The developers who plan to remake Bahia Mar with four luxury condo towers and a five-star hotel got their approval from the Fort Lauderdale commission just after midnight on Wednesday during a marathon meeting that’s been years in the making.
Critics objected to what they called another giveaway of taxpayer-owned land on the barrier island. But supporters said the $1 billion project would transform the site from an aging time warp into a world-class destination.
Jimmy Tate and his partners plan to build four condo towers standing 270 feet tall and a 300-foot-high hotel on the city-owned peninsula known for being home base to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.
The developers needed “yes” votes from at least four commissioners at this week’s meeting to move forward with their plan.
They got the nod they needed in a 4-1 vote that came after midnight, with “yes” votes from Mayor Dean Trantalis, Commissioners Steve Glassman, John Herbst and Pamela Beasley-Pittman and a “no” vote from Commissioner Warren Sturman. A final commission vote is set for June 20.
A “no” vote from just one more commissioner would have paved the way for a bigger and bulkier project approved by a prior commission in 2017, the mayor told critics.
The old plan called for 13 buildings, including eight towers, 651 rental apartments, a 256-room hotel and twice as much commercial space. In addition, the boat show would have wound up in an underground parking garage.
Better for boat show
“I thought it overdeveloped the site,” Trantalis said of the old plan. “I thought it squeezed out the boat show. It blocked views. It created a traffic nightmare. But we have an opportunity to shed that 2017 site and embrace something that’s a complete improvement.”
Tate and his partners plan to build four 21-story condo towers with a total of 350 units; a 23-story 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 1.8-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.
The new plan will leave Bahia Mar’s 245-slip marina untouched, but has attracted controversy due to the fact that it will be built on public land and comes with a century-long lease and a rezoning that allows taller buildings.
The former lease, which included a base rent of $300,000 per year, earned taxpayers a paltry $1.7 million per year over the past two decades, Glassman noted during the meeting, which began on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and ended on Wednesday at 12:28 a.m.
The new lease will add up to $24 million a year to city coffers once the property is built out, according to a financial analysis by Colliers International.
“I don’t want to roll the dice and say we might get that 2017 site plan,” Glassman said. “People are concerned about traffic with 300 units? Think about traffic with 650 units. [The old plan] would have created a concrete canyon along A1A. Those were huge buildings. Also, I was very concerned with the number of buildings. The density was way more.”
But all the money in the world won’t make up for what some consider a loss of the way things have been.
“Just think of all the people if this goes through,” longtime resident Patricia Halliday told commissioners. “Just think of all the toilets flushing. Just because the developer wants it doesn’t mean you have to give it to them.”
Gloom and doom
More critics spoke, warning of construction dust, shadows on the beach and nightmare gridlock all those new millionaire residents would bring.
But Robert Lochrie, attorney for the developer, told commissioners the traffic would be even worse under the 2017 plan, with its 651 apartment units.
“By reducing the commercial and residential, traffic is reduced by 50 percent,” Lochrie said.
Resident James Morlock was not impressed.
“Commissioners, our system of governance is broken and you’re breaking it over and over again,” he said. “You bury the most important item on the agenda for 11 o clock at night. You need to have this hearing when people can come. The public does not support what’s being proposed tonight. This has got to be rejected, or tabled until we can get people here.”
But the mayor and even a few critics said there’d been so many meetings on the future of Bahia Mar over the years that Tuesday night’s meeting gave them a feeling of déjà vu.
New future, new fate
Anne Hilmer, speaking on behalf of the Idlewyld neighborhood that sits across from Bahia Mar on the other side of the Intracoastal, reminded the commission that she had been at the same meetings along with other residents who objected to building condos and/or apartments on public land.
“Why are we here tonight — to beat our heads against the wall again?” she said. “We have been fighting this project for years. What plans are there to limit the construction impact? Dust and dirt will impact residents on the beach and the homes across the water for years and years. You cannot put a price on our beach and public land.”
But resident Abby Laughlin defended the project and urged commissioners to embrace the future.
“We need an opportunity to capture the future and really keep Fort Lauderdale on the path that we’re a growing dynamic city,” she said. “I’ve been coming to Bahia Mar since 1964. I just find it very exciting what’s happening. I’m going to walk my dog there. I’m going to shop. I’m going to eat at the restaurants. I don’t think you’ve left any stone unturned.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan