Hollywood could one day have a big city skyline with dozens of new high-rise residential towers — and city leaders want to do their part to make it happen.

Come Wednesday, commissioners are expected to sign off on a plan that would make way in the coming years for up to 25,100 mid-rise and high-rise residences along Federal Highway, from Sheridan Street all the way south to Pembroke Road. The current cap on dwelling units in the city’s high-density zone, known as the Regional Activity Center, is 17,100. The plan is to increase that by 8,000.

A second proposal would allow for up to 9,688 dwelling units along State Road 7. The current cap on dwelling units in Hollywood’s transit-oriented corridor along State Road 7 is 5,309. The plan is to increase that by 4,379.

The news might not go over well with residents, despite the urgent need for affordable housing.

Hollywood’s vision for both Federal Highway and State Road 7 calls for a vibrant, mixed-use urban core that preserves surrounding neighborhoods while also promoting pedestrian-oriented development, public-transit use, mixed-use buildings and aesthetically cohesive communities.

So far, nearly 6,000 residential units have been built or are in the pipeline along Federal Highway, said Hollywood spokeswoman Joann Hussey. Another 1,000 or so have been built or are planned along State Road 7.

By increasing the allowed density in both corridors, Hollywood is responding to evolving market conditions and ensuring continued residential growth within the city’s urban core, Hussey said.

“These types of updates are needed in mature cities as the economy and growth pattern shifts and the cities grow,” she said.

Far north of Young Circle, a 13-story apartment tower is on the rise at 2100 N. Federal Highway, just a few blocks south of Sheridan Street.

The project, dubbed 21 Hollywood, calls for 200 apartments along with 10,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor. The apartments should be ready to rent next year.

The building is the tallest on the block — for now.

“It looks huge because there’s nothing else around it,” said Dick Blattner, a former Hollywood commissioner who serves on the city’s Planning & Development Board. “But this new amendment will enable more projects like that to be built going from Sheridan to Pembroke Road.”

If the city’s visionaries are right, more towers like this one will be built along Federal Highway in the coming years.

While several taller towers have gone up around Young Circle, the city’s land-use map anticipates development will be focused up and down Federal from Sheridan Street all the way to Pembroke Road.

Over on State Road 7, an apartment building named Pinnacle 441 opened at the Johnson Street intersection, a few miles south of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Phase 1 of the eight-story project called for 113 apartments with rents as low as $1,100, built for residents earning 60% or less of the area median income. Phase 2 called for 100 more apartments.

When the first building was ready to open, more than 21,000 people registered to live in one of the 113 apartments. The developer resorted to a lottery systemto decide who would get the keys.

Keith Poliakoff, a land-use attorney who represents developers seeking government permits, predicts most of the new towers will be built in the next 20 years.

“These units are not all being built tomorrow,” Poliakoff said. “This is a long-term plan.”

He dismissed the objection frequently voiced by critics worried about traffic congestion.

“My car’s going to fly by the time those units are completed,” Poliakoff said. “When these units are built, everyone’s going to be getting in a vehicle and it’s all going to be automated.”

Whether that’s true or not, the city has to prepare for more people moving in, he said.

“When Pinnacle 441 opened, it had over 21,000 residents seeking to rent 113 units,” he said. “That showed the incredible need for housing that has not slowed down. Broward County estimates 7,000 new units are needed annually just to keep up with demand.”

Poliakoff praised the city for trying to get ahead of the game and signing off on additional housing for key corridors.

“Hollywood is really just getting ahead of the curve,” he said.

Longtime residents like Ann Ralston may be worried that dozens of new apartment towers will get built.

Guys like Blattner, the former commissioner who now sits on the planning board, are worried they won’t.

“The way the economy is right now, some of these projects are not going to be built right now if ever,” he said. “We’ve already seen projects put on hold. We have approved a lot of buildings in the past five years and they’ve never gotten built.”

Blattner said only one developer has requested an extension on their building permit.

“And that’s when the economy was better than it is now,” he said.

Article Link: Hollywood agrees to Live Local plan for high-rise tower on public land
Author: SUSANNAH BRYAN