Judge rips Boca politicians, opens way for beachfront home project

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BOCA RATON — A federal judge has ruled the owner of beachfront property in Boca Raton has the right to build a home on his land, and that the mayor and two city council members were predisposed to block him from doing it.

In an order that potentially carries broad consequences for a city that has long sought to keep its shoreline free of development, U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith of Fort Lauderdale said the city should reconsider its 2019 decision to deny Natural Lands LLC a permit to build a home at 2500 N. Ocean Blvd.

The judge also found that the landowner was hindered by bias on the part of three elected city officials, including Mayor Scott Singer. The judge barred them from sitting in judgment of any renewed application from developer Gavriel Naim, owner of Natural Lands.

“The judge found they were all biased and there was no way they were going to get a fair hearing on this,” Fort Lauderdale attorney Jordan Isrow of the Government Law Group in Fort Lauderdale told the Sun Sentinel last week.

Besides Singer, the judge was critical of council members Monica Mayotte and Andrea O’Rourke, the latter of whom has since left office,

“[W]e knew from the onset that there’s no way that [plaintiff] was going to get a fair hearing. None whatsoever with respect to these particular council members as well,” the judge wrote in his findings.

Smith is expected to issue a final written opinion soon.

The case may also impact a neighboring property, whose owner has encountered similar treatment from the city, according to attorney Robert Sweetapple. He represents Delray Beach-based Azure Development, which is trying to build a residential project at the neighboring 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. in the face of city opposition.

“The city has consistently resisted any development on those two residential lots but at the same time attempted to investigate through the beach commission taking them by eminent domain,” Sweetapple said Friday in an interview.

The empty beach lot at 2500 N. Ocean Blvd. in Boca Raton. A federal judge has ruled the owner has the right to construct a home on the property, and that three city council members were biased when they decided to deny the landowner’s building application. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

It is unknown what the city intends to do next.

Private attorneys Daniel Abbott and Anne Reilly Flanigan, who represent the city from the law firm of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole Bierman in Fort Lauderdale, declined comment through a spokesman.

Anne Marie Connolly, the city’s communications and marketing manager, said Friday the city “is awaiting the final order from the judge. Once the city receives a final issuance, there will be a determination on how to proceed at that time.”

Since the litigation is still pending, she added, “we cannot comment any further.”

Natural Lands bought the property in 2011, with Naim, the owner and a commercial real estate developer, hoping to build a four-story, 8,600-square-foot home as a personal retreat, Isrow said.

In 2015, the city council granted a variance to build the home and the state of Florida awarded a permit certifying that the project wouldn’t harm the shoreline environment.

But over the ensuing four years, public pressure against beach development grew. And the council, citing staff member conclusions, overrode the state’s permit.

In 2019, Natural Lands sued in state court, which decided that Mayotte and O’Rourke, two of the council members, should have recused themselves because of adverse comments they made about the project prior to their decision. An appellate panel ordered a new vote without the two women’s participation.

Natural Lands also sued in U.S. District Court, alleging the city had engaged in a “taking” that undercut the value of the property, which was purchased in 2011 for $950,000.

“Our position is if the state granted our permit within eight months … how can the city take a contrary position about environmental impact?” Isrow said Friday.

Around the start of the federal trial in March, Sweetapple, who had previously sued the city over state Sunshine Law violations arising from its dispute with Azure, shared documents he’d collected with Natural Lands’ lawyers that showed discussions involving the council members and Mayor Singer had taken place privately.

“We were able to see what was behind the curtain,” Sweetapple said Friday in an interview.

During closing arguments, Abbott, who represents the city, objected to the documents’ use, saying he had come to court to defend against Natural Lands’ reverse condemnation case, not allegations that the city had violated the landowner’s due process rights.

Nonetheless, Smith, a former state prosecutor and county and circuit court judge in Miami-Dade County, indicated he was taken aback by evidence that clearly showed bias on the part of the elected Boca Raton officials.

The mayor was “clearly biased by any stretch of the imagination,” the judge said, according to a transcript of a March 24 hearing at which he delivered his findings.

“Singer looked at us like a deer in headlamps who was a person, a trained lawyer, that he never heard of the word ‘fair’ before,” Smith said.

He also referred to a video in which the mayor “stood on the plaintiff’s property, said there’s no way that this property will ever be built. We’re going to keep it that way.”

Mayotte, the judge said, “displayed complete bias from the start.”

O’Rourke, Smith said, “walked in here and took the stand and literally feigned ignorance, or was in denial of where she had multiple communications with individuals that violated not only the city’s codes but the Sunshine Law as well ….”

In the end, Smith did not rule that the city’s action amounted to the taking of land for a public use. And he affirmed the local government’s right to regulate properties around the city.

“The court wishes to underscore that the city has the right to regulate the parcel at 2500 North Ocean … just as it does all other parcels within the city,” the judge said. “However, it must do so without depriving any citizens without due process of law.”

Article Link: Judge rips Boca politicians, opens way for beachfront home project
Author: David Lyons

Related Group Digs In on Brickell Project That Unearthed Ancient Artifacts

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The multi-building development highlights what other builders often confront when working the now-hot Miami River waterfront

In the middle of Miami’s glitzy Brickell neighborhood, archeologists have uncovered thousands of artifacts and human remains at a riverside site. Those findings, some experts say, are the clearest indication yet of life in what’s now Miami dating back 7,000 years — older than the first cities in Mesopotamia or the construction of the Giza Pyramids in ancient Egypt.

“It’s a phenomenal site. It would completely change everything we know about archaeology in Miami and South Florida,” said Sara Ayers-Rigsby, a professor at Florida Atlantic University and the director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network.

But not everyone is so thrilled. Miami advertises itself as a developer’s paradise, championing the next big project. The property’s owner, Related Group, Miami’s largest condo developer, is planning to build a three-tower development on the site at 77 SE Fifth Street and 444 Brickell Avenue, considered one of the city’s most sought-after locations.

As preservationists and some residents press opposition, the crown jewels of Related’s development, a Baccarat-branded condo tower and a luxury hotel, hang in the balance. City officials, after months of silence, have taken the first step in possibly designating parts of the parcel as a protected archaeological landmark. The proceedings have already delayed construction and could potentially torpedo the development.

Related bought the 4-acre site, which faces the Miami River, for $104 million in 2013 just as Brickell was being recast from a sleepy residential neighborhood into a financial center, home to glistening skyscrapers. The developer left the two existing 1970s-era buildings untouched, until Miami’s real estate market took off during the pandemic.

An influx of wealthy Northerners seeking low taxes, year-round sunshine and refuge from stringent COVID restrictions, sent prices of Miami condos skyrocketing. In early 2021, Related unveiled plans to build three buildings on the prime site: a 44-story rental, an 82-story hotel and condo, and a 75-story condo. The third tower would be branded by Baccarat, the 259-year-old French luxury crystal maker. Jorge Pérez, Related’s chairman and CEO, hyped the Baccarat building as his firm’s “most luxurious product” in its 45-year history.

Centuries ago, the section of the Miami River, which opens to Biscayne Bay, was home to the Tequesta indigenous tribe and village, considered South Florida’s largest settlement prior to the arrival of Europeans. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon encountered the Tequesta by the mouth of the Miami River. Previous excavations have uncovered artifacts dating back 2,000 years.

“Anybody who buys anything along the river, especially at the mouth of the river, knows what they’re getting into,” said Traci Ardren, an anthropologist and archaeologist at the University of Miami who specializes in New World prehistoric cultures. “It’s one of those buyer beware situations.”

Since the 1980s, city regulations have required developers to check parcels along parts of the river and bay for archeological remains and artifacts before breaking ground. Related hired veteran archeologist Richard Carr to conduct a search. In April 2021, Carr sent the city a “notice of discovery.” As required by law, a full excavation ensued, which Related says has cost over $20 million.

The archeologists uncovered at least two gravesites with skeletal fragments, possibly part of a ceremonial burial, as well as postholes, which could be the marks of a prehistoric structure. Overall, the diggers found 16,610 pottery shards and 340 bones. Perhaps most notable were the dozens of projectile points that appear to date back to the Archaic period, which in the Americas stretched approximately between 8,000 to 500 BCE.

While Carr believes the Tequestas found the artifacts centuries after their creation in northern Florida, other experts disagree. Those discoveries have the potential to push back the timeline of when Native Americans inhabited what today is considered Miami by thousands of years, according to William Pestle, the chairman of the University of Miami’s anthropology department.

“The mouth of the Miami River, which is obviously today prime real estate, was also prime real estate a 1,000 years ago, 2,000 years ago,” Pestle said. “And now maybe more: 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 years ago.”

Carr himself believes the parcel is worthy of preservation. The site “is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places … because the site provides important data documenting prehistoric culture, subsistence, and settlement patterns in South Florida, and specifically the Tequesta culture on the Miami River,” Carr wrote in the public reports, adding his recommendation that “intact portions of the site be avoided if feasible”.

Yet, as 2023 dawned, it looked like Related was getting ready to start construction — with the apparent blessing of the city. The developer took out a $164 million construction loan to begin work on the rental tower, property records from December show. The company was also close to securing a second mortgage for the Baccarat development, a Related spokesperson told Commercial Observer in January, even though the excavation had yet to end. That excavation remains active today on part of the site, while construction has started on another part.

The loans were evidence that Related had secured permits from the city for one tower and was close to securing permits for another. City officials had yet to publicly comment on how it would handle the archaeological artifacts, a sign that it was prioritizing the development. (City officials did not respond to Commercial Observer’s multiple requests for comment.)

Frustrated by the city’s silence, independent local archeologists began showing up to the public meetings of Miami’s Historic & Environmental Preservation Board, the regulatory committee charged with overseeing the dig. They demanded that the board preserve the site. Just a day after the Miami Herald published a scathing article, the board unanimously voted in February to begin studying whether the site, where the Baccarat development was set to rise, merited legal protection — reversing its previous pro-development stance. The move seems to have stalled Related’s construction. The much-expected second construction loan has yet to appear in property records.

Archaeology has already blocked other Miami developments.

In 1998, developer Michael Baumann bought a parcel across the street from Related’s contested site to build a luxury condo. Before construction began, archeologists discovered a circle measuring 38 feet and containing 24 holes — indicative of a religious structure — as well as shell, stone, bone and pottery artifacts from the Glades culture and the Tequesta civilization. Public outcry followed. Florida’s state government bought back the parcel for $26 million and preserved it. In 2009, the site, which is now called the Miami Circle, was designated a National Historic Landmark and today houses a dog park.

Most times, though, ambitious Miami projects move forward. Across the river in Downtown Miami, MDM Development Group planned a multi-tower, $1 billion luxury development meant to revitalize Miami’s urban core. On one site, archeologists unearthed a portion of the Tequesta tribal village, including a cemetery, dating back 2,000 years, as well as the foundation of the Royal Palm Hotel, which oil magnate Henry Flagler built in the 19th century. The excavation took about a decade, but MDM eventually completed a 34-story, mixed-use building called Met Square in 2018.

Related is ready to fight. It has told the condo buyers of the Baccarat development, which is nearly sold out, that the project is moving forward. We “have property rights. We own this parcel and have worked with the city and the state governments to establish those development rights,” Jorge Pérez wrote in a Miami Herald op-ed last month. Although he vowed to preserve the artifacts for research and display them in a “major” exhibition, the developer accused preservationists of exaggerating the importance of the findings. The artifacts, while “important,” are “not as old as the pyramids,” Pérez wrote. (A spokesperson for Related declined a request for an interview.)

The law is on Related’s side, according to Keith Poliakoff, a founding partner of Government Law Group law firm, which has represented property owners and local governments in disputes involving archaeological discoveries. The Preservation Board is unlikely to prevent Related from building. If the project is blocked, a governmental entity would need to buy the land from the developer. The price tag would likely be too high. Perhaps even more costly would be the long-term negative impact on Miam’s pro-business and pro-development bent, Poliakoff said.

At the Preservation Board’s latest public meeting April 4, board members tried to broker a compromise. At Related’s request, they withdrew plans to move forward with designating a portion of the site a historical landmark. In return, the developer must work with archeologists and Native American tribes to come up with a “preservation action plan” six months after the ongoing excavation is completed. The board would still need to approve the proposal, which is likely to include exhibition space at the development and the addition of a plaque explaining the site’s historical significance. As stipulated by Florida law, human remains will be removed and reburied under the guidance of Florida tribes, including the Seminoles, who declined Commercial Observer’s request for comment.

The arrangement allows Related to move forward with the Baccarat development — for now. A lawyer representing the developer said delays caused by the designation process would have cost Related “hundreds of millions of dollars in damages” with financial partners, investors, lenders and condo buyers. The compromise also avoids, as one board member cautioned, “protracted litigation.” After the April 4 meeting, Related issued a statement saying it was “pleased with the board’s decision.”

The ordeal appears to have spooked other developers. Fortune International Group’s Edgardo Defortuna, 13th Floor Investments’ Arnaud Karsenti, and Integra Investments’ Nelson Stabile, who all have luxury condo developments in the works in and around Brickell’s waterfront, spoke in opposition of historical designation. Defortuna and Stabile sat through the entire six-hour meeting.

As pressure mounts, further delays, and even cancellation, are not out of the question. The meeting drew such a large crowd that a tent was installed outside of Miami City Hall to accommodate those without seats. During the meeting, both opponents and proponents spoke for over an hour and a half.

Another battle looms for the other half of Related’s site — which archeologists have yet to excavate. It houses a 13-story office building. Related wants to eventually demolish it to make space for the luxury hotel. Because it’s located between the excavated site and the Miami Circle, the land is likely to hold a trove of historically significant objects. Ideally, archaeologists want the site to be left untouched, viewing it as the last opportunity to preserve a probable archeological treasure trove since much of Brickell and Downtown Miami has already been developed. They’d even prefer no excavation take place as excavation methods improve over time, reducing the risk of ruining uncovered artifacts.

The Preservation Board unanimously voted to initiate the landmark designation process for that portion of the parcel. By starting the procedure early, board members want to reach an agreement with Related before it puts in place financial commitments in hopes of preventing another frantic fight. They’re expected to make a final decision in July after city staffers present their recommendations. “We will work with the city hand in hand on the designation of the site. Our efforts will continue to be transparent and inclusive,” Related said in a statement.

But some fear the board is setting a bad example. “When we think of Miami, we don’t think of people and preserving their history. We think about the new and about moving forward,” said Helena, a Miami resident who spoke at the April 4 hearing and did not give her last name. If this site doesn’t meet the standard for preservation, “then what does? Do we need to find Noah’s Ark?”

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.

Article Link: Related Group Digs In on Brickell Project That Unearthed Ancient Artifacts
Author: JULIA ECHIKSON

Florida’s affordable housing law could “change the look of coastal cities”

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Developers are in contract to buy commercial sites due to new legislation

Brian Sidman, Keith Poliakoff, J.C. De Ona and Jake Morrow (Getty)

Developers are analyzing how to take advantage of Florida’s new legislation, which will set aside over $700 million in funding, create tax breaks, and provide zoning-related incentives for affordable and workforce housing developments.

The law could contribute to a new boom in housing development, from entirely affordable buildings to mixed-income towers on commercial sites that developers are now looking to purchase, experts say.

The Live Local Act, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last week, aims to help fill financing gaps, making more developments economically feasible. What is still crucial, attorneys and developers said, is combining that with incentives on the local level.

A rendering of Mosaic in Opa-locka (Levy PR)

“These incentive programs, in conjunction with working cities and municipalities — that’s the way you’re going to fill a void and a gap and a huge need,” said Brian Sidman, of Miami Beach-based Redwood Dev Co. “The problem isn’t going to be solved by developers buying private land. That ship has sailed due to the cost of private land.”

Still, Sidman called the legislation “a great start,” and applauded DeSantis and the Florida Legislature.

“If we don’t fix our housing crisis, we’ll have other material programs that will trickle down,” he said.

A rendering of Ludlam Trail Towers (Levy PR)

Redwood is analyzing the SAIL (State Apartment Incentive Loan) program to see which of its projects could secure low-interest loans for workforce housing. Redwood, which has more than 1,500 units in the pipeline in South Florida, aims to build more than 5,000 affordable and/or workforce units over the next five to seven years. It recently broke ground on Mosaic, a 98-unit development in Opa-locka.

The new legislation sets aside $259 million in SAIL funds. It also promises $252 million in SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Program) funding to incentivize local governments to partner with developers preserving or building new housing.

The law goes into effect July 1. Developers are expected to apply for incentives this summer, and receive funds next year.

Jake Morrow, who leads Miami-based Integra Investments’ affordable and workforce housing division, Interurban, pointed to the law’s ad valorem tax exemptions. The property tax breaks, which existed already for senior affordable housing, will provide a stimulus for affordable and workforce housing that meet specific criteria.

A rendering of Ludlam Trail Towers (Levy PR)

“Due to this legislation, we’re very actively taking a second look at several new affordable housing developments we previously deemed infeasible, especially in South Florida,” Morrow said. Interurban recently completed 670 affordable and workforce housing units in the tri-county region.

If developers don’t have to pay property taxes (beginning in 2024), they can count on a project generating more net operating income, which means they can borrow more debt. Ultimately, that means they could develop more units, experts said.

J.C. De Ona, president of Centennial Bank’s Southeast Florida division, agreed that affordable housing developers will still need local funding or other incentives to make their deals pencil out. He referred to Ludlam Trail Towers, a senior affordable housing development under construction in Miami. Centennial provided a $7.5 million construction loan to the developer, an affiliate of MV Real Estate Holdings. Without funding from Miami-Dade County, the project wouldn’t have moved forward.

“We’re looking at another project in Sweetwater. Unless it has both state and county support, the deal doesn’t happen,” De Ona said.

The huge increase in construction costs — including the price of land, debt, labor and materials — and insurance have contributed to the lack of affordable housing.

The Live Local Act aims to remedy some of that. It will put $100 million in non-recurring funds into a competitive loan program that developers could tap to cover inflation-related cost increases for Florida Housing and Finance Corporation-approved multifamily developments that haven’t broken ground yet. Separately, it will provide up to a $5,000 sales tax refund for building materials used to construct affordable housing units that were funded by FHFC.

The law will preempt local governments’ zoning, density and height requirements for affordable housing in areas zoned for commercial or mixed-use development. That means counties will be banned from restricting density of a proposed development below the highest allowed density on any property in an unincorporated area where residential development is allowed. Local governments will also not be able to restrict height below what’s allowed within one mile of the proposed building.

Local governments also must allow multifamily or mixed-use residential developments that set aside 40 percent or more of their units for at least 30 years to affordable housing.

The zoning incentives are significant, but attorneys and developers noted that as buildings get taller, they become more expensive to construct. That typically happens at about the seventh or eighth floor of construction, they said. For some, it will pencil out to add some units or a couple of extra floors of development.

“If you’re going x amount of stories already, the construction costs don’t go up that substantially,” De Ona said. “If you’re still in at the same dollar per unit and same profitability per unit, it makes sense.”

Developers are already looking at sites to build mixed-income projects, with affordable or workforce housing on the lower floors, and market-rate and luxury above it, said attorney Keith Poliakoff of Fort Lauderdale-based Government Law Group.

Poliakoff believes that the height, density and even parking incentives will “dramatically” change communities and result in a housing boom. Reductions in parking requirements for projects proposed within a half-mile of a transit stop are also on the table.

“meet with potential and existing clients almost daily who are under contract on commercial properties, who would not be under contract if not for this law,” he said, citing pending deals in Sunny Isles Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood that have popped up in the last week.

“It’s going to totally change the look of [coastal] cities,” he said.

Article Link: Florida’s affordable housing law could “change the look of coastal cities”
Author: Katherine Kallergis

Live Local Act to provide millions in affordable housing across Florida

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Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Live Local Act yesterday, promising millions in affordable housing funds and preempting local restrictions.

Housing in Florida is a well-known and difficult issue for residents to navigate. As the state’s population continues to grow, fuelled by deep-pocket individuals from California, New York, Illinois and other high-tax states, housing prices and rental rates alike have soared over the last few years. Consequently, affordable housing has become a rallying cry for local officials, community leaders, and everyday Floridians. Now, the Live Local Act promises relief – but developers will need to make full use of what the bill offers for it to work.

“When I moved here to Naples almost 43 years ago, the community was talking about the lack of housing for our workers,” said Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who the Governor credits with shepherding the bill through the legislature. “It was a problem then and remains a persistent problem in many areas of our state – that changes today!”

The bill, formally known as SB 102, provides $711 million in funding for affordable housing projects, low-interest loans, preempts municipalities ability to regulate height and density restrictions, and prevents the implementation of rent controls. According to attorney Keith Poliakoff of the Fort Lauderdale-based Government Law Group, the bill “takes a lot of the handcuffs off” of affordable housing development, reported TheRealDeal.

The bill provides $259 million for the Florida State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program, which provides low interest loans for workforce housing projects. SHIP – the State Housing Initiative Program, also receives $252 million to incentivize local government partnerships with developers to preserve or build new housing. Both programs are administered by the Florida Housing and Finance Corporation (FHFC).

The FHFC will also receive a one-time $100 million for the creation of a competitive loan program for developers looking to cover inflation-related costs in FHFC approved multifamily projects that have yet to break ground. The funding will likely provide relief as financing certain projects becomes more of an issue as rates continue to rise and lenders pull back. As Roy Faith, senior vice president of investment and development group The Faith Group, explained in an earlier interview with Invest: Miami. “You have to have great relationships with banks and financial institutions as well as with your partners. That is challenging in today’s market. There are a lot of projects that have been delayed right now because of what we are seeing in the market. In the next six months to a year, we will see how the market changes and that will impact many of the deals moving forward,” Faith said.

The bill also codifies the popular Hometown Heroes Housing program, a homeownership assistance program begun last year that allows law enforcement officers, firefighters, educators, healthcare professionals, childcare employees and active military personnel or veterans to receive first time income-qualified down payment and closing cost assistance.

Zoning concerns are also addressed in the bill. What was once a mundane part of the development cycle has become increasingly contentious across the state. Municipalities have been increasingly caught in the middle, attempting to relieve housing costs by upzoning for developers while simultaneously limiting changes to specific, often transit-oriented corridors to placate residents. In some cases, upset residents who oppose higher density and new development have worked and succeeded in making the process as arduous as possible in the hopes of project cancellations.

Under the new law, the decision has been removed from local officials’ hands. For the next 30 years, local governments are now required to allow multifamily or mixed-use residential projects that set aside at least 40% of the residential component for affordable housing. In projects where 65% of the square footage is residential, a county cannot restrict the height of the project to anything less than what’s currently allowed within one mile of the plan. The law also requires local officials to look at reducing parking requirements for projects within a half mile of major transit stops.

While there may be some questions, and no doubt some upset citizens, to emerge over the coming weeks and months as developers, attorneys, and local officials relay the information to their respective stakeholders and adjust to the new reality, the state seems poised to embark on what could be another building boom, even as national economic uncertainty begins to slow demand in some Florida markets.

“Together, we are shutting down affordable housing stereotypes and creating attainable housing options needed by the majority of our workforce, the backbone of Florida’s economy… As our state continues to grow, our Live Local Act will make sure Floridians can live close to good jobs, schools, hospitals, and other critical centers of our communities that fit comfortably in their household budgets, no matter the stage of life or income,” Passidomo said.

The full text of the bill is available here

For more information, visit: 

https://www.flgov.com/

Article Link: Live Local Act to provide millions in affordable housing across Florida
Author: Joshua Andino

Boca Raton: Judge rebukes officials, orders new review of proposed beach house

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A federal judge has ordered Boca Raton to reconsider its 2019 denial of a permit to build a home on the beach and barred Mayor Scott Singer and City Council members Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte from taking part.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith excoriated the three officials for bias they showed under oath and said some of their actions were apparent violations of Florida’s Sunshine Law. He saved his strongest words for O’Rourke.

“The record is replete with her bias all over. … Her credibility is totally shot,” Smith said.

Natural Lands LLC sued the city in federal court, claiming that the vote by Boca Raton’s elected officials stripped its property at 2500 N. Ocean Blvd. of all economically beneficial or productive use. It bought the .34-acre parcel in 2011 for $950,000; its plans for a four-story, single-family home provoked a public outcry.
After a five-day non-jury trial, Smith on March 24 declined to rule the case an unconstitutional taking of land by the city government, saying case law required that the property have no remaining economic value.

The property at 2500 N. Ocean Blvd. will come back to the City Council for consideration. Photo provided

“The emphasis on the word ‘no’ in the text of the opinion was, in fact, reiterated in a footnote,” Smith said, sending the case back to the City Council.

But Smith had little good to say about the three elected officials.

“I can tell you, from the beginning I was somewhat taken aback,” Smith said. “I don’t believe it for one minute that they would even consider being fair and impartial to Natural Lands under any stretch of the imagination at all.”

Singer, he said, was obviously biased and his testimony “made it clear as to his stance — he cannot be a fact-finder and impartial decision-maker in this particular matter.”

Smith found that to be particularly irksome because Singer, who was out of town and testified via video recording, is a lawyer. “He could not even address … what does the term ‘being fair’ mean. He looked at us like a deer in headlamps who was a person, a trained lawyer, that he has never heard of the word ‘fair’ before,” Smith said.

O’Rourke, the judge said, presented “unbelievable” testimony on the witness stand. At one point she “pretended” that she did not know she had been prohibited from voting in the case by the Palm Beach County Circuit Court and the 4th District Court of Appeal, he said.

Mayotte, too, “demonstrated complete bias from the start,” said the judge. “Clearly she had no business casting a decision knowing how she felt.”

Of all three council members, Smith said, “their beliefs were strong to the point where it was stronger than Gorilla Glue as to their bias that no property or nothing would ever be built.”
Smith deviated from the earlier circuit court and 4th DCA rulings in the Coastal Construction Control Line vote, which declared only O’Rourke and Mayotte biased, by tagging Singer as well.
Court documents showed Singer on Aug. 23, 2018, for example, emailed a resident that “Based on the potential impact on our dunes and sea life (including turtles), I will NOT support granting a variance that would be needed to allow the coastal construction for this lot and the proposed home there. My policy has been and still is to protect our beaches and green space.”

Midway through the trial, Smith allowed evidence to be presented on the actions of then-Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers, who is no longer on the council, but did not specifically discuss it while making his ruling.

The Natural Lands lawyers discovered that the city had stipulated in similar litigation involving nearby 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. that Rodgers in August 2017 emailed a resident to say, “I’m of course going to continue going NO on 2500 and likely NO on 2600.”

That case also includes Facebook Messenger exchanges between Rodgers and O’Rourke regarding the beach parcels and Sept. 17, 2018, text messages between O’Rourke and Mayotte, court documents show. Florida’s Sunshine Law prohibits two or more elected officials from discussing issues outside of meetings.

But the end result of the Natural Lands case is that the partnership will again have to submit its application to the city to build seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line. During the trial, Deputy City Manager George Brown and Development Services Director Brandon Schaad testified that the owner could submit a plan for a smaller house.

And despite their emails in evidence to the contrary, Singer, O’Rourke and Mayotte all testified that they might have approved a smaller structure.

Smith relied on that for his ruling.

“The court does not find that there has been a total taking,” he said, while noting that Natural Lands’ right to build a single-family home on the parcel “is a vested right,” meaning it existed before the partnership bought the property and will stay with the land if Natural Lands sells it to someone else.

Smith’s decision that Singer, O’Rourke, Mayotte and anyone else who was “tainted by them” cannot take part in the reconsideration means three sets of fresh eyes for the application. Term-limited O’Rourke’s last day in office was March 31. Without Singer and Mayotte, the issue will be decided by Yvette Drucker, Fran Nachlas and Marc Wigder, who all took office long after the Natural Lands vote.

Smith also ordered the city to pay Natural Lands’ attorney’s fees and costs.

Gavriel Naim, a Natural Lands partner who sat through the trial, said he needed time to digest Smith’s ruling before commenting on it.

“I won on my right to develop my property,” he said.

Brown, who also sat through the trial as the city’s representative, said only that when Natural Lands resubmits a plan, “We’ll consider it.”

Drawings show LEFT: the side of the building that faces Ocean Boulevard with two driveways and RIGHT: the mostly glass side of the building facing the beach. Renderings provided

Natural Lands planned to build a 48-foot-tall, 8,666-square-foot single-family home at the site and obtained a Notice to Proceed from the state Department of Environmental Protection in October 2016.

The City Council caused a public outcry in December 2015 when it approved a zoning variance at 2500 N. Ocean to allow something to be built on the 88.5-foot-wide lot. City rules normally require lots at least 100 feet wide.

It denied the CCCL variance on July 23, 2019.

Singer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Before the trial, the city offered to pay Natural Lands the $950,000 it paid to buy the parcel to drop the case. The partnership declined.

During the trial, Celora Jackson of the state DEP testified that any construction project on the beach would have adverse effects on sea turtles but that her department made sure there were no “significant” adverse impacts before issuing a Notice to Proceed.

Article Link: Boca Raton: Judge rebukes officials, orders new review of proposed beach house
Author: Mary Kate Leming

These bills in the Florida Legislature could have a big effect on Orlando development. Here’s how.

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Companion bills making their way through the Florida House and Florida Senate have Paul Owens and others who share concerns about citizens’ ability to push back against development on alert.

The bills are Florida House Bill 359 and Senate Bill 540, which would mandate that those who sue local governments over comprehensive plans or comprehensive plan amendments be on the hook for attorney fees and court costs if the municipality or county being challenged prevails in the matter.

Comprehensive plan amendments are often necessary in the entitlement or approval process for new development, and lawsuits over them are one of the tools available for individuals or groups wishing to prevent or delay such development.

For Owens, a longtime Orlando resident and president of Tallahassee-based 1000 Friends of Florida, a smart-growth advocacy group, these bills are a big deal — and a big problem.

“If this provision becomes law, it will be too risky for citizens or public interest groups like mine, with modest budgets, to take the financial risk of challenging a comprehensive plan amendment,” Owens told Orlando Business Journal. “If the citizens or public interest group loses, then they are on the hook for those legal costs. I’m talking potentially six figures [in legal costs], and there are very few people I can think of who would be willing to take that financial risk.”

Robert Rosen, an attorney and partner in the Orlando office of Burr & Forman, similarly told OBJ that this type of legislation likely will have a chilling effect on challenges — but also could help avert challenges with no merit.

That matters, as well, because such challenges can be used as a tactic to delay projects until the clock runs out on their feasibility, according to attorney Keith Poliakoff of Fort Lauderdale-based Government Law Group.

In an interview with The Real Deal, a New York-based real estate news site, Poliakoff — whose practice has involved representing both municipalities and citizen groups that challenge them in such case — said such delays can take projects past the point of viable.

“Because of the unfortunate slowness of our courts, developers are finding that it can potentially take years before the challenge ever sees a judge or light of day,” Poliakoff said. “That delay causes [developers] to miss the cycle and makes the property no longer desirable to develop.”

In a separate statement sent to on Poliakoff’s behalf to media outlets in Florida, Poliakoff further reinforced the potential chilling effect Rosen alluded to, arguing that since municipalities win these types of cases more than 90% of the time, the risk of incurring such costs would be all the more heightened for those challenging the development.

Related to this set of companion bills is a second set of companion bills — Florida House Bill 843 and Senate Bill 816 — which would require the prevailing party in these types of lawsuits to demonstrate that the litigation was “frivolous” in order to recover those costs.

Meanwhile, the legislation figures to be closely observed in metro Orlando’s commercial real estate community as it moves closer to an outcome.

“Anything that deals with the overarching idea of property rights is something we’re very much interested in,” said Daryl Carter, of Maury L. Carter & Associates, a longtime Orlando land broker. “My opinion is anything that protects property rights is good, and anything that erodes property rights is bad.”

Currently, HB 359 and SB 540 are making their way through the respective committee processes in both the Florida House and Senate. Filed later in the session, HB 843 and SB 816 have both been referred to committee.

The legislation comes at a time when expediting development, particularly housing, is top of mind for many cities and counties in Florida.

Owens said it would be a “false choice” to pit citizen engagement in the development process squarely at odds with the ability to accommodate growth.

“I think there’s plenty of room between where both can be accommodated.”

Similarly, he acknowledged that the type of litigation that might be discouraged by the laws, if enacted, is not the only — or even the main — method for groups to engage in the community planning process. Showing up to government meetings in which comprehensive plan amendments are discussed and speaking up during public comment, so that officials know where the community stands, is also an important tool.

“That isn’t taken away, thank goodness, under this bill,” Owens said. “But it’s still important to have that option [to sue] if the decision makers are not swayed by community opposition that is expressed at these meetings.”

Article Link: These bills in the Florida Legislature could have a big effect on Orlando development. Here’s how.
Author: Steven Ryzewski

Breaking down Florida’s proposed affordable housing legislation

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Clockwise from top left: Related Urban’s Albert Milov, Pinnacle Housing’s Tim Wheat, Housing Trust Group’s Dilia, Government Law Group’s Keith Poliakoffv Taborav and Holland & Knight’s Debbie Orshefsky (Illustration by Kevin Rebong for The Real Deal)

Housing bill aims to fill funding gaps that developers statewide face

Florida’s proposed affordable housing legislation, aimed at incentivizing developers with major tax breaks and hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, is advancing in the state legislature.

Senate Bill 102, known as the “Live Local Act,” and related legislation would be a boon for developers of attainable and workforce housing, real estate attorneys and developers say. The bill was approved by the community affairs and appropriations committees in February, and heads to the senate floor next. If it becomes law, it will take effect July 1.

Florida Sen. Alexis Calatayud, a Republican who represents part of Miami-Dade County, introduced the legislation in January. It aims to create more affordable rental housing via tax breaks, expedited permitting, funding and zoning incentives. It also would restore funds to the Sadowski Trust Fund, which has been gutted by Florida lawmakers for years.

Opponents are critical of some aspects of the legislation, including the state eliminating the ability of local governments to enact rent control. That is currently only allowed if local governments declare a housing emergency.

Land use lawyer Debbie Orshefsky, based at Holland & Knight’s Fort Lauderdale office, said it marks the first time Florida takes a “comprehensive approach to addressing the affordable housing crisis.”

More than 2.1 million low-income households in Florida spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing, and over half of those households spend more than 50 percent of their incomes on housing, according to the Florida Housing Coalition.

South Florida became one of the least affordable housing markets in the country last year, following large gains in home prices and rents during the pandemic. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava declared a housing emergency in April, and later distributed millions of dollars in federal rental assistance funds.

If the proposed legislation passes, local governments would have to maintain an online inventory of affordable housing properties. They would also be required to expedite building permits, which some already do.

The bill also preempts local governments’ zoning, density and height requirements of affordable housing, in areas zoned for commercial or mixed-use development. That means such developments may not require zoning changes or comprehensive plan amendments. Local governments would be required to allow multifamily and mixed-use residential in any commercial or mixed-use zone if at least 40 percent of the residential is affordable for at least 30 years. With projects allocating at least 65 percent of the square footage to residential, a county would not be able to restrict the height of a proposed development below what’s currently allowed within one mile of the planned project.

In addition to providing new sources of funding for low income housing tax credit developers, the legislation “will also allow market-rate rental developers to actually incorporate some affordable units in their market-rate developments,” Orshefsky said.

Market-rate developers who include workforce housing units in their developments could qualify for ad valorem tax exemptions. Developers setting aside at least 70 units for people earning 120 percent of the area median income or less, in newly completed or substantially renovated properties, could qualify.

Orshefsky said that if the bill becomes law, her market-rate developer clients will consider setting aside units for affordable housing.

Tim Wheat, a partner at Miami-based Pinnacle Housing, said the prospect of providing exemptions for developers building units for people earning between 80 percent and 120 percent of the AMI, which he referred to as the “missing middle,” is key. Property taxes could account for 25 percent of a developer’s operating cost on a per-unit basis, he said.

“Now developers that are doing market-rate projects in urban areas are going to look at this potential tax exemption, they’re going to look at their pro formas, and say ‘Hey, maybe that’s worth it for us,’” he said. “It’s a way for the private market to solve a problem there really is no solution for.”

The affordable housing arm of Miami-based Related Group has thousands of units it would finance under the proposed legislation “once it becomes law,” said Albert Milo, president of Related Urban, via a spokesperson. The firm has more than 10,000 units in its development pipeline in Florida.

Also under the bill, local governments can offer property tax exemptions to developers who set aside units for households earning 60 percent of the AMI. Land owned by nonprofits leased for at least 99 years could also receive the property tax exemption.

Increased funds

Attorney Keith Poliakoff, of Fort Lauderdale-based Government Law Group, said the state’s existing affordable housing funds are currently “woefully small, based upon the need.” Florida Housing and Finance Corporation only approved one project in Broward County for 2023, he said. FHFC administers the state’s SAIL (State Apartment Incentive Loan) and SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Programs).

But under the proposed law, the amount of affordable housing funds would grow exponentially.

“This landmark legislation is the first of major consequence to help ensure affordable housing will be built,” Poliakoff said. “It takes a lot of the handcuffs off the developers who develop this type of housing.”

Under the proposed legislation, up to $150 million would be allocated to SAIL; another $109 million from the State Housing Trust Fund would be directed to SAIL; $100 million would go to the Florida Hometown Heroes Program; $252 million to SHIP; and $100 million in non-recurring funds would be set aside for a competitive loan program that developers could tap to cover inflation-related cost increases for FHFC-approved multifamily developments that haven’t broken ground yet.

The legislation also increases the amount of tax credits available through the Community Contribution Tax Credit Program for affordable housing to $25 million annually, from $14.5 million. And it provides up to a $5,000 sales tax refund for building materials used for affordable housing units.

The Hometown Heroes homeownership assistance program, which was created last year, allows some buyers to finance home purchases with no-interest loans to reduce their down payment and closing costs to a maximum of 5 percent or $25,000, whichever is less. Buyers who qualify have a household income of no more than 150 percent of the state or local AMI. The law would codify the program and expand eligibility to more people, according to the Senate’s analysis.

Poliakoff said a number of projects that his developer clients are working on are approved, but are on hold due to funding gaps. The growing cost of construction has also affected affordable housing builders. Wheat, of Pinnacle, said the cost of insurance has gone up as much as 40 percent.

Miami-based Housing Trust Group, led by Matthew Rieger, is missing about $3 million for the second phase of a development in Deerfield Beach called Tallman Pines, said Dilia Tabora, HTG’s vice president of development. The Broward County Housing Authority has been trying to redevelop the site for years. HTG also has a 320-unit planned development in Naranja Lakes near Homestead. The developer is looking to secure about $4 million in funds to move forward on the project.

“We have funding, but with the construction costs and the insurance costs you never know if it’s going to end up where it will,” she said. The property tax exemption, Tabora added, would be “insanely helpful” for developers.

Article Link: Breaking down Florida’s proposed affordable housing legislation
Auther: Katherine Kallergis

Hollywood paving way for three 25-story towers, four-story hotel on public golf course

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HOLLYWOOD — Here’s what’s on the menu for Hollywood’s Orangebrook Golf Course: A redesign by legendary golf course designer Rees Jones; a four-star, four-story hotel with 175-rooms; and three 25-story towers with 750 apartments.

A local developer beat out two other suitors Wednesday vying for the chance to redesign Hollywood’s public fairway, ensuring the city won’t need to use $25 million from a voter-approved parks bond to spruce up the greens.

In a 4-3 vote, Hollywood commissioners ranked the suitors they want to take to the dance, as Mayor Josh Levy put it in an interview this week with the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

GCF Development/PPG Development, led by Hollywood builders Chip Abele and Ari Pearl, got the top ranking followed by Maitland-based E2L Real Estate Solutions in second place and Jupiter-based Ernie Els Group in third. A fourth firm, Green Lynx, withdrew from the competition just days ago.

The vote came after a spirited debate that lasted more than three hours and had one woman fighting back tears while she implored the commission to reject plans to build a hotel and high-rise towers on taxpayer-owned land.

The controversial project involves a 99-year lease of public land to pave the way for the hotel and high-rise towers — a prospect that has elicited protests from critics who don’t want to see the historic course developed.

Elmyra Powell, who lives one block from the mammoth 260-acre golf course, is one of those critics.

“Once again, I’m standing here before you asking you to represent the people’s interests,” Powell told the commission, her voice soon trembling with emotion. “We asked you to look out for our little golf course that was dying a slow death. You’re talking about our heart when you talk about that golf course. We want to save Orangebrook. We don’t want you to give us a new country club resort.”

A golfer tees off at Orangebrook Golf Course in Hollywood on Tuesday. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

A no-brainer

But fans called the plan a no-brainer, saying the redesign will help make Hollywood a golfing destination and might even bring a PGA tournament to town.

The plan calls for two public full-size 18-hole courses, a 34,000-square-foot clubhouse with a restaurant, a pro shop and driving range, fitness facility, banquet hall, lighted nine-hole practice course and a 3-mile walking trail.

The project — an investment that the builders say exceeds $400 million — will also add to the city’s bottom line. The developer has offered Hollywood a 50/50 split of the profits from the golf course and clubhouse. In 30 years alone, the GCF/PPG project is expected to add $152.4 million to Hollywood coffers.

One resident asked how the city got to this point.

Here’s the answer: In July 2020, Hollywood got an unsolicited proposal from Green Lynx to redevelop Orangebrook. As required by state law, the city solicited additional proposals for a public-private partnership, commonly known as P3s.

Four teams submitted bids by the October deadline and were later ranked by an evaluation committee made up of city staff. But the commission has final say.

Longtime resident Ann Ralston fumed over the fact the parks bond approved in 2019 made no mention of a hotel or apartment towers at Orangebrook.

“I would like to know where this money is,” she told the commission. “It’s been four years and I’m paying for [the bond]. Now I’m paying for something that’s not getting done. Never again. If you people think you’re going to pass a bond in the city to do a bait-and-switch, it’s going to be over my dead body.”

Hollywood plans to use the millions that were slated for Orangebrook on other parks projects throughout the city.

The mayor had reassuring words for commissioners before they cast their votes on Wednesday.

“Today is not a marriage,” Levy said. “As things get fine tuned, there can be improvements and changes [to the initial proposal]. If we can’t reach terms with the number one team, we go to team number two and team number three.”

Rotten and damaged boards are shown at Orangebrook Golf Course on Tuesday. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Seal the deal

In June, the commission is expected to vote on a comprehensive agreement that will seal the deal.

If all goes as planned, the golf course will break ground in the beginning of 2024 and open 18 months later, said Keith Poliakoff, attorney for the developers. The clubhouse and golf course amenities would open six months later.

And the trio of apartment towers will take about five years to complete.

To sweeten the deal, the developer offered to set aside 100 apartments for affordable and workforce housing — or about 13 percent of the entire project.

The hotel and apartment towers will take up less than 5 acres of the golf course, Poliakoff said.

The developers have tapped Rees Jones to design the course.

Jones has designed or redesigned more than 250 golf courses in his career, including some of the most well-known public courses in the world, the developers said in their pitch to the city.

Jones designed Torrey Pines, known as one the best golf courses in California with two 18-hole championship courses. Torrey Pines played host to the U.S. Open in 2008 and 2021.

He also designed Bethpage Black on Long Island. The course hosted the PGA Tour in 2011 and the PGA Championship in 2019.

Jones, who spent more than three hours watching the debate from the audience, drew praise from the mayor for attending the meeting.

“A PGA tournament will come here if we have a sponsor,” Jones told the commission. “I think there is an opportunity to have a tournament. [But] we’re really building this for the people of Hollywood. This is my love, the public golf course.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan

Article Link: Hollywood paving way for three 25-story towers, four-story hotel on public golf course
Author: Susannah Bryan

Secured Media Opportunity: DBR on North Palm Beach Win

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Ares pays $28M for Boca Logistics Center

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Deal marks at least second industrial purchase by investment management firm in as many months.

Ares Management scooped up the newly built Boca Logistics Center for $27.8 million, marking the investment firm’s continued appetite for South Florida real estate.

Ares bought the two warehouses at 644-646 Park of Commerce Way in Boca Raton from the property’s developer, McCraney Property Company, according to records and real estate database Vizzda.

McCraney Property had paid $7.5 million for the 8.7-acre development site in 2019. It completed the two buildings that span a combined 119,000 square feet between late last year and early this year, records show. McCraney is an industrial and office-flex real estate developer and manager, its website says. Led by founder Steven McCraney, the firm has offices in West Palm Beach, Orlando and Charlotte.

The deal, which breaks down to $233 per square foot, marks Ares’ second industrial purchase in South Florida in as many months.

In January, the global investment manager’s Ares Industrial Real Estate Income Trust paid $111.1 million for 52 acres of developable land at Countyline Corporate Park in Hialeah. Ares plans a pair of industrial buildings, each spanning 214,000 square feet, and a third building spanning 193,000 square feet, on the northwest corner of Northwest 154th Street and West 40th Avenue, records show.

The Los Angeles-based investment firm’s bet on South Florida has extended to the David Beckham-backed Major League Soccer team Inter Miami CF. In 2021, Ares, through funds managed by Credit Group, made a $150 million preferred equity investment in the team.

Led by Michael Arougheti, Ares was founded in 1997 and has $352 billion in assets under management, according to its website. Arougheti co-founded the publicly traded firm with Antony Ressler, David Kaplan and Bennett Rosenthal.

South Florida’s industrial market slowed in the fourth quarter, compared to a leasing frenzy of the past two years. Palm Beach County’s industrial vacancy rate increased to 5.1 percent, from 4.1 percent, year-over-year, according to Newmark. The county also recorded a negative absorption of nearly 102,000 square feet. And the average asking rent dropped to $12.66 a square foot, from $13.07 a foot in the third quarter.

Article Link: Ares pays $28M for Boca Logistics Center
Auther: Lidia Dinkova