Every day, the sun rises on that legendary block along Fort Lauderdale beach with all the T-shirt shops and bars, right at the corner of Las Olas and A1A.
Get ready to kiss it goodbye if city leaders say yes to Las Olas Ocean, a supersized project that would bring dramatic change to Fort Lauderdale’s beachfront, ushering in a classier, more upscale vibe, according to the guys behind the project.
The old haunts would be gone, with the exception of the Elbo Room, a spring break landmark that’s been around since 1938.
In their place would rise two 29-story condo towers standing 300 feet tall, a luxury hotel and exclusive shops surrounded by high-end restaurants.
The ambitious project is the brainchild of Aiton “A.J.” Yaari and Lior Avidor, two longtime friends who moved here from Israel more than 30 years ago and got jobs working at T-shirt shops on the same block.
“We’re both surfer dudes from the beaches of Haifa,” Yaari tells the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “We used to live in the Venetian, in a unit overlooking the beach. And in the evening we’d sit out on the balcony dreaming about this block.”
Over the years, Yaari and his partner started buying up pieces of the block. They bought their final piece in 2022 and have hired “genius” Kobi Karp as their architect. And now, they’re ready to rock and roll.
“We are going to change the face of Fort Lauderdale and turn the beach into a real world-class destination,” Yaari says with the enthusiasm of a charismatic visionary. “It’s time for our block to go to the next level. The city has already made giant leaps and now it’s time to set the jewel in the crown. Our corner is the jewel of the crown of Fort Lauderdale.”
Yaari, who once worked the counter at Hot Stuff, and Avidor, who sold merchandise at Sea the Sun, now own one large block that fronts A1A and two others that sit behind it to the west.
Under their plan, here’s what might be coming should city commissioners give the project a green light:
• 500 condos split between a north and south tower (274 units in the north tower and 226 in the south)
• 373 hotel rooms (228 rooms in the 90-foot-high hotel tower on the north; 145 rooms in the 78-foot-high hotel tower on the south)
• Close to 24,000 square feet of retail space and 10,500 square feet of outdoor dining
• An eight-story podium with a 1,323-space parking garage
Together, the three blocks make up 4.35 acres, extending from Las Olas Boulevard north to Poinsettia Street and from A1A west to Seabreeze Boulevard.
To build their grand vision, the two partners need the city’s blessing to rezone the property. They’re also hoping the city will vacate sections of Almond Avenue and Banyan Street. Almond Avenue runs through the property from north to south and a portion of Banyan Street runs through the site from east to west.
Under the current plan, the streets would reopen to cars and pedestrians once construction is complete. Both streets would be rededicated to the city.
The project is still winding its way through the approval process and has not yet made it to Fort Lauderdale’s commission or Planning and Zoning Board.
That would likely happen later this year, says Courtney Crush, attorney for the developers.
Mayor Dean Trantalis has mixed feelings about the project.
“That block has been begging for redevelopment for a number of years,” Trantalis says. “It’s definitely going to change the character of that block and complete the vision of Fort Lauderdale as a destination for more upscale visitors.”
On the other hand, it’s a monster of a project.
“We have to take a close look at the number of trips generated in order to determine whether or not it’s within our zoning guidelines,” he says. “We have to make sure it won’t overwhelm the area.”
John Burns, president of the Venetian Condo Association, says the density and height of the project might draw controversy.
“That is a huge project in the center of the beach and it will take years to build,” Burns says. “The traffic is already gridlocked and it’s going to get worse.”
Burns also doesn’t like the idea of turning two streets over to the developer — even if the city gets them back later on.
“When you vacate city-owned property and let the developer do something with it, it can change traffic patterns and sunlight and air flow,” Burns says. “They paint some pretty pictures, but I’m worried about what it will do to the street. I think there’s still a lot of questions to be answered.”
This much is clear: Las Olas Ocean towers, if built, would block the view of the ocean for the condo towers that sit directly behind the project to the west.
The three condos that will be most impacted include the six-story Leisure Beach South, the 12-story Leisure Beach tower and the 30-story Jackson Tower.
Stephen Lipton, president of Jackson Tower Condo Association, says the project isn’t far enough along for people to pay it much notice yet.
But many of his neighbors, he says, wouldn’t object to the idea of the Rock Bar making a permanent exit. (The same spot was home to Summer’s on the Beach to spring breakers from the 1980s).
“All of us in the building know about the Rock Bar,” Lipton says. “It sounds like someone is over there banging on a garbage can all day. They turn the bass up. It doesn’t even sound like music. An upscale development going in there would be nice.”
Commissioner Steve Glassman, whose district includes the neighborhood, says there are still many issues to work out. But if done right, the project would help clean up the block and implement the city’s decades-long vision for the beach.
“That being said, I am gathering neighbor feedback to ensure we mitigate the issues of noise and other concerns that arise when residential and entertainment districts co-exist in the same space,” Glassman says.
Says Yaari: ‘We try to be very good neighbors as best we can. But you know, it’s spring break. And during spring break, it gets loud. But the future of this block isn’t what we have now.”
When Las Olas Ocean gets built, the whole block will have an entirely new vibe, Yaari says.
“They won’t have any more wild, loud clubs,” he says. “This isn’t going to be a pool party, spring break riot here.”
Will some people miss the T-shirt shops?
Yaari chuckles at the question.
“There’s going to be a component of what I call mixing the old with the new,” he says. “There might be a cool surf shop next to a high-end store like you see in Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach.”
Elbo Room owner Mike Penrod says he and Yaari met in 1991.
“He worked next door when I took over the Elbo Room,” Penrod says. “He worked at a T-shirt, then managed it, then bought it. Then years later, they bought up everything around me.”
Penrod says Yaari and his partner asked if he’d be willing to sell the Elbo Room.
“I said ‘sure’ and I gave them a ridiculous number,” Penrod says. “Honestly, we wouldn’t sell. We can’t sell. People would be so mad at us.”
Penrod says he looks forward to the changes that might be coming to the block the Elbo Room calls home.
“It’s such a great location,” he says. “I think it’ll be great to have shops over there that aren’t low-end. And there’s a lot of homeless living behind those buildings. It’ll be good to clean up that area.”
Ruchel Coetzee, a real estate agent with Douglas Elliman, says the high-end project is just what the beach needs.
“Some people are going to cry about the views they will lose,” Coetzee says. “Some people are going to cry about the traffic. But Fort Lauderdale is growing up. It’s about time that area gets redeveloped.”
Las Olas Ocean will bring a sophistication to that part of the beach, she says.
“It won’t look like the ’80s spring break any more,” she adds. “The owners understand what the beachfront is calling for. It’s time to move forward. The beachfront is our calling card. And we should not let this opportunity pass us by.”
Yaari says he and his partner have already met with some neighborhood groups and plan more meetings in the months to come.
“It’s time to evolve,” he says. “This is our legacy project, 34 years in the making. This is our heart and soul. And I need everyone’s support to make this dream come true.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me @Susannah_Bryan