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A New York developer has hit Hollywood, Florida, with a state court suit accusing the city of improperly interpreting the state’s Live Local Act to block the developer’s proposed 17-story beachfront project after falling short in efforts to get the affordable housing law changed.

The 2023 law, which offers developers entitlements to build bigger and with limited local control in exchange for including a percentage of affordable housing units in projects, hasgenerated considerable buzz, but also a number of disputes over local governments’ implementation. The current controversy landed on Friday in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, brought by developer Condra Property Group, which sued Hollywood over the denial of its site plan approval for a mixed-use project on Hollywood Beach over height concerns.

The case may be closely watched by developers and local governments as the court weighs how to factor in existing developments within special zoning districts for comparative purposes when interpreting height and density entitlements provided under the Live Local Act.

Condra, which filed the suit through several development entities, says its project, which is located in the city’s Beach Resort Commercial District zoning area, consists of three buildings: a 17-story, 183-foot tall tower housing 282 residential units — 114 of which will be maintained for 30 years with qualifying affordable rents — and 35,100 square feet of commercial space; a parking garage with ground-level retail space; and a third building with space for two small restaurants or bars and a rooftop pool.

The company says the project is expected to have a value of $80 million when completed and that it spent about $1 million on architects, engineers and other professionals to develop the design for the development in “strict accordance with the Live Local Act.”

In its administrative denial of Condra’s plans, the city rejected the developer’s use of the nearby 183-foot, 8-inch-tall Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort as a benchmark to apply a provision in the Live Local Act that says a municipality may not restrict the height of a proposed development that is below the height of the highest currently allowed building within 1 mile of the subject property.

The city asserted that the Margaritaville Resort is not an allowable height benchmark because it is located within the city’s Government Use Zoning District and approval of its design came through a specialized process that triggers an exception in the Live Local Act for buildings that received a “bonus, variance or other special exception for height.”

Condra disputes that interpretation, but also alleges that the city reached that conclusion after stalling the review process for a year while it was unsuccessfully “working behind the scenes” to obtain several amendments to the law to thwart the project.

“The Margaritaville Resort is unquestionably a commercial development, which was developed as of right within the Government Use District, without receiving any bonus, variance or special exception from the city,” Condra contends in the complaint. “Despite plaintiffs raising these objections, the city disingenuously maintains its position that the Margaritaville Resort is not an appropriate height benchmark for the project … and that, therefore, the project as proposed is not in compliance with the Live Local Act.”

According to the complaint, the city’s development services director confirmed that the Margaritaville Resort, which wasn’t developed under the Live Local Act, didn’t collect any bonuses, variances or special exceptions, as defined in the city’s zoning and land development regulations.

Condra lays out in the complaint — through email communications it obtained via a public records request — the city’s efforts to change the state law. The messages show that Hollywood sought to have barrier islands, such as Hollywood Beach, exempted from the scope of the Live Local Act, and when that failed, it then pushed for the 1-mile radius for height provision to be reworded to limit the allowed height of Live Local Act projects to their properties’ same-zoning designation — in this case 65 feet.

After state lawmakers rejected that change, as well, the city issued its formal denial notice to Condra on Aug. 29, according to the complaint.

“Accordingly, the city crafted a new position, nearly one year later, that a commercial development within the city’s Government Use Zoning District somehow equates to it having received a bonus, variance or other special exception for height provided in the [zoning and land development regulations], and that, therefore, applying the privileges of height, density and land use for developments within the Government Use District to a development such as the [Condra] project does not meet the intent of the [zoning and land development regulations] or the Live Local Act,” the complaint said.

“Ironically, and contrary to the city’s administrative denial, the Government Use zoning category actually contains specific procedures to receive a special exception, which was not required for the development of the Margaritaville Resort,” it added.

Condra is asking the court to make several findings overturning the city’s interpretations and that its project should be granted administrative site plan approval to move forward under the Live Local Act’s provisions.

Condra’s counsel didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit Wednesday.

Joann Hussey, a spokeswoman for Hollywood, said that, since the litigation is pending, she could only confirm that the city had been served with the complaint Wednesday and “will be reviewing it accordingly.”

Condra is represented by Keith Poliakoff, Alan G. Kipnis and Andrew Ingber of Government Law Group.

The case is Astrid 2 LLC et al. v City of Hollywood, Florida, case number CACE25000426, in the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Florida.

–Editing by Melissa Treolo.

Article Link: Suit Looks To Overturn Fla. City’s Affordable Housing Denial
Author: Nathan Hale

A developer has sued the city of Hollywood, accusing it of improperly blocking a proposed 17-story, $80 million beachside development that would feature affordable housing.

The lawsuit is billed as Broward County’s first lawsuit under Florida’s “Live Local Act,” a state law that offers various incentives to developers to create more affordable housing. The lawsuit alleges the city isn’t easing restrictions in accordance with the Live Local Act.

A city spokeswoman on Wednesday could not immediately comment on the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in Broward Circuit Court.

Considering building limits

Hollywood only allows buildings to be 65 feet tall, or about five stories, on the beach, according to the plaintiffs’ attorney.

But a developer, Condra Property Group, is trying to build a 17-story, mixed-use development with 282 units, including 114 affordable units at or below 120% of the median income. The developer is invoking the “Live Local Act,” which allows certain zoning laws to be bypassed to push for affordable housing.

According to the new lawsuit, the $80 million project was planned for about seven blocks north of Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, the 349-room resort on beachfront land owned by Hollywood.

Margaritaville is 17 stories and eight inches taller, according to the lawsuit.

“They approve projects when they want it for them,” said attorney Keith Poliakoff who is representing the plaintiff Condra Property Group.

The city cannot approve “height for some projects and not others,” Poliakoff told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Wednesday.

He said the state law allows new projects to match the existing height of other projects within one mile, and he’s asking the court for permission to build. “The city is wrong in prohibiting us from developing this project,” he said.

City staff had ruled that it was not an allowable height because of its location. “To date, the applicant has not provided a compelling argument for the legitimacy of height,” the city’s director of Development Services wrote in an August letter. In the letter, staff writes that Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort has different zoning.

Envisioning redevelopment

Poliakoff said there are motels on the site now, which would be torn down for redevelopment.

The proposed project also would include more than 35,000 square feet of commercial use. The project would span several city blocks, and include a two-story beach club and six-story parking garage and rooftop pool.

Poliakoff said it is the first Live Local-related lawsuit in Broward.

In 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 102, also known as the “Live Local Act,” into law. It was a sweeping law that, in part, aimed to remove certain zoning restrictions to push more affordable housing.

Live Local allows developers to override local laws to build units in commercial and industrial areas as long as 40% of the units are affordable. It allows working around local zoning codes that include development’s height, density and use to build new housing, intended to accommodate working people who can’t afford market rate homes.

According to Broward County, the area median income for the county currently is $89,100.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash

Article Link: Some millennials are moving into neighborhoods with built-in golf and yoga that let them live like carefree retirees
Author: Lisa J. Huriash

Florida has a spate of new laws that took effect on July 1, with several that could have big impacts for real estate professionals, developers, homebuyers and more. Here are some of the most significant real estate legislation from the most recent legislative term:

This general bill was crafted and introduced by the Commerce Committee, the State Administration & Technology Appropriations Subcommittee, the Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee and Rep. Vicki Lopez, R-Miami, among others, so it covers a lot of ground.

The main thrust of the bill is condominiums and the associations that govern them. Following the passage of SB 4-D, the measure passed in the wake of the Surfside condominium collapse, this new set of regulations makes condo association officers legally liable for the documentation of inspections, budgets, and assessments, as well as outlining procedures for meetings and voting, and other governance details.

Relevant to anyone interested in buying or selling a condo, the new law requires associations for any building with 25 or more units must share all budget and maintenance records to owners and prospective buyers. (Previously, this was only mandated for buildings with 150 or more units.)

This is a game-changer for condo buyers being able to make informed decisions, according to Realtor Meshell Carbajal of EXP Realty in Altamonte Springs. “If you’re thinking of moving into a condo and you don’t see a lot of reserves for maintenance and upkeep, that’s a red flag,” she said. “You might be stuck with a $10,000 that’s due within the first 90 days of buying your condo.”

How big of a boat will your HOA allow on your property? What size dog are you allowed to have?

HB 59, by Rep. Kristen Arrington, D-Kissimmee, mandates HOAs provide copies of all rules and covenants to homeowners and potential buyers, so people don’t learn the answers to these questions by being fined for getting them wrong. Carbajal said she has had several buyers in the past who learned too late that some part of their life – whether it was signage on a company vehicle or just the breed of a pet – wasn’t allowed by their new HOA.

“Knowing the rules really matters,” Carbajal said. “With inventory being as low as it is, you might not be able to get that house you found.”

Developers who wish to demolish and replace aging buildings along the coast have found themselves in contention with neighbors and municipalities being fiercely protective of their coastal communities, according to attorney Keith Poliakoff of the Fort Lauderdale-based Government Law Group.

Poliakoff said some cities would set regulations that would make buildings incompatible with FEMA standards, or even declare their beach zones historic districts, making it harder to get permits for any kind of development.

“Many developers were stuck in a Catch-22 of not being able to redevelop old buildings on the beach,” Poliakoff said.

SB 1526, submitted by Sen. Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah Gardens, takes away the right of local governments to restrict the demolishing of buildings deemed unsafe or nonconforming, a status Poliakoff, who worked on the bill, said applies to almost all coastal buildings built before modern FEMA standards.

Poliakoff said developers and owners of some of these buildings are excited by the new prospects this law opens up. “Many of them are now looking at their old oceanfront properties to figure out how to start the redevelopment process.”

Senate Bill 280 – Vacation Rentals (vetoed)

This bill, by Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, was vetoed at the last minute by Gov. Ron DeSantis, but it’s worth knowing as it is likely to make a return in another form.

SB 280 would have required owners of properties being listed for short-term rental on sites such as Airbnb and VRBO to register their rentals with the local municipality. How the registration databases would be managed and paid for was left to the governing bodies, as was enforcement against properties that rented without registering. It also allowed municipalities to revoke or suspend the license for properties for reasons that weren’t necessarily related to rental activity.

When vetoing the bill, the governor said it would have created “bureaucratic red tape” for local officials. But the issue is a priority for legislators including Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, so expect the idea to be reconfigured in coming sessions.

Conservation

In addition to passing the new laws, Florida also bought nearly 28,000 acres around the state to be preserved.

In Central Florida, the state purchased 1,361 acres in Seminole County known as the Yarborough Ranch near the Big Econlockhatchee Drainage Basin for $34.5 million. The state also spent $36.1 million on 1,342 acres known as Creek Ranch in eastern Polk County.

Each of these properties were identified as linkage sites that allow wildlife to travel between habitats. “Just about any linkage in the wildlife corridor is crucial,” said Dean Saunders of Lakeland-based commercial real estate broker SVN/Saunders Ralston Dantzler.

Saunders said that both properties were at risk of being turned into developments. “In both of those situations, the state came to the rescue.

Article Link: HOAs, condos among new laws starting July 1
Author: Trevor Fraser

Credit the prospect of four-day workweeks and the expansion of off-course options like of Topgolf

Near the San Juan Mountains, Colorado’s Cornerstone Club pairs a tranquil lake, four pickleball courts and a residential community with a 7,800-yard golf course, a quality-of-life asset that’s experienced an upswing since the pandemic. 

“People want to live on a golf course,” said Keith Poliakoff, a managing partner at Government Law Group, who works with redesigned golf courses, primarily in Florida. “It becomes the focal point of a community and a way of life.”

When the housing market crashed circa 2008, fewer people had disposable income to prioritize golf. Once COVID hit, however, “suddenly everybody was a golfer,” said Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality analytics at CoStar Group. “The pandemic was all about being outdoors and being physically separated.”

Last year, some 123 million people participated in golf, whether by playing it, listening to a related podcast, or reading about or watching the sport, according to the National Golf Foundation (NGF). That’s 30 percent more Americans involved with golf than in 2016. On the infrastructure side, the United States finished 2023 with roughly 16,000 golf courses across 14,000 golf facilities. (These facility statistics are consistent with previous years, even before the pandemic; the golf industry focuses more on redevelopment than new development.)

Yet golf’s successes may have less to do with a potential four-day workweek than with the wider evolution of today’s post-pandemic workplace. COVID increased the demand for outdoor spaces while normalizing hybrid or remote-work models. Consequently, people of all ages funneled more free time into golf, and embraced nontraditional, informal iterations of the sport.

As golf demand continues to surge, associated developments are broadening the sport’s potential, leveraging golf for other real estate opportunities. In recent years, developers have increasingly funneled investments into golf-adjacent hospitality and residential assets, charting the literal and figurative course for golf courses of the future. 

Work from home largely explains why golf has stuck around since the pandemic, said Matt Dusenberry, principal at Dusenberry Golf Course Design, which helped design Colorado’s Cornerstone Club. If someone’s working from home, they can fit in a game before or after work, even if they’re working every day. 

Florida — one of the country’s top golf states — had lenient lockdown restrictions, calling attention to golf in the early stages of the pandemic. “Golf was kept open, and it really created a massive boom to the hobby, to the sport,” said Cameron Kimball, a Florida resident and vice president of sales at the Residences at St. Regis Los Cabos at Quivira, a 33-acre property that includes Mexico’s Quivira Golf Club, 74 residences and a 120-room hotel.

Flexible work schedules particularly appeal to millennials and young adults between 18 and 34, some of whom know no other way of working. They have emerged as golf’s top customer bracket, per the NGF. (Engagement with young adults has been steady over the last 10 years, though the demographic may be priced out of traditional golf courses and clubs. Kimball’s residences range from $4.6 to $12 million, with a target demographic aged 40 to 65.)

It’s the younger golfers who may be steering the sport away from its formalities — and opening the door for newer golf assets. “Whether it’s at a private club or a resort, probably the highest growth [in new golf development] is in what we call nontraditional golf,” said Dusenberry.

Perhaps nothing better exemplifies this shift than the rise in Topgolf and similar off-course developments that require neither the space or time nor the formalities of traditional golf courses. Instead, they leverage the sport as a medium of entertainment and, without a need for a large swath of land, allow development closer to city centers.

In 2023, roughly 26.6 million Americans over the age of 5 exclusively played golf on courses, but another 18.4 million participated exclusively in off-course variants like Topgolf, driving ranges and golf simulators, according to the NGF. Of those Americans, 6.3 million young adults played golf on a course, while 5.8 million stayed off-course. 

Real estate reflects these statistics. In 2022, the Empire State Building announced plans to build a golf simulator, while the developers of Huntsville, Ala.’s MidCity prioritized building Topgolf, which is currently open even as the rest of the 140-acre development is still under construction. In Colorado, Cornerstone Club — designed in part by Dusenberry — invested in an indoor-outdoor bar space, presenting golf as just one aspect of a larger leisure ecosystem. In fact, Government Law Group’s Poliakoff would guess that Topgolf makes more money on alcohol and food than it does on its namesake sport. 

Such attention to golf-adjacent amenities hints at the sport’s fundamental real estate opportunity: increasing the value of surrounding hotels and residences. On its own, golf inefficiently uses land, and redeveloping a course can cost anywhere from a few million dollars to tens of millions. Even if a property charges $100 a round, it’s unlikely to recoup the investment, said Poliakoff. 

“The developer has to take land into consideration and the cost of not doing residential on that land,” said Kimball. “You can sell houses around that golf course and thereby increase the value of the land and/or product around the golf course. But if you didn’t build the golf course at all, would you actually be able to sell the land for more?”

To maximize profit, golf courses sustain themselves with complementary components, like hotel rooms. Take the golf course at Puerto Rico’s St. Regis Bahia Beach, which in 2021 recorded its most golf rounds played since the hotel’s 2009 opening. “Every year after that we have seen an increase in rounds of 4 to 5 percent,” Alberto Rios, the hotel’s head of golf operations, told Commercial Observer via email. “In the last two years, golf group activity has also increased by 15 to 20 percent.”

The Residences at St. Regis Los Cabos at Quivira focuses not only on hospitality but also on residential, using golf to drive up a residence’s unit price per square foot, said Kimball, the project’s vice president of sales. Even non-golfers reselling or renting a property want to avoid missing out on a valuable market segment, he said, and without a golf course, a development may lose customers to similarly priced competitors. Hotels or residences also draw a steady clientele to the golf course, so there’s more security that golfers will actually come to play. 

Golf has the potential to not only increase property value but to also mitigate the effects of climate change … though the sport uses its fair share of water. (On average, golf courses across the United States use a total of 1.5 billion gallons a day, according to the United States Golf Association.)

Despite golf’s impact on the climate, water remains on the mind for golf developers as they redevelop courses. Clubs’ most costly infrastructure expense is typically irrigation, Dusenberry said, “and we know probably the long-term threat of golf in these arid regions is water use.” 

Water use, as well as fertilizer, is likely to be increasingly scrutinized through future regulation, so Dusenberry is already considering these factors in his designs. Developers likewise need to be mindful to plan their courses around accessibility to water, said CoStar’s Freitag. 

“Golf courses now are also seen as the central drainage feature for many communities,” said Poliakoff. “So, when the golf courses are being redeveloped, we are being asked by local governments to redesign the courses to almost look now like Northern courses.” For example, South Florida courses have traditionally been flat, but redesigns include drainage features that turn the courses into temporary reservoirs that can hold stormwater runoff. 

Golf’s adaptability to both environmental and work-from-home climates bodes well for the sport’s future, though golf still, largely, requires time and money. As more people return to the office, Freitag said the financial question is: “Is it wise for resorts, as they develop amenities, to invest in that infrastructure?” 

For now, the answer seems to be yes, with golf’s demand stronger than its current supply. Dusenberry likened golf to housing: There’s been a sustained period of time without new construction, with tee sheets full and club waiting lists long. Renovations occupy about 80 percent of golf design and construction work, while new construction warrants about 20 percent. Five years ago, the percent ratio would’ve been even starker at 95 to 5, he said. 

However incremental, the increase reflects interest. “Knowing the expense [of redevelopment], if no one was playing, there’s no way they would spend the money doing it,” said Poliakoff.

Anna Staropoli can be reached at astaropoli@commercialobserver.com. 

Article Link: Fore Sale! Suddenly Golf Seems More of an Asset Class Than Ever
Author: Anna Staropoli

Westview Community Cemetery is home to the final resting places of some of Broward County’s most influential and pioneering African American families.

A fight to preserve an important piece of Black history is heating up in Pompano Beach. NBC6’s Lorena Inclan reports

A fight to preserve an important piece of Black history is heating up in Pompano Beach.

At the center of it all is Westview Community Cemetery, a historic Black cemetery.

The burial grounds are the final resting place of some of Broward County’s most influential and pioneering African American families.

The battle over the land could soon be settled in a courtroom.

Elijah Wooten, 91, spends every morning walking the grounds at Westview Community Cemetery just off Copans Road.

He not only keeps his family plot nice and tidy, but he also makes it a point to pick up trash and is even going out of pocket to maintain the historic Black cemetery.

“It means more than that to me, the older I get the closer I’m going to be out here so everything that I have that I can give I’m going to give it,” Wooten said.

Wooten was the chairman of the board of trustees for the cemetery from the ’60s to the ’80s now his role is purely a labor of love and commitment.

“I come out here every day and I pray. Most of my friends are out here,” Wooten said.

He wouldn’t have to front his own money if Westview Community Cemetery had been properly maintained — a responsibility, he said, that should fall on the board of trustees that currently runs the cemetery.

An aerial view of Westview shows the widespread disrepair and the signs of years of neglect are evident. In one section, a few rows of concrete vaults are painted in white, but that’s where improvements end.

Many headstones and cement vaults are cracked, and in some cases, falling apart, but the worst example of disrepair is a grave that is essentially exposed and is covered with a tarp to prevent further damage.

Sonya Finney was recently elected by community members to serve on a new cemetery board of trustees, but the problem is that the previous board still has control over the burial grounds.

“They were operating as the board of the cemetery, they were actually operating illegally not under the guidelines of the bylaws which state that there should be nine board members, those four individuals had been operating for years just amongst themselves,” Finney said.

It was that old board that authorized the sale of 4.5 acres of cemetery land to a developer who aims to build an industrial park.

The new board believes there are bodies buried where the developer wants to build.

According to the developer’s attorney, Keith Poliakoff, “ground penetrating radar has confirmed that the property does not contain a single human remain.”

However, Finney believes the proper equipment was not utilized.

“The company that they used to do the sonar was just a company that does utility sonars,” Finney said.

In 2021, Kevin Eason was one of the people who filed a lawsuit against the old board in the hopes of voiding the land purchase, but an appeals court dismissed the lawsuit in 2022.

Eason serves alongside Finney on the newly elected board and has family buried at Westview.

He wore a t-shirt to city meetings that reads, “Stop stealing inherited land.”

“This land was given to us for the Northwest community to bury at an affordable rate because we were not able to bury on the east side,” Eason said.

In a separate lawsuit, the new board is now suing the old board, alleging they’re violating the bylaws.

“Our goal, and I believe I speak on behalf of the new board, is to get control over the cemetery, bring it back up to speed in terms of landscaping, the beautification and things of that nature, and then look to come up with a vision and include the community in that decision,” Finney said.

The case is pending in court.

In a statement to NBC6, Poliakoff said, “This self-appointed Board is attempting to overthrow the legitimate Cemetery Board. The Court of Appeals has conclusively determined that the 2022 sale was legal and proper. Ground penetrating radar has confirmed that the property does not contain a single human remain. The continued attempts by this group to devalue the property with false claims in hopes that they can buy the property at a discount will continue to be met with staunch opposition. The unfortunate aspect of this entire situation is that the cemetery had plans to utilize the sale proceeds for essential improvements. Instead, the cemetery is now forced to squander its limited resources to defend these futile legal battles.”

The new board denies the claims made by Poliakoff.

There’s a real fear among community members that Westview could be erased if something isn’t done. If that happens, it would mean the final resting place of pioneers like actress, Esther Rolle, could be gone.

“This is our history,” Wooten said.

NBC6 did reach out to one of the board members who currently controls the cemetery and authorized the sale of a portion of the land, but we have not heard back.

Article Link: ‘This is our history’: Fight to preserve historic Black cemetery heats up in Pompano Beach
Author: Lorena Inclán