Fort Lauderdale says yes to 19-story condo tower across from Shooters!

By Susannah Bryan | South Florida Sun Sentinel

A 19-story luxury condo tower will rise on the west side of the Intracoastal across from Shooters under a plan that recently won approval from Fort Lauderdale’s Planning and Zoning Board in a narrow 4-3 vote.

Claridge Homes, a Canadian-based developer, already had approval to build a different project on the 2-acre property, once home to a mammoth office building on the southwest side of Oakland Park Boulevard and the Intracoastal.

The original project called for three towers, each 150 feet in height, with a total of 103 rental apartments and a 4,000-square-foot restaurant. The new project, named Flowing Waters, calls for a single 162-foot tower with 129 condo units and 310 parking spaces.

“Since that (first) project was approved, the rental market on the lending side has become a little bit more difficult for financing,” Andrew Schein, attorney for the developer, told the planning board. “So the developer decided to come back with a condo concept instead of rentals. We figured scaling it back would be the right thing to do since we are going slightly higher.”

The project calls for a waterfront restaurant and 13 boat slips. At least two of the boat slips will be reserved for the restaurant.

“There’s going to be a fabulous restaurant there,” Schein said. “It will be a unique area within the city.”

A parking garage to the west of the condo tower would sport a wave-like facade of light and dark grey tones. The developer also plans to build a 1,400-square-foot pedestrian plaza near the Oakland Park bridge.

Schein said most people who’ve seen the plans prefer the new project over the old one, which he described as massive.

Critics who spoke up at the meeting disagreed.

Tim Hernandez, president of the Coral Ridge Country Club Estates Community Association, said he and his neighbors would rather see the original three-tower project built partly because they think it will bring less traffic.

“They’re adding expensive condominium units (under the new plan),” he said. “These people are not going to be taking (the bus). They’re going to be getting on Oakland Park and they’re going to be clogging up the road further. Mr. Schein says everybody loves this project. We’re here to tell you, not everybody loves this project.”

Karen Polivka, vice president of Coral Ridge Country Club Estates, also warned that the project will only add to the gridlock.

“We have multiple projects going on,” she said before ticking off a list. “You’ve got the new apartments at Federal and Oakland. Just north of that is a new project at 30th Court and Federal. And where CVS is on the north side of this project (there are plans) for a 150-foot multifamily space as well. We’ve got Bokampers (talking) about rebuilding.”

The Flowing Waters condo project will bring more traffic than the office building did, with 471 new daily car trips overall, Schein said.

Board member John Barranco praised the tower’s design, but said he sympathized with the folks fretting over traffic.

“The project is a very nice building,” he said. “It checks all the boxes. And it still pains me to call this compatible with the neighborhood. It really pains me because I drive that street every morning. With the addition of the other new developments along that corridor, (traffic is) going to be a nightmare. It’s already a nightmare. But I think it’s a bigger problem than just this project. I just don’t think we can blame all of our problems on one project.”

Board member Jay Shechtman asked Hernandez whether the neighbors had considered the look of the new project as it compared to the old.

“Did you guys discuss at all that the existing approval is another stucco box of rentals that’s basically all over the city and this is high-end luxury glass?” he said. “Do you think another stucco box is more compatible with the neighborhood?”

Hernandez said he’d rather see three shorter buildings even if they’re not as pretty.

“I’m not going to stand here and trade off more traffic for the aesthetics of the property,” he said. “We don’t want more traffic, OK? Our neighbors are up in arms about this.”

The project does not require commission approval. But the commission has the option of calling up the project for a vote.

Typically, the district commissioner is the one who calls up the project. In this case, that would be Commissioner John Herbst.

A majority of the commission would have to agree to the call up.

If that happens, a commission vote would need to take place before April 13.