Bahia Mar, a pricey taxpayer-owned piece of land south of Las Olas, may soon be transformed by a $1 billion megaproject with a 300-foot-high hotel, four luxury condo towers, a high-end marina village and a classy waterfront restaurant.
But before developer Jimmy Tate and his partners can break ground, they need a supermajority vote of the Fort Lauderdale commission Tuesday night and another thumbs up from at least four commissioners on June 20.
If all goes as planned, Tate says he plans to break ground on the hotel and two of the four condos in December 2024. Construction would take at least two years. The other two condos would come later, based on market demands, Tate says.
Some don’t like the idea of condos being built on public land, but commissioners say this plan is better than one approved by a prior commission in 2017. That plan, which relegated the boat show to a parking garage, called for a hotel, 651 rental apartments and twice as much commercial space.
“A ‘no’ vote Tuesday night means a ‘yes’ vote for the site plan that got approved in 2017,” Tate said Monday. “We scrapped that plan and came up with this new modified site plan. I don’t ever like to count my chickens before they’re hatched, but we’ve accommodated everyone to the best of our ability. We have accommodated all of the boat show’s requests and 99 percent of the city’s requests and most of the resident’s requests.”
Tate and his partners plan to build four 21-story condo towers standing 270 feet tall, with a total of 350 units; a 23-story, five-star hotel with 256 rooms and 60 luxury condo apartments; a marina village with restaurants and bars fronting A1A; a waterfront restaurant to the north; a 1.25-acre park overlooking the Intracoastal; and a public waterfront promenade that will be 25 feet wide and half a mile long, encircling the entire 39-acre site.
Bahia Mar, home to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, has belonged to the taxpayers since 1947 and is now worth at least $256 million.
Fort Lauderdale turned the land over to the private sector in 1962. That lease was set to end in 2062. But last year, commissioners agreed to grant Tate and his partners a new 100-year lease, sparking an outcry from critics.
Residents in the Idlewyld neighborhood whose homes sit across from Bahia Mar on the Intracoastal have expressed concerns about the new condos casting shadows and contributing to gridlock on the barrier island.
“The 2017 site plan was the original sin,” said Marilyn Mammano, a member of the local group Lauderdale Tomorrow. “Then in 2022, the commission approved the plan for the new 100-year lease. But that’s done. The buildings will be on one big podium in the middle of the site. We think they’re too high.”
Critics also want the park and promenade open to the public sooner rather than later.
“They’re saying the park and promenade won’t be available for 10 years,” Mammano said. “We don’t want to wait 10 years.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan