A new three-story riverside restaurant called Sweetwaters will be the centerpiece of a $15 million redesign of Huizenga Park in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
The restaurant — a substantial space measuring 12,688 square feet, with an additional 5,846 square feet of outdoor dining area — will be built and operated by Specialty Restaurants Corp., owners of Miami’s popular Rusty Pelican.
The building will be designed by New York-based ICRAVE, a firm with a resume that includes work at Sphere in Las Vegas, hospitality spaces at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, and Miami nightclub entrepreneur David Grutman’s hip Brickell restaurant Komodo.
Jenni Morejon, president and CEO of Fort Lauderdale’s Downtown Development Authority (owner of Huizenga Park), described SRC as a hospitality leader with expertise in collaborating with public agencies on parks and other community spaces.
“The addition of Sweetwaters as part of the park’s new design program will create an unmatched setting for an elegant culinary experience along the edge of the New River,” Morejon said.
When the project was approved by the Fort Lauderdale City Commission in January, it was described as a two-story, 5,000-square-foot building with 1,500 square feet of outdoor space, less than half the size of the three-story building that plans call for now.
DDA board member Charlie Ladd, a developer with buildings that house more than 30 restaurants in downtown Fort Lauderdale, said translating the larger dimensions of the building into more restaurant capacity is a little misleading. Most of the second floor is dedicated to restrooms and storage, with the rest open to the first-floor dining room below, he said.
“It’s not quite as dramatic as it sounds. The restaurant’s grown a little bit, but it’s not out of control. We’ve negotiated that and watched that very closely,” Ladd said. “The second-floor mezzanine is square footage, but it’s not usable square footage. We’ve gone back and forth with them, we’ve worked closely on the plan, and I am comfortable that what they’ve got now is reasonable.”
Ladd expects the third floor of Sweetwaters, which will include an indoor dining room and covered outdoor space, to be popular for special events and receptions.
The Huizenga Park redesign, expected to break ground in early 2024, will include new terraces and public seating areas, a dog run, a renovated fountain, public restrooms and other amenities. The makeover is being led by global architecture firm Perkins & Will, which created the well-regarded renovation of New York’s Bryant Park.
Sweetwaters will sit in the southeast corner of the park, close to the New River and Riverwalk. A small amphitheater currently in that area of the park will be removed.
Renderings of the building show an attractive glass facade extending up to the third-level patio, which has views looking south onto the river and northwest over the park, toward downtown towers. On the east side of the building, a wall serves as a barrier between the restaurant and the Las Olas River House condominium complex.
The DDA will lease the land occupied by the restaurant to SRC, with proceeds contributing to the renovation, future maintenance and programming in the 3-acre park, located at Las Olas Boulevard and Andrews Avenue.
The redesign of Huizenga Park brings long-needed polish to an under-used gem in the heart of the city, DDA board members say. An occasional home for festivals, small concerts and other community events, the park has been a glorified dog run in recent years, with nighttime activity rare.
“The addition of Sweetwaters … promises to be a major catalyst in activating Huizenga Park on a daily basis,” said Steve Hudson, Huizenga Park Foundation chairman and DDA board member.
Sweetwaters is a new brand for SRC, a family-owned company that operates 16 restaurants across the country, many on the water and also built on publicly owned land. In addition to Rusty Pelican, they include four Whiskey Joe’s restaurants in Florida; Whiskey Red’s in Marina del Rey, near Los Angeles; The Boat House Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio; and Templeton Landing in Buffalo, N.Y.
SRC’s track record with public-private partnerships is important, Hudson said.
“SRC’s unparalleled expertise in managing such ventures is on full display here, which aligns seamlessly with our objective of developing a vibrant downtown,” he said.
The Sweetwaters menu is still being developed, but John Tallichet, SRC president and CEO, said the company was attracted to downtown Fort Lauderdale’s growth and “enhanced prominence as a culinary destination.”
If the menu is the No. 1 priority, the vibe is a close second at many new South Florida restaurants. In turning to ICRAVE, both SRC and the DDA are clearly going for a distinctive appearance and atmosphere.
But the backlit glam of Komodo and the slick chill of their work for the Dallas Cowboys should not be seen as templates for Sweetwaters, says Jesse MacDougall, design director at ICRAVE. The company’s goal for its restaurants is to achieve “a harmonious blend with its surroundings,” he said.
To that end, diners can expect a design that makes overtures to nature, the river and surrounding green space of Huizenga Park, MacDougall said. Renderings of the Sweetwaters exterior show each level ringed in live greenery.
“Crafting a memorable dining experience requires a deep understanding of and appreciation for the community in which it resides,” MacDougall said. “By immersing ourselves in the location and integrating it into the design aesthetics, we were able to create a dining experience that is truly distinctive.”
For information on the Huizenga Park redesign, visit HuizengaPark.org.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and Twitter @BenCrandell.