At a community forum last month, new Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Director Jorge Camejo gave a detailed presentation of several ongoing beach projects of particular interest to Hollywood residents, including the Margaritaville project, parking and traffic congestion, and the beautification of the City. In addition, Mayor Peter Bober also updated residents on the Mirador Motel Property.
Sponsored by the Hollywood Beach Civic Association, hardly a vacant chair was available at this well-attended forum that took place at the Hollywood Beach Cultural Center with a lively question and answer session that followed.
Camejo addressed the anticipated Margaritaville Hotel and Resort, a 349-room hotel complete with pools, restaurants, entertainment and a new parking garage. The hotel is expected to be a LEED Silver green building designation, and the structure will span from A1A to the Broadwalk between Johnson and Michigan Streets. Margaritaville developer Lon Tabatchnick, who was present at the meeting, said construction will begin March 2012. Camejo said an objective of the CRA is the continued investment in capital improvements encouraging economic development. With Margaritaville being built, Camejo believes the willingness of foreign investors to invest in new projects and in real estate will dramatically transform the area and have a “ripple effect” on Hollywood Beach.
Camejo singled out the historic Hollywood Beach Resort as a specific landmark that has tremendous potential.
“This structure is an under-realized value,” he said. “The Mayor and Commissioners have identified the building as a priority for investment. The future appears bright for the Beach community. We are targeting specific industries for tourism and cruise lines. Hollywood Beach is rock solid, and in 10 years from now, we’ll look back and say I remember when.”
The CRA wants to ensure the Beach accommodates residents while also preserving the value for future investors. Camejo said they need to find a balance between the natural coastline, historical preservation and redevelopment. Another matter discussed was parking and traffic congestion. Camejo said no other parking facilities are planned besides the garage for the Margaritaville Resort.
“At the midpoint along A1A, the Hollywood Beach Resort parking garage is not utilized,” he said. “We are working with the property owner to create more signage in order to let the public know this is a parking facility.”
The audience also saw details of street-end beautification. The idea is to streamline and eliminate the urban clutter, thus making the streets congruent with
the overall feel of the newly renovated Broadwalk. The City has completed placing street brick pavers and creative mosaic installations on some street ends, and they are replacing lighting poles with ones sensitive to the sea turtle nesting on the Broadwalk.
“The first phase is being completed between Cleveland and Grant Streets,” Camejo said. “The next phase is undergrounding of utilities and streetscape beautification from Minnesota to Tyler Streets between A1A to the Broadwalk.”
Another purpose of the CRA is to get rid of slum and blight, Camejo said. Although Mayor Peter Bober was hesitant to speak in detail regarding the Mirador Motel Property adjacent to the Summit Condominium because the City is currently in litigation with the owner of the property, he didn’t appear to admire the motel building.
A quick rundown of the Mirador Motel Property: The original zoning code stated the developer could build up to 150 feet high. However, in 2004, the Commissioners voted to change the property zoning specifying that a building could not be built higher than 65 feet. As a result, the owner of the property became frustrated, felt misled and sued the City.
“We are currently working on a plan that will call for the demolition of the building,” Mayor Bober said. “Our City Attorney is working on an agreement with the owner, and we are in the process of how to resolve this litigation as soon as possible that is fair and reasonable and get the best deal we can. I feel we have a terrible case. We took someone’s value and diminished it.”
The public forum reaffirmed the commitment from Mayor Peter Bober, Hollywood Commissioners and Camejo that the aesthetic appeal of Hollywood Beach is an enormous resource for residents, tourism and business.
Do you have questions about the future development of Hollywood’s Downtown and Beach? E-mail them to brett@hollywoodgazette.com and your answers may appear in next month’s issue.
