Archive for category: News

As the South Florida real estate market strides into 2026, the narrative is shifting—from a frenzied post-pandemic boom to a more deliberate, disciplined, and strategically grounded phase of growth. Industry leaders across development, brokerage, law, and finance agree: this is a region leaning into its long-term strengths, while recalibrating around substance, sustainability, and selective opportunity.

“South Florida is entering a more productive phase for disciplined multifamily investors,” said Joe Lubeck, CEO of American Landmark Apartments. “Recent dispositions locally and nationwide have created meaningful opportunities to redeploy capital into quality assets in proven submarkets.” For Lubeck, the key to navigating the current cycle lies in focus and fundamentals—backing assets that can perform through shifting market conditions.

Branded Residences: Beyond the Logo

Nowhere is the evolution more visible than in the branded residence space. Mikael Hamaoui, founder and CEO of Riviera Horizons, the firm behind Pagani Residences noted, “The next evolution of branded residences will be defined less by logos and more by substance, authenticity, and long-term value.” He pointed to a new generation of buyers who are not dazzled by sheer scale, but instead are drawn to thoughtfully curated, boutique projects where the brand genuinely informs the architecture, services, and lifestyle.

This vision is echoed by Vertical Developments CEO Fernando de Nuñez y Lugones, who emphasizes the demand for branded properties that “translate the brand into tangible, day-to-day value, with design integrity, hospitality-level service, and long-term livability.” In 2026, it’s not about the name alone—it’s about what the name delivers.

Office and Urban Momentum

Commercial real estate is also finding its rhythm. Tere Blanca, Chairwoman and CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, described 2026 as a year marked by a clear “flight to quality.” With projects like T3 at FAT Village in Fort Lauderdale and 1401 Brickell in Miami set to deliver, she anticipates strong demand for modern, sustainable office space in vibrant, walkable neighborhoods. “Corporate relocations, infrastructure investments, and the global spotlight around the World Cup are all tailwinds for the region’s office market,” she added.

Urban-X Group’s Andrew Hellinger, the ones behind River Landing Shops & Residences sees policy and macroeconomic forces playing a major role. “Interest rates, immigration, and trade policy will shape the year ahead, but South Florida remains a resilient and diverse economy,” he said. That resilience continues to attract capital and people—especially from the Northeast, a trend many believe will remain steady regardless of political outcomes.

The Legal Landscape: Local Nuance Matters

With opportunity comes complexity, particularly on the legal front. Jeffrey Bass, Founding Member of Bass Law, a real estate law firm, underscored the importance of understanding Florida’s evolving land use dynamics. “Florida offers compelling real estate opportunities in 2026, but navigating land use and zoning risk will require a sharper local focus than ever,” he warned, citing the ongoing tug-of-war between state preemption and local control.

Keith Poliakoff, a local government attorney, emphasized the growing influence of the Live Local Act, which he expects will start bearing fruit in 2026. “Many projects that have been navigating the permitting process will finally break ground,” he said, opening new pathways for affordable housing and pushing municipalities toward greater compliance.

Capital Markets and the Return of Transaction Velocity

“2026 feels like a ‘markets moving again’ year,” said Danny Diaz Leyva, attorney at Day Pitney, capturing the broader sentiment among capital market players. As interest rates ease, he anticipates renewed transaction activity, beginning with refinancings and extensions and eventually moving into acquisitions and true price discovery. The demographic trends remain favorable too, with South Florida still drawing affluent residents and employers, bolstering demand.

That demand, increasingly, is grounded in staying power. “The international buyer market is expected to remain steady and resilient in 2026,” said Sergio Pintos, President of Sales at PMG. Foreign capital, long a foundational element of the Miami market, continues to view the region as a safe harbor amid global volatility.

Global Appeal with Long-Term Roots

“Miami is not a speculative market—it’s a global city,” said Peggy Olin, CEO of OneWorld Properties. She points to a new generation of international entrepreneurs and family offices not just investing, but establishing a presence. “Many are living here full-time, others are anchoring themselves in Miami as a primary or secondary base,” she said. This depth of commitment underscores Miami’s enduring global appeal and market maturity.

Juan Carlos Tassara of North Development added that foreign buyers remain pivotal. “Miami’s appeal to Latin America is significant,” he said, with the region accounting for more than 50% of new construction sales. The capital inflow, particularly from Latin America, remains a stabilizing force.

Luxury’s New Rules: Discipline Over Flash

For ultra-luxury and branded product, the bar is higher than ever. “2026 will reward disciplined buyers focused on true scarcity, prime waterfront locations, and exceptional execution,” said Isaac Toledano, Founder & CEO of BH Group. He sees today’s Northeast buyers as serious players—not chasing headlines, but making long-term moves backed by real capital.

His projects—from Six Fisher Island to The Ritz-Carlton Residences, West Palm Beach—are defined by irreplaceable locations and high design standards. It’s a strategy that reflects the entire region’s pivot toward intentional, enduring value.

A Market Coming of Age

Amid this more disciplined environment, the opportunity for visionary development remains strong — especially for those willing to align product quality with long-term demand drivers.

“As we move into early 2026, Florida’s real estate landscape is setting up for a dynamic year driven by population growth, global demand, and a deepening pool of institutional capital,” said Jay Roberts, CEO of Prosper Group. “The anticipated interest rate cut will help renew momentum, but the bigger story is the maturation of markets like Miami and Tampa, where buyers are prioritizing wellness, hospitality-driven living, and thoughtful design.”

In 2026, South Florida is no longer just a market of momentum—it’s a market of meaning. From multifamily to branded residences, from office towers to boutique luxury, the region is entering a phase where authenticity, quality, and resilience define success. The frenzy may have faded, but what remains is arguably stronger: a global real estate hub grounded in long-term fundamentals and poised for a sophisticated new chapter.

Article Link: South Florida Real Estate Market Matures in 2026 According to Experts
Author: Traded Media

The real estate business is as old as dirt itself. But now, technology is revamping the industry as agents and developers focus not only on dirt but also on digital data. One local example of the emergent property technology industry is Open House Wizard. The Fort Lauderdale-based company sells apps that automate open houses with QR-code convenience and a text registration chatbot as your guide, if needed. Dave Frank, owner of Open House Wizard, says his company helps agents “hold open houses in kind of an effortless way, instead of doing a lot of work. Our app does a lot of that in the background for them,” including open-house visitor registration.

Open House Wizard is a rare local enterprise not part of a vast Fort Lauderdale community of property technology, or “prop tech,” companies. “I don’t know of any companies here in that arena,” Frank says. “They’re all in other places like Boston, New York and places like that.” Frank, who moved to South Florida from the D.C. area in northern Virginia, drew inspiration from his wife’s career when he launched his open-house automation company in 2017. “My wife was a realtor at that time. And it just seemed like the open house process was very clunky,” he says. “My background is in IT, since the early ’80s.”

Tech experts like Frank are modernizing real estate sales one agent at a time. Meanwhile, “smart” buildings that automate maintenance are getting smarter. And the emergence of artificial intelligence through ChatGPT and other AI platforms is rippling through real estate and just about every other industry. As Bianca Ford, the CEO and founder of Property Technology Magazine, said: “Prop tech is now embedded in every phase of the property life cycle—from AI-driven underwriting to IoT [Internet of Things]-enabled building operations.”

For many real estate companies, the bottom line is greater energy and efficiency. “Technological change is having a very large positive impact on our business,” Jeff Burns, CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based residential builder Affiliated Development, says. “Technology has improved the way we market and lease our units. On the development side, we use a prop tech software that streamlines workflows, tracks milestones and dates and manages data. Recently, we have started integrating the use of AI into our company. AI will transform the way real estate development companies function, which will increase efficiency and output while utilizing fewer resources.”

Ken Stiles admitted that he is not a virtuoso when it comes to artificial intelligence. However, he has surrounded himself with talent as the CEO of Stiles, a diversified real estate company based in Fort Lauderdale. The company has built downtown landmarks such as the 110 Tower, formerly known as AutoNation Tower, and The Main Las Olas, an office building in a complex that includes a residential high-rise.

“I’m not real good at AI. But the team and the asset managers use it all the time,” Stiles told an audience as a panelist in a panel discussion at the Urban Land Institute’s Fort Lauderdale Forum conference in September. “We’re seeing it a lot on the development side. But we’re really integrating it now on the construction side,” for tasks such as pre-construction planning and compliance reviews.

AI is also integrated into the company’s property management, featuring a data-driven preventive maintenance program that responds to trouble detectors such as condensers and water sensors. “The insurance companies are starting to look at that,” he noted. Some older employees resist AI’s intrusion into their work lives, Stiles said. “But younger people, younger generations, are really buying into it and pushing it forward.”

One real estate pro pushing it forward is Jaime Sturgis, founder and CEO of Native Realty, a Fort Lauderdale-based real estate agency. “We’re working on a back-of-house tech stack that is proprietary, so I can’t get into all the details,” Sturgis says. With AI, one person is expected to finish this project in six months. He credits the use of AI for shortening a project that once would have involved multiple engineers and could have taken a year or more to complete.

Native Realty tested the limits of artificial intelligence when the agency replaced its human receptionist with an AI-driven chatbot, before switching back. “We had tested a ‘receptionist’ we had built out [of] the AI, the data and all that stuff. And it did not work. People did not like it,” Sturgis says. “I listened to some of the responses, and people were like: ‘Am I talking to a robot?’ So, we rolled that back and went back to a human receptionist.” Eventually, however, Sturgis expects the AI-generated receptionist to become more refined. “I think probably Version 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 with those is probably going to become the mainstream,” he says.

Sturgis and other real estate leaders agree that technological advances have made retrieving all kinds of data easier. Municipal zoning boundaries and rules, for example, were grueling before AI redefined internet searches. “Researching zoning codes—we do that a lot,” Sturgis says. “We’re operating across all these different cities, and you’ve got to find a [code] subsection … Now, with a keystroke, I am able to find the paragraph in a matter of seconds.”

Fort Lauderdale-based real estate attorney Keith Poliakoff agrees that technologically enhanced zoning research is a transformative tool for property owners and developers. “The biggest thing that we’re seeing is the emergence of products that try to create interactive zoning maps for each municipality for developers and buyers to go on, with AI-driven images of what could be built on the property,” says Poliakoff, who runs Government Law Group with his partner Neil Schiller. For example, he explains, “the actual [allowable] tower heights, when you click on them, are block graphs that are AI-driven to show you how tall your project can be.” The lure of that AI-enhanced technology stems from “being able to show a client what a potential design would look like on a piece of property,” Poliakoff says. “They can see what the view would look like from multiple angles, without engaging someone for thousands of dollars to render it.”

While the appeal of such technology in real estate is undeniable, users are advised to verify the results. “It’s a tool, and a very useful tool, but I don’t think anyone can be sure that the information they’re getting back is always 100% accurate,” the real estate attorney says. “Hence, you have to do your due diligence.”

Rapid changes in technology also have made newer commercial structures so sophisticated that buildings constructed near the turn of the century appear dowdy by comparison, says Charlie B. Ladd Jr., president of Fort Lauderdale-based Barron Real Estate, citing the office component of The Main Las Olas mixed-use development. “The reason it’s such a big success is because technology has moved so far that these other buildings are obsolete,” Ladd says. “They used to put in all this hard-wire stuff. Now, it’s all WiFi. People look at these old buildings, and there’s wires every place.”

In the hotel segment of the real estate industry, advances in technology support a frictionless guest experience, says Ladd, who is developing The Whitfield, a luxury boutique hotel and condominium in Fort Lauderdale, with Steve Hudson, CEO of locally based Hudson Capital Group. At many hotels, “you can do everything on your phone,” he says. “You can register, get your key and you can bypass everything and go straight to your room.” But at The Whitfield, guests will get the human front-office presence that a luxury hotel demands. “That will be a concierge,” Ladd says.

For developer Dev Motwani, the emergence of precise digital advertising has made an impact on his real estate business, surpassing other technological advances. “The biggest thing we’ve seen so far is on the marketing side. Digital has added a completely new dimension, because the feedback is so immediate and so targeted. That’s really complementing what we do with our more traditional media,” says Motwani, who serves as co-managing partner of Fort Lauderdale-based Merrimac Ventures together with his brother Nitin Motwani. “I can target CEOs that are in town for a conference that I want to sell condos to. … I also get feedback about who’s looking and where, so I can target digital [advertising] spends at different geographies, if there is a market I wasn’t expecting to resonate with our developments.”

AI and other technological advances in the first quarter of the 21st century have made the real estate business more efficient and effective. But these advances have not replaced the human touch, according to Jimmy Tate, who operates North Miami-based Tate Capital with his brother, Kenny Tate. Their company is working with Miami-based Related Group to redevelop the Bahia Mar property on Fort Lauderdale’s beach as a St. Regis-branded resort and residential enclave.

“You have technologies now where plans are three-dimensional, so you can basically pre-build a building in a computer,” Tate says. This 21st century tool minimizes unforeseen construction delays due to planning errors. “Twenty-five years ago,” he says, “you’d be building and you’d realize, uh-oh, we’ve got a disconnect.” AI-driven technologies also help Tate and his cohorts in managing construction and pricing condos.

“But at the end of the day, real estate and sales are about people,” he says. “To be successful, you need the one-on-one. You need to look someone in the eye, talk to them. Because they’re buying me. They’re not buying a building. They’re buying my reputation, my history. So, technology has its place, but it’s only going to go so far.”

Throughout Florida, cities and counties are struggling with achieving a balance between the development pressures that accompany growth and the need to retain housing affordability. Few municipalities from Key West to Tallahassee better reflect that tug-of-war than Hollywood. The city of 150,000 between Fort Lauderdale and Miami celebrates its centennial this year while staging a half-billion-dollar downtown revival.

The redevelopment at the city’s downtown circle will see BTI Partners replace a long-shuttered bread factory built more that 60 years ago with a new 362-unit multifamily tower and more than 16,000 square feet of retail space.

In a second phase, twin towers linked by a dramatic skywalk will rise on a parcel formerly occupied by a strip shopping center.

At the same time, local developer Pinnacle has faced an issue in developing its affordable housing community Pinnacle 441. Demand for housing affordability is so intense the company drew tens of thousands of interested renters for its limited units.

“Demand for affordable housing is off the charts, in ways not previously seen in my four decades in the industry,” says Timothy Wheat, partner in Pinnacle Partners. “We have had to implement a lottery system just to manage the volume . . . We resorted to using a lottery and received 21,000 registrants for 113 units. Since then, we’ve had to conduct lotteries for three additional communities because the demand continues to outpace supply at every turn. It is unprecedented and alarming. Solving this crisis will take sustained public-private collaboration, serious investment and the political will to clear roadblocks that prevent developments like this from being completed at a faster rate.”

Continued shortfall

While acute in Hollywood, the affordability crisis has impacted a great many other cities across the Sunshine State. So reports University of Florida News. According to the outlet, a dearth of affordable housing for the state’s workforce and fixed-income seniors is ongoing despite increasing multifamily and single-family home building. UF News reported the affordable rental housing shortage is severe for renters whose incomes fall below 80% of area median income (AMI), and especially severe for those below 60%.

Across the state an estimated 862,000 renter households whose incomes fall below 60% AMI are shelling out for monthly rent more than 40% of their incomes. One of the most worrisome harbingers of future affordability is that Florida added more than 700,000 units with gross rents higher than $1,200 monthly between 2012 and 2022. But over the same period it lost nearly 292,000 units renting for $1,200 or less.

The Live Local Act, a Florida state law in effect since July 2023, was intended to generate more rental housing by incentivizing developers and constraining the ability of municipalities to restrict height and density of qualifying affordable developments.

“Florida’s housing crisis is severe, driven by rapid population growth and a limited housing supply,” says Keith Poliakoff, a Florida government and municipal law expert. “The Live Local Act was a strong first step, but it hasn’t had the intended impact largely because of municipalities [that] have found loopholes to block new developments.

“To get the full benefits of this legislation, the state must tighten these regulations, strengthen incentives and hold governments accountable. Without these changes, the workers who keep our communities running will continue to be priced out of the neighborhoods they serve.”

Outdated zoning

Steven J. Wernick, partner at East Coast law firm Day Pitney, agrees that the Live Local Act will prove only as effective as local governments’ response. “Most cities and counties are still operating under outdated zoning frameworks that weren’t designed to accommodate today’s housing needs,” he says. “If we want to create real, lasting impact, we need to rethink how we use land, embracing mixed-use, higher-density development in areas that can support it and reducing minimum parking requirements that drive up costs. That requires not only updating local zoning codes but also shifting the mindset around what smart growth looks like in Florida’s urban and suburban communities.”

Article Link: Charting Florida Housing Affordability Stressors In Hollywood And Beyond
Author: Jeffrey Steele

The Florida Senate hailed the signing late last week of a wide-ranging bill aimed at bolstering the state’s handling of hurricanes, but a legal battle could lie ahead, as Gov. Ron DeSantis provided his signature over objections that portions will trample on local governments’ authority to regulate land use and development in their own communities.

Senate Bill 180, which carries the title “Emergencies,” implements a multitude of new requirements intended to bring clearer and more streamlined processes in terms of how the state prepares, responds and recovers from the annual scourge of hurricanes.

But critics, including several local governments and advocacy organizations, called for the governor to veto the bill, arguing portions aimed at facilitating rebuilding include vague and overbroad language that would “effectively halt” local governments from pursuing any planning efforts that could be viewed as more restrictive or burdensome.

“It’s not just development regulations related to hurricane recovery. It’s anything. So it just kind of opens the complete door to development,” said Jamie A. Cole, a partner at Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman PL who has specialized in home rule matters. “It’s an unbelievable intrusion into home rule authority for cities, because cities basically can no longer pass things that they think are in the best interest of their community.”

In a statement issued after the bill’s signing, its sponsor, Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach, said lawmakers were fighting to help homeowners and other property owners rebuild without added bureaucratic delay or burdens. The Legislature mandated that counties and municipalities develop plans to expedite post-storm permitting and inspections while preventing them from increasing certain fees during these periods.

But the new law, now enrolled as Section 2525-190 of the Florida Statutes, also went beyond that, stating that for one year after a hurricane makes landfall, certain “impacted local governments” are prohibited from adopting a moratorium on “construction, reconstruction or redevelopment of any property,” as well as new land-use and development regulations that are “more restrictive or burdensome.” It also provides a path for private parties to bring civil suits for alleged violations.

Another section applies similar prohibitions retroactively to Aug. 1, 2024, and through Oct. 1, 2027, for all counties and municipalities within them that were covered by federal emergency declarations related to Hurricanes Debby, Helene or Milton, which struck the state last year.

Since the declarations for those three storms collectively covered every county in the state, that three-year window appears to restrict local land-use planning for every inch of the state for the near future, multiple sources said.

Cole’s fellow Weiss Serota partner Susan Trevarthen said it appears these provisions will result in a “loss of home rule or local government authority over land use and zoning that’s contemplated by the 1968 Florida Constitution.”

And while some parts reference damaged or destroyed properties, others are “completely detached from damage or impact,” Cole said. Given the annual cycle of the hurricane threat, the city of Winter Haven noted in its veto request letter that if storms continue to make landfall each year, that could effect a “rolling ban on local land-use authority.”

Cole and Trevarthen said they are advising clients to review all land-use and development regulations adopted since Aug. 1, 2024, but they also said they have been contacted by several cities about potentially filing lawsuits and are analyzing the situation and considering which legal theories they would use.

“There’s always potential legislative fixes a year from now, but that’s a year from now. That doesn’t really do much good for a year,” Cole said. “Since the governor ignored the veto letters and then signed it, cities are in a tough spot right now. And they’re going to have to decide whether to just abide by it or try to challenge it.”

In their veto request letters, cities and organizations cited a variety of concerns.

Several brought up the threat to measures they spent considerable time and money — including state grants — to develop and enact within the retroactive reach of the new law. Many of these were implemented with broad public support or in response to public demands, they said.

Winter Haven cited a new forestry plan it said it adopted with broad community support in September, and New Smyrna Beach brought up new stormwater master plans aimed at addressing chronic flood risks resulting from the city’s bowl-shaped topography. Lake Alfred in Polk County noted it had made substantive changes to its land development code, mostly including elements aimed at clarifying and streamlining processes but also some compromises that in isolation could be viewed as more burdensome.

“[M]any of these balanced provisions within our code may need to be repealed to revert to an earlier version of the code,” Lake Alfred’s city manager wrote. “This could put pending residential developments that are already in the planning process back into custom zoning processes which on net may be more burdensome to development.”

Cutler Bay, in Miami-Dade County, and the Florida Floodplain Managers Association both expressed concerns that the prohibitions could undermine municipalities’ efforts to implement floodplain management policies that have helped improve their ratings in the federal National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System and saved resident policyholders hundreds of dollars in policy costs each year.

Winter Haven’s city leaders said the lack of definition of the terms “more restrictive” and “burdensome,” coupled with a one-way attorney fee provision for plaintiffs filing legal challenges to local government regulations, could lead to more speculative lawsuits. And they suggested the prohibition on any development moratorium is “short-sighted” and “irresponsible” for not considering critical situations such as a local water supply being at risk after a storm.

They also pointed out that given the annual cycle of hurricane season, the law may be “essentially creating a rolling ban on local land-use authority,” as any storm that passes within 100 miles of a county could trigger a year-long prohibition even if the community experiences no actual damage.

Making a similar point, Weiss Serota’s Trevarthen noted these kinds of regulations take time to go through the process of identifying an issue in the community, writing legislation, publishing notices, and holding public hearings and multiple readings at government meetings.

“So what that creates is a perpetual situation where it’s chaotic and unpredictable when local governments will ever have the local land-use powers again,” she said. “It just doesn’t work to try to use your government when it’s like some kind of child’s game where you’re running for a minute, and then you have to stop, and then you run.”

How this will play out and what the exact impact of the law will be on development across the state remains to be seen, several attorneys said. Several of the objecting cities did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did the governor’s office or the bill sponsor DiCeglie.

As Trevarthen noted, the cities and counties that already have tighter regulatory regimes will have fewer reasons to adopt more restrictive or burdensome policies, so the law is likely to have a more dramatic impact on areas that have not been as affected by hurricanes in the past and with local governments that are still learning what they need to do to mitigate risk and better protect their communities.

Barbara Blake Boy, executive director of the Broward County Planning Council, said that because of S.B. 180, the council paused meetings for the summer to review updates being drafted for the county’s land-use plan, which they revise every seven years, to see what might potentially be more restrictive or burdensome and need modifying.

She said most of the proposals so far are incentive-based and, she thinks, should not run afoul of those provisions. The council’s review of everything adopted since Aug. 1, 2024, reached similar conclusions, she said, while adding there’s always a chance an attorney might claim any provision is more burdensome.

Rebecca Wilson, co-chair of the land-use, zoning and environmental group at Lowndes, said how various local governments choose to handle the situation could depend on their particular regulations or processes.

“For those local governments which adopted moratoriums after the hurricanes, it is clear those are void,” she said. “For other regulations, such as changes to a land development code, there may be some argument about the definition of ‘burdensome.’ It may also be the case that a new regulation as applied to one property is not more burdensome, but when the same regulation is applied to another property, it is more burdensome. In that instance, the property may be able to claim that while the entire regulation is not void, it is void as applied to their parcel.”

Keith Poliakoff of the Government Law Group said he thinks the legislation — similar to the comparable Senate Bill 250 that was passed in 2023 in the wake of Hurricane Ian — is aimed more at the actions of a few governments along the state’s west coast, which has suffered the most severe damage from hurricanes over the past several years.

Poliakoff said he disagrees with statements made by the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association and others that the law eliminates the ability of the state and its communities to learn from storms and make changes to protect against future ones.

While several critics pointed to the example of how the Florida Building Code and several local building regulations were revamped after the devastation of 1992’s Hurricane Andrew — changes that have been credited for the strong performance of newer buildings in recent storms — Poliakoff said those codes are regularly reviewed and considered among the strongest in the country.

He also suggested this new law is in line with a clear priority the Florida Legislature has set to protect private property rights, adding he thinks it will hold up in court.

“This is not the first time in the modern era that the Florida Legislature has imposed mandates and has clawed power from local governments who they believe to be overreaching,” he said. “So while a local government could attempt to challenge the law based on constitutional grounds, after practicing for nearly 30 years, I believe the law as written has merit in that the Florida Legislature’s bill, as written, will prevail.”

But Poliakoff also acknowledged the language in the law is “written incredibly broad[ly]” and said that while everything is written under the guise of hurricane recovery, local governments may be founded in their concerns that the language and retroactive application can apply to properties that have not been impacted by storms and “a whole slew of redevelopment, which, quite honestly, is probably what the Florida Legislature wanted.”

With fundamental issues and real life impacts at stake, these issues bear watching, Weiss Serota’s Trevarthen suggested.

“You don’t have power if you can only use it to say yes,” she said. “So it’s that fundamental — it’s that big of an impact on local government power and on the power of communities to decide for themselves the kinds of communities they want to be.”

Article Link: Local Restrictions In New Fla. Hurricane Law Cause Friction
Author: Nathan Hale

Can you sue over a view?

Alhambra Place, a condo tower in Fort Lauderdale with a view of the beach, is doing just that — alleging breach of contract and seeking more than $10 million in damages.

For 24 years, residents of the 16-story condo tower at 209 N. Birch Road have enjoyed an unfettered view of the ocean.

Then along came Selene, twin 26-story condo towers going up to the east of Alhambra Place.

The project’s design was substantially altered despite a development agreement the builder made with Alhambra’s condo association in July 2020, according to a lawsuit recently filed in Broward Circuit Court.

The lawsuit lists The Kolter Group and KT Seabreeze Atlantic as defendants, claiming they submitted a slew of plan revisions “aimed at cutting costs and increasing profits” without the knowledge or consent of Alhambra’s condo association. The revisions dramatically altered the exterior design of the project and were “solely made to enhance (the developer’s) bottom line,” according to the suit.

“It’s a totally different project,” said Keith Poliakoff, one of the attorneys representing Alhambra Place. “Alhambra had no idea. Some of those changes affect the view corridor for Alhambra.”

The Kolter Group has not yet filed a formal response to the lawsuit. KT Seabreeze Atlantic is no longer in business, according to the lawsuit as well as state records.

Bob Vail, a high-ranking official at Kolter, referred questions to Stephanie Toothaker, attorney for the developer.

Toothaker told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Friday: “From its inception, and all throughout the development of the iconic Selene project, Kolter has enjoyed a very positive and collaborative relationship with its neighbors and we look forward to continuing discussions to resolve any issues, particularly as we have a previously scheduled meeting with their counsel next week.”

‘Things didn’t seem right’

Jim Novick lives on the 11th floor of Alhambra Place, where he serves as president of the condo association.

In March, Novick said he noticed the towers going up across the street didn’t quite look like the renderings he and his neighbors had been shown before construction began nearly four years ago.

“It was pretty far along when we noticed things didn’t seem right,” Novick said. “There was equipment in the way. When the cranes came down, I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s not supposed to be there.’ They took out the glass. They added more stucco to save money. They made the one balcony on the sixth floor bigger.”

Novick says he contacted the developer with his concerns.

“I was telling them to take the balcony down,” he said. “I told them my board’s not going to be happy with this. See what you can do to fix these things. They said they’d get back to me on all these changes. And they never got back to me.”

That’s when the condo board decided to sue, Novick said.

‘The end of our universe’

Selene’s twin towers will be the tallest on the beach, rising 300 feet above sea level at 3000 Alhambra St.

Residential projects built on that part of the beach have a height cap of 200 feet.

But in late 2020, Fort Lauderdale commissioners signed off on special zoning that allowed the builder to go higher.

An earlier design called for a shorter and blockier set of towers that would have stood 200 feet high, with nearly 100 more condos and three times the space for restaurants and shops.

But residents at Alhambra Place preferred the developer build taller, thinner towers to help preserve their views.

“If they build a big giant box in front of us, it’s the end of our universe,” Novick told commissioners at the time. “We had one unit owner say, ‘We’ll never see the sun if they build this.’”

The project won commission approval in October 2020.

Less than two years later, the developer returned to the commission to request approval for what it called an administrative amendment to the approved site plan.

Alarmed by the proposed changes, Novick said he flew down from his second home in Boston to speak at the July 2022 meeting and voice his objection.

During the meeting, Toothaker told the commission her client was requesting changes to the project’s dimensional standards and architecture.

‘Approved behind closed doors’

That night, the developer withdrew the request for changes related to dimensional standards and architecture, the lawsuit states. The only changes requested — and approved — involved a reduction in the number of condo units from 215 to 196; an increase in the restaurant and retail space by 500 square feet; and a corresponding reduction in private parking spaces from 497 to 480.

“I came back on July 4 from Boston, left my family, got on the plane and went down to City Hall to testify,” Novick said. “And they withdrew the proposal. And I thanked them.”

But the developer came back later on to ask city staff to sign off on several modifications identical to those that had been withdrawn at the commission meeting, the lawsuit alleges.

“They submitted changes and got them administratively approved by city staff with no one knowing,” Poliakoff said. “City staff said they were minor modifications. These were not minor modifications.”

On April 23, 2025, Alhambra’s condo association sent the developer a notice accusing them of breach of contract.

The notice claims several design changes were made in violation of the development agreement the developer made with Alhambra Place. Among them:

East tower deviations

1. The elegant, round columns that floated outside of the façade at the L-shaped indented building corners were eliminated and replaced with a 90-degree building corner and integral corner edge column. The elimination of this feature detracts from its appearance and makes the building look wider.

2. The north façade of the east tower, level 5, was constructed with a balcony that extends well beyond the balcony line of the tower to the edge of the amenities deck.

3. West-facing level 4 of the east tower is constructed with large expanses of concrete, inconsistent with renderings that depict all glass and an open, unobstructed balcony.

Amenities deck deviations

1. The one-story spa extending from the west tower was reduced on the second administrative revision, adding about 30 feet more north-south open area.

2. The portion of the dog park west of the stair tower was eliminated and walled off from the reconfigured dog park. This is inconsistent with unit-view renderings.

3. The fourth level of the east tower is only partially glass, inconsistent with unit-view renderings that show an all-glass façade.

West podium façade deviations

1. On the unit-view renderings, glass comprises between 65% and 70% of the west-facing podium façade’s vertical section of levels 1.5, 2 and 3, but only about 47% as constructed.

2. The unit-view renderings show no exposed columns other than at the corners, whereas an exposed middle column was added to the constructed product.

3. The agreement calls for frosted glass on the west face of the parking structure. The actual construction appears to show tinted glass.

The towers are expected to open later this year.

“Plaintiff believes that there are additional violations and defaults of the terms of the agreement and shall, hereafter, seek a complete inspection of the property,” the lawsuit says.

Article Link: Condo next door sues developer building tallest twin towers on Fort Lauderdale beach
Author: Susannah Bryan