If the most fierce critics of Fort Lauderdale’s evolving skyline had a path, they might close the doors of new developments, lock deadbolts, and throw away the keys.
That’s not happening. They know that, so does developers.
In today’s economic situation, construction has hit a slowdown. This is a fact of life celebrated by critics. However, there are still many projects in Broward County’s most populous urban pipeline. Many of them are high rise towers filled with new homes when built.
If all planned projects are approved and built, more than 27,000 new housing units will be available in Fort Lauderdale over the next few years. Four of the five homes, or about 80%, will rise to downtown, with the rest being built in other parts of the city. The tally comes from the latest updates tracking development projects across the city, shedding light on the potential building boom.
Fort Lauderdale tracks these projects on its website and shares details on the number of projects that come in four areas: Downtown, Central Beach, Northwest Regional Activity Center and Uptown. This site was last updated in May.
If all projects are approved and built, check out the number of residential units and hotel rooms that will come to Fort Lauderdale.
– Downtown: 21,958 units and 1,059 hotel rooms.
– Central Beach: 1,476 units and 1,822 hotel rooms.
– Northwest Community Activity Centre: 1,931 residential units and 100 hotel rooms.
– Uptown Master Plan Development Project: 1,829 residential units.
Based on the latest updates, there are by far many projects downtown.
Thirteen towers are under construction downtown, with a total of 5,213 residential units. There are nine more reviews, with a total of 3,158 residential units. Another 39 projects have been approved, with a total of 13,587 housing units approved.
In Central Beach, three projects are under construction, with 643 residential units and 256 hotel rooms. Two are under review, with 500 residential units and 448 hotel rooms. Nine were approved in 333 residential units and 1,118 hotel rooms.
Five projects are under construction at the Northwest Community Activities Center, with 1,061 housing units. Seven are under review and there are 449 residential units. Six have been approved, with 421 residential units and 100 hotel rooms.
The Northwest Regional Activity Center is located between Sunrise Boulevard to the north and Broward Boulevard to the south, the Federal Expressway to the east and about four blocks west of I-95.
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Uptown has two projects with 512 housing units approved. Three are under review, with 1,317 residential units. It is not under construction yet.
Uptown includes areas near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, adjacent to McNabroad to the north, NW 57th Avenue to the south, Powerline Road to the west, and Interstate 95 in the east.
“People want to be here.”
Commissioner Steve Glassman defended growth that has brought dramatic changes to the beaches and downtown as well.
“How do you deal with a lot of people here?” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “You build walls around town and say, ‘Are you allowed it now?” No, you have to be smart.
All of that growth did not occur overnight, Glassman pointed out. It took years.
“These numbers show that we are a city we are growing and that people want to be here,” Glassman said. “At the end of the day, development is circular. We’re in a real sweet spot. There’s the luxury of knowing people want to be in Fort Lauderdale. And not all of these projects happen.
Longtime resident Anne Hilmer responded significantly differently to the list of pipeline projects. “Yeah, my God. All the toilets are flushed out. Think of every car on the road. And our amazing commissioner says that the downtown residents aren’t driving.
Hilmer, a member of the group’s Lauderdale, says many people in Fort Lauderdale are furious at what is considered a runaway development.
“What they’re doing is building for all the people that’s about to come,” Hilmer said. “And they forgot all the people who live here now. If I was 20 years older, I would move. But at this point we won’t go anywhere.”
“When is enough enough?”
John Burns, whose condos near Las Olas and A1A have given him a view of the beach and downtown, has seen more and more towers rise in disappointment.
Burns argued that the skyscrapers erupted in a small lot in downtown are changing the nature of the city’s neighbours.
“There’s a lot of downtown developments,” he said. “Is enough enough? I think it’s driven by developers wanting to make money in a very attractive region, and it’s very difficult to stop them.”
In the meantime, traffic appears to be getting worse at each rising tower, Burns said.
“We are stuck in traffic congestion on broken roads, but traffic investigations are always supporting the proposed development,” he said. “Are traffic research flaws, or is it my imagination that it’s difficult to drive around here?”
Mayor Dean Trantalis remembers a time when he couldn’t hand over his property in Fort Lauderdale, whether downtown or on the beach.
“It was in the 1980s,” he said. “No one bought anything. Flagler Heights – now known as Flagler Village – was nothing more than a city wasteland where driving was dangerous to drive, not to mention living there.”
Become a hot spot
Today, trendy Flagler Village is a thriving part of downtown, home to hundreds of newcomers gathering in new restaurants, bars and shops that have opened for the past decade or so.
“Does the developers build skyscrapers that remain empty?” asked Trantaris. “No, they’re filling them up. Whenever you meet someone at the Publix or the gym, many people appreciate all the amenities and options, with every restaurant and nightlife activities and iceplex and pickle ball courts.
Charlie Rudd, a local developer who lives in Fort Lauderdale, says the downtown tower ugs investors to bring life to life in a devastated neighborhood before they arrive in town.
“The tower symbolizes the creation of urban residential areas in the country from the slum, which was the village of Flagler,” Ladd told the Sun Sentinel. “The population continues to grow. Wouldn’t you want to build any more products? Then the housing value will be even higher and no one can live here.”
The way Rudd sees it, Fort Lauderdale has become a lively, easy to walk in and exciting place to live.
“Other people say, ‘It’s terrible, it’s bad, there’s too many people,'” he said.
But Rudd says he sees a wealthy city that is still growing, and that growth has allowed him to maintain the same local government tax rate for nearly 20 years.
“If there’s more demand, development will accelerate,” Rudd said. “If not, some of these projects will not be built. The market is the ultimate arbitrator of what is being built.”
But if growth is coming, it won’t stop it, Rudd said.
“It won’t happen unless someone waves his wand and says, ‘I don’t want any more people here,’ unless they go into the form of the king of government. Which side of the bed will arise? Are you excited by the fact that old, ruined neighborhoods have been upgraded and replaced by modern desirable locations?
