USS Yankee
December 7th, 2005, 08:43 AM
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/media/photo/2005-12/20838615.jpg
42 Stories of Glory :applause:
Commissioners Cindi Hutchinson, Dean Trantalis and Carlton Moore backed the development. Mayor Jim Naugle and Commissioner Christine Teel opposed it.
At 455 feet, the structure will be the tallest in the city. River House condo a few blocks to the west is shorter by 3 feet. The county's tallest tower, at 505 feet and 52 stories, is the still-unfinished Beach Club Tower 2 in Hallandale Beach.
Tuesday night's approval paves the way for the downtown Fort Lauderdale building, which will include 272 condo apartments atop a six-story garage with 388 parking spaces. The ground floor will be reserved for retail and lobby space.
The proposed tower has been a nightmare for proponents of the neighboring Stranahan House, a 104-year-old former trading post and home of Fort Lauderdale pioneers Frank and Ivy Stranahan. Stranahan House supporters have waged a long campaign warning that the modern tower doesn't belong next to the historic home.
In the past week, Stranahan House supporters have taken out newspaper ads, mailed slick fliers and sent e-mails to commissioners pleading for yet another delay.
Fort Lauderdale resident Jon Schwenzer sent the following e-mail to the commission on the eve of the vote:
"The final plan for this city's only truly historic site will be your legacy forever. If you feel powerless to oppose a greedy billionaire with no sense of civic responsibility, just delay the process. Perhaps leadership will emerge after the next election [in March] that will uphold the will our citizens as expressed in the referendum on this matter."
Property owner Mickey Rabina of New York-based Coolidge-South Markets Equities is working with developer Jorge Perez of The Related Group to build the project on the site of the former supermarket. Developers have been forced to fight in court while other downtown towers have risen with much less scrutiny.
Not every resident opposed the project. Resident Jacqueline Ackeeina called it "amazing" and said it was needed to improve a corner that she described as "old and dying."
As planned, the project includes a public plaza on Las Olas Boulevard in front of the Stranahan House as well as a continuation of Riverwalk, the brick-paved path along the New River. The developer agreed to contribute up to $2 million toward the plaza, which will be designed and maintained by the city.
If the 42-story version of the tower were not approved, a 2004 legal settlement would allow a bulkier, 38-story tower minus the public plaza.
Opposition to the project began soon after the developer submitted a site plan application on Sept. 8, 1999.
Stranahan House proponents persuaded voters to approve an $8 million bond referendum in March 2000 for the purchase of the Hyde Park site. Three months later, the city filed an eminent domain lawsuit to acquire the property.
The lawsuit ended in 2002 when Circuit Judge Robert Lance Andrews tossed out the case, saying the city did not show a public necessity for the land.
"We lost the condemnation lawsuit, we lost," Hutchinson said. "We are headed in the right direction. I don't like the position we are in, but we have to get out of this."
42 Stories of Glory :applause:
Commissioners Cindi Hutchinson, Dean Trantalis and Carlton Moore backed the development. Mayor Jim Naugle and Commissioner Christine Teel opposed it.
At 455 feet, the structure will be the tallest in the city. River House condo a few blocks to the west is shorter by 3 feet. The county's tallest tower, at 505 feet and 52 stories, is the still-unfinished Beach Club Tower 2 in Hallandale Beach.
Tuesday night's approval paves the way for the downtown Fort Lauderdale building, which will include 272 condo apartments atop a six-story garage with 388 parking spaces. The ground floor will be reserved for retail and lobby space.
The proposed tower has been a nightmare for proponents of the neighboring Stranahan House, a 104-year-old former trading post and home of Fort Lauderdale pioneers Frank and Ivy Stranahan. Stranahan House supporters have waged a long campaign warning that the modern tower doesn't belong next to the historic home.
In the past week, Stranahan House supporters have taken out newspaper ads, mailed slick fliers and sent e-mails to commissioners pleading for yet another delay.
Fort Lauderdale resident Jon Schwenzer sent the following e-mail to the commission on the eve of the vote:
"The final plan for this city's only truly historic site will be your legacy forever. If you feel powerless to oppose a greedy billionaire with no sense of civic responsibility, just delay the process. Perhaps leadership will emerge after the next election [in March] that will uphold the will our citizens as expressed in the referendum on this matter."
Property owner Mickey Rabina of New York-based Coolidge-South Markets Equities is working with developer Jorge Perez of The Related Group to build the project on the site of the former supermarket. Developers have been forced to fight in court while other downtown towers have risen with much less scrutiny.
Not every resident opposed the project. Resident Jacqueline Ackeeina called it "amazing" and said it was needed to improve a corner that she described as "old and dying."
As planned, the project includes a public plaza on Las Olas Boulevard in front of the Stranahan House as well as a continuation of Riverwalk, the brick-paved path along the New River. The developer agreed to contribute up to $2 million toward the plaza, which will be designed and maintained by the city.
If the 42-story version of the tower were not approved, a 2004 legal settlement would allow a bulkier, 38-story tower minus the public plaza.
Opposition to the project began soon after the developer submitted a site plan application on Sept. 8, 1999.
Stranahan House proponents persuaded voters to approve an $8 million bond referendum in March 2000 for the purchase of the Hyde Park site. Three months later, the city filed an eminent domain lawsuit to acquire the property.
The lawsuit ended in 2002 when Circuit Judge Robert Lance Andrews tossed out the case, saying the city did not show a public necessity for the land.
"We lost the condemnation lawsuit, we lost," Hutchinson said. "We are headed in the right direction. I don't like the position we are in, but we have to get out of this."