that these estimates were calculated by a compromised consultant.  CBRE was supposed to be the "City's financial consultant" providing "consulting services to the City" as per the Interim Agreement, yet these services were clearly not independent and unbiased.

In their January 9th proposal to the City of Boca Raton, Terra/Frisbie signed a "Brokerage Commission and Technical Review Fee Agreement," which stated that CBRE, Inc. would earn a "brokerage fee in the amount of $2,800,000."  Despite CBRE being a biased consultant, the Mayor and City Council have consistently--since the beginning of the year--used CBRE's financial analysis of the deal to sell it to the citizens.  The Mayor's consistent references to the over a billion dollars of revenue to the city from the project was based on the financial estimates drawn up by this compromised consultant that is in on the take. 

In addition to their $2.8M upside if the government campus deal goes through, CBRE is also profiting from a two-way broker commission--from both the City of Boca Raton and Meridian Park of Commerce, LLC--on the purchase of 6551 Park of Commerce Blvd for $17.4 Million.  The need to purchase this building was the direct result of the government campus project, and CBRE soon became a broker on the deal earning commission two ways.  While the exact two-way commission value has not be revealed, it will be sizable and likely be in the many hundreds of thousands.

The above contract for the purchase and sale of 6551 Park of Commerce Blvd shows the two way commission CBRE is set to receive.