Last week, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission authorized administrative staff to begin lease negotiations with Palazzo Las Olas Group over a proposal to construct a $74.9-million mixed-use residential project on the city-owed Las Olas Municipal Parking Lot.
The Fort Lauderdale-based joint venture proposes the development of 92 luxury condominiums, 75 luxury rental apartments, 66,673 sf of retail space and a 1,700-space parking garage on a building area estimated at 1.02 million sf on the East Las Olas Circle adjacent to the Las Olas Municipal Marina.
Developer wherewithal doesn't appear to be an issue. The partnership includes C.L. Financial Ltd., a Trinidad multinational holding company with an estimated $1.5 billion in assets; Fort Lauderdale architect Daniel E. Adache, who is participating as principal of Colonial Group, the project developer, and Adache Associates Architects PA, the project architect; and Palm Beach Gardens-based Catalfumo Construction & Development Inc.
This is the third time in 10 years the city has issued a formal request for proposal to develop the municipal parking lot as part of an ongoing plan to develop the area.
"The real story here is this exciting chapter in the city's redevelopment efforts for the central Fort Lauderdale beach area," Stephen K. Tilbrook, an attorney in the Fort Lauderdale offices of Shutts & Bowen who represents the development group, tells GlobeSt.com.
Interest in developing the site actually became a cornerstone of a community redevelopment plan the city adopted nearly 20 years ago, says Tilbrook, who also serves as a member of the Fort Lauderdale Beach Redevelopment Advisory Board.
"This very center of the redevelopment area did not experience the economic revitalization that it could, primarily because this project hadn't come on line," Tilbrook tells GlobeSt.com. "Now that this project is going to be developed, the opportunity for the central Fort Lauderdale beach area is unlimited."
It is uncertain when city staff and the development team expect to complete negotiations, though Tilbrook suggests that a construction start is at least nine months away.
If the two sides cannot reach a development agreement, the city might consider the second-ranked RFP from Boca Raton-based St. Joe/Arvida Co.
Arvida proposed 241 residential condominiums and 40,000 sf of retail space on a building area comprised of 1.25 million sf.
"Both proposers have been found to possess the financial capacity to undertake the proposed project," according to a memo City Manager F.T. Johnson provided the city commission. "In answer to the question as to which proposed project provides the greatest financial benefit to the city--the (Arvida) project outperforms the Palazzo Group project in the key financial indicators of tax returns to the city/Fort Lauderdale Community Redevelopment Area."
On the other hand, Johnson noted, the Palazzo project offered the city another benefit.
"In answer to the question as to which proposer offers the highest estimated value in proposed public improvements, with or without adjusting the cost to a consistent cost per unit basis between proposers, the Palazzo Las Olas proposal offers more in public improvements," Johnson writes.
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