More Fort Lauderdale towers on drawing boards, led by luxury hotel near beach
A luxury beach area hotel north of Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas Boulevard and west of A1A is among a fresh round of five projects under review by the city this week. Others include residential towers in Harbor Beach and Flagler Village, a business hotel on Marina Mile and a low-rise apartment complex in the Uptown section.
Here are snapshots of each based on applications filed with the city’s Development Review Committee, which is scheduled to examine them Tuesday:
“Las Olas by the Sea”
The 18-floor, 233-room hotel at 201 South Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard would rise 199 feet.
The project is part of the city’s “Planned Development District” which was established for the redevelopment of the area immediately north of Las Olas and between the Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal Waterway.
In 2018, landowners Lior Avido, and Aiton “AJ” Yaari of TRD of Fort Lauderdale LLC floated the idea of a much larger two-tower hotel project. But it never materialized.
“The proposed hotel will provide an alluring upscale amenity to the beach and significantly enhance the pedestrian experience along [State Road] A1A,” according to the developers’ application now before the review committee. “The modern style of the proposal is expressed through sleek, angled balconies with glass railings and faceted glass skin. The prismatic form of the garage façade and tower intends to express the dynamic and playful spirit of Fort Lauderdale Beach.”
The hotel would be set back from A1A, with its highest point on the property’s west side to keep shadows away from the beach. There would be 159 parking spots and a pool deck.
Commercial buildings along A1A including restaurants and retail shops would remain standing for potential redevelopment. Current businesses include The Drunken Taco, Surfstyle surf shop and Cafe Ibiza.
The developers’ intention is “to renovate the existing retail and restaurants along A1A,” according to the application.
The streetscapes would include “enhanced paving, art, seating, bicycle parking, lighting, and landscaping for shade.” Pedestrians would have a thoroughfare to walk to the beach.
One on One Harbor Beach
Rising 240 feet and 22 floors, this multi-family building would be located on the east bank of the Intracoastal Waterway slightly south of the Bahia Mar Fort Lauderdale Beach resort, which itself is the subject of an expansive redevelopment plan.
One on One Harbor Beach would house only 17 units, with each taking up an entire level between the sixth and 22nd floors, according to the application. The tower would boast balconies on all sides.
“The architecture expresses lightness, transparency and luminosity with a slender tower floorplate of only approximately 6,000 square feet and materials including stone-like veneer cladding, aluminum elements, glass, and greenery,” the application says. “Leveraging the site’s adjacency to the Intracoastal Waterway and ocean, the ground floor is a key element. It is transparent with floor-to-ceiling windows to help create a more engaging pedestrian experience.”
“The architecturally articulated podium façade screens the 39-space parking garage,” the application says. “The [fifth] level is activated with an amenity deck for residents.” The plan also says that the development would be similar in scale to the surrounding existing and planned buildings.
Fort Lauderdale attorney Stephanie Toothaker, who represents the developer, did not return a message seeking comment.
Flagler Sky View
Another luxury apartment high rise is on deck for Flagler Village as developers continue to see more consumer demand for the booming residential section north of Fort Lauderdale’s central business district.
Flagler Sky View, devised by Mainstreet Capital Partners of Fort Lauderdale, would be a 355-foot, 30-floor apartment building at 501 NE 4th St.
The site is not far from Ombelle, a two-tower project that would rise 493 feet and rival the city’s tallest buildings.
The Flagler Sky View would contain 270 studio, and one- and two-bedroom apartments (some with dens), as well as a pool, co-working spaces and parking for 322 vehicles, according to the application.
Avery Cypress Creek
For years, Fort Lauderdale city planners have sought to inject some residential options into the city’s Uptown section so that employees who toil in nearby shops, restaurants and offices could live near where they work.
So they carved out a specially zoned area dubbed the Uptown Urban Village between I-95 along Cypress Creek Road and west to Powerline Road.
The proposed 200-apartment, seven-floor project at 6210-6220 North Andrews Ave., by the Meyers Group would help achieve the city’s residential goal. There would be a mix of 102 one-bedroom units and 98 two-bedroom units, according to the application. Some 24 units would be designated as affordable housing.
The project is proposed for vacant land at the northeast corner of Andrews and Cypress Creek, west of I-95 and east of the Tri-Rail/CSX railroad crossing.
Besides the apartments, there would be parking for 295 cars, a pool and commercial space.
The developer, Meyers Group, has built a variety of apartment projects around South Florida including in Pompano Beach and Dania Pointe.
Skybridge Suites
A 124-room IHG Hotel would be located at 1515 SW 26th Street in a project envisioned by P&S Hospitality Corp.
The 84-foot high, eight-floor building would rise north of Marina Mile and east of I-95, according to the application.
A Skybridge hotel already operates on Griffin Road near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
