Century Village Real Estate Report for 2019

Nearly four hundred condos sold in Century Village Boca during 2019 with top prices approaching $300,000. As of this writing there were 391 closings with about a week left in the year. By contrast 2018 saw 421 sales

Four condos sold for more than $250,000, each with two bedrooms and two full bathrooms and just over 1000 square feet.

  • $285,000: 4035 Wolverton B
  • $275,000: 2088 Yarmouth E
  • $270,000: 2040 Ainslie C
  • $265,000: 1031 Ainslie B
Warren is selling 42 Brighton A, a remodeled 2- bedroom, 1 1/2 bath corner model on the 3rd floor with lake and sunrise views. Call or text Warren at 561-536-3645 if you’d like to see it. Listed at $129,900.

Prices dropped off from there with the next highest prices at $215,000. That group of seven condos ranged down to $195,000, three in Yarmouth, two in Wolverton and two in Rexford.

The lowest closing for the year was at $15,000 for a unit in Cornwall, but other than that the prices started at $31,000 for a 1-bedroom in Dorset. The lowest sale price for a 2-bedroom was $50,000 with three units going at that price, two in Dorset and one in Preston.

In the 4-story buildings in the central part of the development, most sales started at $55,000 for 1-bedroom units (Cornwall and Wolverton).

Satellite image of Century Village Boca. Image and map data by Google.

The highest priced 1-bedroom sold in Yarmouth for $88,000, so for flippers, 2-bedrooms have a lot more upside in Century Village.

As of December 25th, 121 condos were listed for sale with prices from $45,000 for a 1 bedroom 1 bath model in Brighton to $315,000 for a 2-bedroom in Yarmouth. Six models were listed for prices of $200,000 and up. Six were listed for $50,000 or less, and seventy-two listed for prices of $100,000 or less.

In the 3-story sections like Brighton, Preston and Fanshawe, remodeled 2-bedrooms are selling as high as $130,000.

Flooding in West Boca Raton: Photos and Stories

We posted a few reader photos of flooding on Facebook last night. Other readers responded with more, and with stories. The flooding was so bad it got inside Town Center Mall:
mall-flood
We have seen houses suffering damage from the high winds and heavy rain so it’s important to act quick after the storms pass to prevent any further damage. If you see any issues with your roof then get WDR Roofing Company to look at it before it becomes worse. That first photo is from our own kid getting in on the action. We also received mall photos from readers. This one is also from inside:
mall-flood2
Parking areas were also flooded.
parking-flooding

Reader Robyn Becker-Bracero sent us several photos including this one of her feet underwater.
Reader Robyn Becker-Bracero sent us several photos including this one of her feet underwater.

Robyn Becker-Bracero told us:

It was inside the mall. The water was pouring in through the employee/security entrance next to Macy’s and the Apple Store. It started coming in quick. Several people were video taping. It was even worse outside under the covered lot at Macy’s exit.

macys-entrance
We saw flooding ourselves in Town Center Circle (east side of Military south of Glades) with water up to several inches deep at its worst. Leaving that plaza we were about to turn onto NW 19th but the water looked very deep so we converted that left into a U-turn and headed south on Palmetto Park Road. There was significant flooding on Palmetto, especially on the westbound side in the right lanes both near the Kabbalah Center (just west of Turnpike) and at the intersection with Lyons Road.

Readers also reported significant flooding along SW 18th west of Powerline and near Boca Rio.
sw18th-flood
Lindsay Roffman-Schwimmer reported:

My SUV was stuck in boca pointe last night. Hundreds of cars were just sitting ducks.. some of them were floating by me. I couldn’t tell what was the lake and what was the road. I pulled into a sub development and waited in a guest spot that was raised on higher ground. My boyfriend had to come in his truck and rescue me.
Many smaller luxury cars were submerged in water up to their windows. It was literally a mini natural disaster area.. Also including SW 18th street areas. I hope everyone is safe now.

In the same area Melisa Mely said:

I have never seen more water on the 18th Street. Some cars actually got stuck. I’m glad I made it home.

There was more flooding in Watergate Estates (aka West Sandalfoot):
watergate-flood2
watergate-flood1
Also in Escondido (east side of Lyons south of Glades):
escondido2
escondido
Even the French residents got in on it, from Bensimon Nessim:

C’est catastrophique, le pire c’est que contre les inondations on ne peut pas faire grand chose
(Translation) It is catastrophic, the worst part is that against the floods we can’t do much

And there were just places where traffic went deep:
rbb2
Reader estimates of total rainfall varied from 1.5 to over 5 inches. We estimate 4-5 inches fell in Boca Falls from our own somewhat reliable method (rise in the level of our pool). For arguably more reliable numbers, we have this from the National Weather Service:
nws-rainfall
There was significant coverage of the flooding in other media. Our favorite was WPTV reporting that Boca Raton City Hall experienced flooding on both the 1st and 2nd floors. Second floor?
Update: Bonus photo from reader Samir. This one is in East Boca on Federal Highway.
samir
One other detail that was mildly amusing, where the National Weather Service posted a tornado warning recommending people go to their basements, which is not terribly practical in South Florida.
Tornado Warning issued March 24 at 6:49PM EDT until March 24 at 7:15PM EDT by NWS Miami THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR… NORTHEASTERN BROWARD COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN FLORIDA… SOUTHEASTERN PALM BEACH COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN FLORIDA… * UNTIL 715 PM EDT * AT 649 PM EDT…A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO WAS LOCATED OVER COCONUT CREEK…OR OVER MARGATE…MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. HAZARD…TORNADO. SOURCE…RADAR INDICATED ROTATION. IMPACT…FLYING DEBRIS WILL BE DANGEROUS TO THOSE CAUGHT WITHOUT SHELTER. MOBILE HOMES WILL BE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. DAMAGE TO ROOFS…WINDOWS…AND VEHICLES WILL OCCUR. TREE DAMAGE IS LIKELY. * LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE… CORAL SPRINGS…POMPANO BEACH…BOCA RATON…DEERFIELD BEACH AND TAMARAC. TORNADO…RADAR INDICATED HAIL…0.00IN TAKE COVER NOW! MOVE TO A BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS…IN A MOBILE HOME…OR IN A VEHICLE…MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

7 Restaurants Get Inspection Warnings

Seven Boca restaurants received warnings in late July and early August from inspectors. Despite receiving formal warnings requiring follow-up inspections, their overall numbers weren’t that bad compared to some other restaurants we’ll discuss below. This report covers inspections up to August 8th.
The worst of the warnings was Stir Crazy in Town Center, with 8 violations including rodent activity. The rodent problem was cleared the next day but they still had 4 minor violations on the follow-up inspection.
West of the Turnpike, Sybarite Pig had only 3 violations which is a pretty low number. One was related to hand washing and another a fairly minor deviation in food temperatures. It looks like the warning was for the third violation, lack of proof of employee training and that will mean a follow-up inspection.
Bruce’s of Great Neck had zero “high priority” violations and five minor ones, but also was missing proof of employee training.
Four other places east of the Turnpike showed up on the warning list. Abe & Louie’s on Glades had three “high priority” violations including food temperature issues. That led to a follow-up inspection the next day which was perfect.
Nick’s New Haven Pizzeria had 8 violations including food storage and food temperature, and also a problem with proof of employee training.
Le Rivage received a couple of warnings related to documentation on smoked salmon and “not maintaining mussel for 90 days,” along with a chlorine sanitizer problem.
The last warning was for the Subway on Palmetto Circle South, and again it appears to be for employee training documentation.

Outside of the warnings, the worst inspection in this report goes to City Fish Market near the Turnpike with 21 total violations including 5 ranked “high priority.” Those five were:

3 Live flies in the front bar.
Dishwasher handled soiled dishes or utensils and then handled clean dishes or utensils without washing hands.
Employee failed to wash hands before putting on new set of gloves to work with food.
Food container stored in lettuce draw used for customer consumption. **Corrected On-Site**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Olive with blue cheese at 66°. Corrective action taken and olive we’re put on ice and by the end of inspection olives with the blue cheese was at 41° **Corrected On-Site**

Others with big numbers include Taverna Kyma in East Boca with 17 violations including 5 high priority (17/5); Regency Japango (near Yamato and Jog with 13/2); It’s All Greek (13/2) and Shorty’s Bar-B-Q (13/5) in The Reserve at Clint Moore and 441; and Rocco’s Taco’s (12/1) near Town Center. Jimmy the Greek Taverna on Glades near Boca Rio had 11 violations but all were minor. Apparently the inspectors were after the Greeks this month. Shorty’s also had a poor inspection in late March.
On the bright side, six restaurants had perfect non-callback inspections. Vinny’s All Day Cafe in Regency Court along with the Dunkin Donuts in the same plaza, and four other fast food joints – McDonald’s on Palmetto Park near Powerline, Subway and Burger King on Glades just west of Boca Rio, and Domino’s in Mission Bay Plaza.

Confession: We’ve been in Mission Bay Plaza hundreds of times and never noticed a Domino’s Pizza.

Other West Boca notables in the inspections include:
Regency Court (Jog & Yamato)
Lucille’s Bad to the Bone BBQ – 10/2
Meatball Room – 5/0
Yamato & 441
Puccini’s Pizzeria – 10/2
Gary Woo Express – 5/1
Mission Bay
TGI Friday’s – 7/3
IHOP – 3/0
Shadowood
Einstein Brothers Bagels – 9/1
Boston Market – 4/1
Boca Village Square
Juice and Java – 5/0
Duffy’s Sports Grill – 5/2
Davito’s in Boca Greens, with a fairly low 5 violations including 1 high priority
Miller’s Boca Ale House on Glades west of Lyons – 8/0
Bagelworks (near Boca Rio) – 7/0
Olive Garden (Powerline south of Palmetto Park) – 4/1
Sal’s Italian (near Olive Garden) – 3/0
Steven’s Pizzeria (West Boca Square) – 8/0
— Note that the name has changed to Lenny’s Kosher Pizza. We’re not sure if the inspection is for the old place or the new one.
Pizza Chef Bistro (441 near the county line) – 6/2
Also, there were several inspections in the plazas just east of Town Center:
Hooters – 3/1
Toojays – 6/0
Gyroville – 4/1
Shane’s Rib Shack – 3/3
Corner Bakery Cafe – 3/1
Five Guys – 1/1

11 Weekend Arrests: DUI, Drugs & Mischief

As always with our arrest reports, the arrestees are innocent until proven guilty. And don’t let our arrest reports scare you about West Boca – our crime rate is lower than East Boca and much lower than the county average.
chick-sheerer
James Chick (left, 28) and Gary Sheerer (right, 32) were both arrested by Delray Beach police, accused of dealing in stolen property. They were booked early Sunday morning. Chick was released about 12 hours later, while Sheerer remains in custody. By their reported addresses, the two are roommates on Watergate Circle near the Glades library.
Chick has over 4 pages of cases in the county including a couple felony arrests, though most are traffic. One was from April of 2013 where he was “adjudicated guilty by the court” of “aggravated grand retail theft” in August of 2013. He was sentenced to 9 months in county jail minus about 4 months in credit time.
Sheerer’s record is worse and he was arrested on the same April 2013 date as Chick for roughly the same offenses. He was also sentenced to about nine months, with almost six months of credit time.
santini-brenner-fraschilla
Nicole Santini (above left, 26) of the Boca Entrada – Emerald Bay Club apartments was arrested Friday night and released Saturday afternoon, charged with aggravated battery involving a deadly weapon. The court record has it marked as “dating violence.” She had a previous domestic violence misdemeanor charge in 2010 that was dropped.
18-year-old Michael Brenner (center) was arrested and released Sunday morning for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription (Percocet per the Boca Police blotter). A resident of Woodfield Hunt Club, and student at North Broward Prep, he was recruited as a baseball player by Saint Louis University, with “game-changing speed.”
Deanna Fraschilla (right, 50) of the Boca Rio Banyan townhomes was arrested Saturday for criminal mischief causing property damage, and for resisting an officer without violence. She was released a couple hours after she was booked without having to post a bond. A Google search revealed a Cape Cod arrest in 2005. In Palm Beach County, court records show mostly traffic tickets but also a felony burglary in 2008 for which she got 5 years probation.
may-dui-arrests
There were three DUI arrests from Boca this weekend. Above left is Keith Martin (23), who was booked early Saturday morning and released before noon. His reported address is in the Mizner Courts apartments off Military Trail. The former FAU student is an aspiring entrepreneur interested in new video technologies.
Adriana Capawana (center, 45) was arrested by Boca PD, booked Sunday morning and released a few hours later. The Boca police blotter indicates her blood alcohol content was 0.17, though West Boca News does not consider breath testing to be a reliable indicator of intoxication. Her reported address in Boca Country Club (near Clint Moore and Congress) appears to be owned and inhabited by an unrelated couple.
Benjamin Collins (right, 22) was also booked for DUI Saturday morning and released shortly after noon. Residing in Boca Barwood near the corner of Lyons and SW 18th, the Spanish River graduate has attended University of Texas and traveled in France.
We see no prior criminal history for any of the DUI arrestees.
wishbow-can
Margo Wishbow (center, 61) was arrested on a probation violation. That probation appears to come from a DUI arrest in February 2013. The Century Village resident has a few pages of cases in Palm Beach County with mostly misdemeanors and one felony theft in 2012 that was reduced to a misdemeanor.
Ali Can (right, 23) was booked Monday morning on charges of loitering/prowling and resisting an officer without violence. Both counts are generally vague and the Boca PD blotter is remarkably thin on details. His history is clean other than a couple of traffic cases. This one will probably be dismissed.
ali-can-details

Boca Raton Restaurant Inspections for April

kitchen
We reviewed April restaurant inspections for Palm Beach County relying on TCPalm. There weren’t that many for West Boca Raton so we included East Boca Raton and a couple others.

For previous restaurant inspection reports: Late March, Early March, February, and early 2014.

Here’s what we found in April:
Zero Violations
West Boca
villa-rosano
Villa Rosano, Clint Moore and 441
Brendy’s Ice Cream & Yogurt at Lakeridge
Kagura Sushi, 5030 Champion Blvd.
Manhattan Joe’s Pizzeria, 5030 Champion Blvd
East Boca
fiveguysFive Guys, 2240 NW 19th St.
Pasta Fever on Federal Highway
Souvlaki Fast on NE 2nd Street
Jimmy John’s at 861 Yamato
Pita Loco, 1320 NW Boca Raton Blvd
Rebel House, 297-299 E. Palmetto Park Road
16 Handles at 1400 Glades
Pita Pit, 2200 Glades
Nino’s of Boca II, 1930 NE 5th Ave
Crystal Cafe, 2500 Military Trail
Gourmet to You Cafe, 4920 Conference Way South
Mutual of America Cafeteria, 1150 Broken Sound Parkway
Wyndham Hotel, 1950 Glades
Cinemark Palace 20
Deck 84 in Delray Beach (included because it’s prominent)
Honorable Mention: Two or fewer violations with zero high priority
West Boca
monkey-joes-bocaMonkey Joe’s in Loggers Run Plaza
El Jefe Luchador, 6000 Glades
La Luna, 5030 Champion Blvd. (was inspected two days later and had zero violations)
Mizner Country Club had three inspections, two with zero violations and one with two minor ones.
East Boca
Subway at 7531 N. Federal Highway
Deans Anthony’s Express Pizza at 1449 Yamato
Griddle, 475 Spanish River Blvd
Funky Buddha on Federal Highway
Amitie Cafe at 301 Yamato
Sanctuary Cafe at 4800 Federal Highway
Skyview Cafe, 2424 Federal Highway
Boca Raton City Library Cafe
Worst
arturo
Arturo’s on Federal Highway: 19 violations including 6 “high priority”
renzo
Renzo’s Cafe Pizzeria, 6900 N Federal Highway: 17 violations and a stop-sale and follow-up inspection required
Nick’s New Haven Style Pizzeria, 2240 NW 19th St: 17 violations with 3 high priority
Sushi Masa, 2200 Glades: 16 violations including 3 high priority
Josephine’s Italian, 5751 N Federal Highway: 15 violations with multiple repeat violations and follow-up inspection required
Grille on Congress, 5101 Congress: 14 violations including 4 high priority
kapowKapow Noodle Bar, 431 Plaza Real (Mizner Park): 14 violations with 5 high priority
Sushi Rock on NW 51st St.: 13 violations including 5 high priority
Mikey’s Hot Dog & Pizza: 13 violations including 5 high priority — We were unable to confirm this one with the official state database. We tried calling and the phone number was not in service. We called a neighboring business which confirmed that they did close.
Stir Crazy, 6000 Glades Road (Town Center): 12 violations (most were corrected on site)
villagio-bocaVillagio, 344 Plaza Real (Mizner Park): 12 violations with 3 high priority
Sonny’s Gelato Cafe, 2151 N Federal Highway: 11 violations with 3 high priority with a stop sale and a follow-up required
Cuban Cafe, 3350 NW 2nd Ave: 11 violations with 5 high priority
Sakura Thai & Japanese, 2201 Federal Highway: 11 violations
Dishonorable Mention
Atrium Financial Center, 1515 N. Federal Highway: 10 violations with 4 high priority
The Irishmen, 1739 NW 2nd Ave.: 10 violations
Original Italian Pizza, 3731 FAU Blvd: 10 violations with 3 high priority, and a history of poor inspections:
original-italian
Jerry’s Pizza, 2001 NW 2nd Ave.: 10 violations with 3 high priority
jerry
Chili’s (West Boca, NW corner of Palmetto & 441): 9 violations with 2 high priority
Pinon Grill, 6000 Glades: 9 violations with 4 high priority
Pavilion Grille at 301 Yamato: 9 violations with 4 high priority (all violations were corrected on site)
Abe & Louie’s at 2200 Glades: 9 violations with 4 high priority
Embassy Suite, NW 53rd St: 9 violations with 6 high priority
Other inspections of note:
Flakowitz, 1999 N Federal Highway had only 3 violations, all corrected on site. The biggest problem was the “matza balls” weren’t hot enough at only 117º. Seriously?
matzoballs
Blue Martini at 6000 Glades (Town Center) had only 3 violations, all corrected on site. Grand Lux there had 5.
hooters-boca-raton
Hooters at 2240 NW 19th had 5 violations. This will discourage exactly zero men from going there.
Corner Bakery in the same plaza had 6 violations. C R Chicks there had 4. Gyroville had only 2.
Shake Shack at 1400 Glades had 4 violations. In the same plaza J. Alexander’s also had 4 violations including 3 high priority ones that were corrected on site. Mario’s Osteria there had 7 – we ate there 10 days later and really enjoyed our meal.
Trulucks in Mizner Park had only 4 violations, with one high priority.
Screen Shot 2014-05-01 at 4.40.37 PM
Tanzy at Mizner Park (with the iPic) had 7 violations including 2 high priority. The iPic Theaters had only 3 violations.
Sloan’s in Mizner (the ice cream and candy place) had one high priority violation (live small flying insects in food storage area) and no others.
Le Rivage on NW 20th had only four minor violations.
Tomasso’s Pizzeria, 1229 W. Palmetto Park, had 8 violations.
Bluefin Sushi & Thai, 861 Yamato, had 8 violations, all minor. A complaint inspection was just filed today showing only 5 violations.
Millers Ale House at 1200 Yamato also had 8 violations. Palm Beach Bagel in the same plaza had 7 – we had breakfast there a few weeks later and it was good.
Strikes @ Boca (the bowling alley) had only 4 minor violations.
The Muse on Beracasa Way had 7 violations, all minor.

For previous restaurant inspection reports: Late March, Early March, February, and early 2014.