(This story, in slightly different form, originally appeared in ALM's Daily Business Review.)

WEST PALM BEACH, FL-It takes a lot of confidence to plan a $100-million project in this challenging real estate environment, and local developer Hank Thomas has an abundance of optimism. His mixed-use project will be part of Dania Beach's planned city center and is to include a 130-room hotel, four buildings with about 180 rental apartments and approximately 20,000 square feet of retail space.

"Real estate is very local, and the location of this project is absolutely incredible," Thomas says Thomas, president and CEO of Green Hill Development. "Downtown Dania Beach is a mile away from the seaport and the airport. These are both huge employment centers and there is a huge demand for rental apartments right now."

Thomas says he is confident this city center will not fail like those attempted by other South Florida cities. Margate, Pembroke Pines, Miramar and Coconut Creek have invested millions of dollars in planning, assembling land and building downtown projects that are now mostly vacant or only partially completed.

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