A big plan to overhaul the grounds of the Boca Raton Tri-Rail station could introduce an eight-story development that offers new homes, restaurants and shops off Yamato Road.
It aims to become the latest community placed near a South Florida transit hub — an increasingly popular approach — where residents can conveniently walk to catch a commuter train or some other type of transportation.
Boca Village, planned for 680 W. Yamato Road , would occupy part of the pre-existing Tri-Rail parking lot and vacant land next to it. It is just one of the developments in the works along the Tri-Rail corridor, which spans across Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
So why have these become more prominent in recent years when Tri-Rail has been around for more than three decades? For a while, the areas around Tri-Rail stations were quite industrial and not alluring to live by, said David Dech, the executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, the agency that oversees Tri-Rail.