Fort Lauderdale approves 42-story condo near Stranahan House
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By Susannah Bryan
Staff Writer
December 7, 2005
Fort Lauderdale * After a bitter six-year fight, city commissioners gave a final
nod Tuesday to a controversial 42-story residential tower next to the historic
Stranahan House on the Hyde Park Market site.
Scores of Stranahan House sympathizers made last-ditch appeals to stop the
soaring tower, reminding commissioners of a five-year-old voter mandate to
preserve the site as a park.
"It's another concrete jungle at the expense of our historic center," Fort
Lauderdale resident George Coonts told commissioners. "All we need is another
monstrosity like this downtown."
But in a 3-2 decision, commissioners approved the huge building on the
riverfront at 500 E. Las Olas Blvd. Commissioners Cindi Hutchinson, Dean
Trantalis and Carlton Moore backed the development. Mayor Jim Naugle and
Commissioner Christine Teel opposed it.
At 455 feet, the structure will be the tallest in the city. River House condo a
few blocks to the west is shorter by 3 feet. The county's tallest tower, at 505
feet and 52 stories, is the still-unfinished Beach Club Tower 2 in Hallandale
Beach.
Tuesday night's approval paves the way for the downtown Fort Lauderdale
building, which will include 272 condo apartments atop a six-story garage with
388 parking spaces. The ground floor will be reserved for retail and lobby
space.
The proposed tower has been a nightmare for proponents of the neighboring
Stranahan House, a 104-year-old former trading post and home of Fort Lauderdale
pioneers Frank and Ivy Stranahan. Stranahan House supporters have waged a long
campaign warning that the modern tower doesn't belong next to the historic home.
In the past week, Stranahan House supporters have taken out newspaper ads,
mailed slick fliers and sent e-mails to commissioners pleading for yet another
delay.
Fort Lauderdale resident Jon Schwenzer sent the following e-mail to the
commission on the eve of the vote:
"The final plan for this city's only truly historic site will be your legacy
forever. If you feel powerless to oppose a greedy billionaire with no sense of
civic responsibility, just delay the process. Perhaps leadership will emerge
after the next election [in March] that will uphold the will our citizens as
expressed in the referendum on this matter."
Property owner Mickey Rabina of New York-based Coolidge-South Markets Equities
is working with developer Jorge Perez of The Related Group to build the project
on the site of the former supermarket. Developers have been forced to fight in
court while other downtown towers have risen with much less scrutiny.
Not every resident opposed the project. Resident Jacqueline Ackeeina called it
"amazing" and said it was needed to improve a corner that she described as "old
and dying."
As planned, the project includes a public plaza on Las Olas Boulevard in front
of the Stranahan House as well as a continuation of Riverwalk, the brick-paved
path along the New River. The developer agreed to contribute up to $2 million
toward the plaza, which will be designed and maintained by the city.
If the 42-story version of the tower were not approved, a 2004 legal settlement
would allow a bulkier, 38-story tower minus the public plaza.
Opposition to the project began soon after the developer submitted a site plan
application on Sept. 8, 1999.
Stranahan House proponents persuaded voters to approve an $8 million bond
referendum in March 2000 for the purchase of the Hyde Park site. Three months
later, the city filed an eminent domain lawsuit to acquire the property.
The lawsuit ended in 2002 when Circuit Judge Robert Lance Andrews tossed out the
case, saying the city did not show a public necessity for the land.
"We lost the condemnation lawsuit, we lost," Hutchinson said. "We are headed in
the right direction. I don't like the position we are in, but we have to get out
of this."
Susannah Bryan can be reached at
sbryan@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4531.
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