All across South Florida, civic advocates and Community Redevelopment Agencies are partnering with investors to turn aging neighborhoods into vibrant economic centers. CRAs help developers get deals done by identifying available land or providing financial incentives for projects that benefit the area and its residents.
Pompano Beach’s vibrant, pedestrian friendly streetscape improved the area and helped stimulate $30 million in beachfront development.
CRA-backed redevelopment transforms spaces, revitalizes places, creates millions of dollars in investment and tax revenues, and most importantly puts people back to work.
Such investment also helps preserve community identities. From the beachfront to urban centers to downtown areas and even the Intracoastal waterfront, investment hot spots have meant renewed life in these cities.
Attracting Private Investment
Pompano Beach CRA has aggressively invested in its infrastructure and public areas to lay the groundwork for private development. A $13-million
beach makeover, complete with an interactive fountain, workout facilities and a great lawn, set the stage for redevelopment at the pier. Construction is starting on over 40,000 square feet of new restaurant and retail space at the base of the pier.
The historic downtown area is undergoing a renaissance with a brand new cultural facility and BaCA, the Bailey Contemporary Arts facility. New restaurants and shops are opening, and a European style plaza will be the focal point for gathering and entertainment.
The downtown continues along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard with the Ali Building, a historic structure that will house an African American museum alongside dance and music venues.
The downtown also includes over 30 acres of vacant land assembled and owned by the CRA on I-95 and Atlantic Boulevard. The sites are available
for redevelopment and could include a 20-acre commerce park, mixed-use development and high-density housing in the newly zoned Transit Oriented Corridor.
Acclaimed Revitalization
The $20-million revitalization of Hollywood’s Broadwalk has spurred development and received national acclaim.
In the city of Hollywood, similar attention has been paid to its historic beach. In a project partially funded as a public-private partnership of the city of Hollywood, the Hollywood CRA and the developer, the improved Broadwalk is home to the Jimmy Buffet-themed Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort. The 349-room hotel will spur the local economy with convention and ballroom space, retail stores, restaurants, a full-service spa and
fitness center.
In what locals are calling the “Margaritaville Effect,” the project will employ hundreds during construction — and hundreds more once
it opens — and has captured the imagination of residents, tourists and travel agents around the world.
The iconic 2.5-mile Broadwalk and adjacent facilities underwent a $20-million revitalization in 2007 and have received national acclaim. The American Planning Association designated the Broadwalk one of 10 Great Public Spaces, and USA Today named it Florida’s “Best Boardwalk.” It also has become a catalyst for development and has changed the face and future of Hollywood Beach.
“Our development proposal was made because of the improvements and the commitment made by the Hollywood CRA and the city of Hollywood,” says Lon Tabatchnick, developer of Margaritaville. “We would not have made our own investment without that public-private partnership.”
Fort Lauderdale-area CRAs have helped remake the city’s
beach and urban core — from its Aquatic Complex and rights
of way to communities near downtown.
Just to the north, several Fort Lauderdale CRAs have helped remake the city’s beach and urban core, The Fort Lauderdale Beach CRA dedicated $25 million to partially fund the renovation of the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. This will support and maintain the property as a public wimming pool and an international venue for swimming competitions. The Central Beach CRA has dedicated an additional $60 million for improvements of
rights of way, marine facilities, parking facilities and public spaces.
Since 2005, a revival has been underway near the city’s downtown particularly its Flagler Village district. The city’s Northwest-Progresso-Flagler Heights CRA completed a $17-million revitalization of historic Sistrunk Boulevard and has shepherded hundreds of housing units in projects such as Avenue Lofts, the Alexan, 440 and Solé. Major developers, including The Related Group and the Morgan Group, are planning some 6,000 new housing units over the next three years.
In addition to the housing boom, the WAVE Streetcar light-rail system servicing downtown is projected to begin service by 2016. Miami-to-Orlando passenger rail line All Aboard Florida has announced that its Broward County stop will be in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
The Village at Gulfstream
Park worked closely with
the Hallandale Beach
CRA to create a mutually
beneficial public-private
partnership.
Public Private Partnership
Like other cities along Broward County’s 23 miles of Atlantic coastline, Hallandale Beach is a coastal community and home to the venerable Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino Complex. To maximize its presence, the city of Hallandale Beach, the Hallandale Beach CRA and the Village at Gulfstream Park, a premier retail and entertainment development that opened in 2010, enjoy a mutually beneficial partnership under a unique tax-increment financing agreement.
Under that agreement with the CRA and city, developer Forest City Enterprises receives a portion the tax revenue generated by the
project to assist in satisfying debt incurred for required infrastructure improvements.
Land to Build On
The CRA is an effective tool in dealing with vacant blighted property for economic development.
The 22-acre Lauderdale Lakes Commerce Park is the latest public-private investment opportunity offered by the award-winning Lauderdale
Lakes CRA. This fully-served parcel is zoned to allow mixed uses, including office, light industrial and retail.
Location could be the park’s finest attribute. Situated less than two miles from the Florida Turnpike and I-95, the property has easy access
to rail, air and port facilities and is included within the Port Everglades Foreign Trade Zone.
“The development of our Commerce Park property is expected to create hundreds of local jobs and to add significant value to the community through the investment of both public and private resources in partnership with the development community” says Mayor Barrington Russell.
Growing Healthy Jobs
The Lauderdale Lakes Commerce Park
is at the southwest corner of Oakland
Park Boulevard and NW 31st Avenue
and close to I-95.
In Dania Beach, the PATCH™ partnership is taking a natural path to improving residents’ lives. The effort of the Dania Beach CRA took a 1.6-
acre parcel of land and created a market garden where residents can grow vegetables. PATCH, “People’s Access to Community Horticulture,”
led to a partnership with the Broward Regional Health Planning Council.
PATCH is having a positive impact on quality of life in Dania Beach. It has created jobs from within the community, promotes economic development, improves community health and shows how nontraditional partnerships can fulfill the CRA’s mandate to build better communities.
Educating Tomorrow’s Workforce
The city of Coral Springs and the Coral Springs CRA, in partnership with Broward College, in 2012 opened the downtown Academic Center. Together, they worked with local businesses to develop innovative education strategies and careers. “We are excited and pleased to be in a partnership that serves the Coral Springs community as a whole — its students, businesses and industries,” says Broward College President J. David Armstrong Jr.
Creating the City Center
The Margate CRA is creating the Margate City Center, a 36-acre destination with streetscape improvements and land use and zoning changes. Working
with private-sector partners, the goal is to develop commercial, recreational and residential options. “Without the hard work of the CRA over the years we would not be where we are today,” says Rick Riccardi, president of the Margate Chamber of
Margate CRA City Center
Commerce.”
Proven Return on Investment
Throughout Broward County, CRAs are partnering with civic leaders, private developers and investors to generate tax revenues and put people back to work. With such lofty goals, what actually is the return on investment? Such partnerships delivered $19 from the private sector for every
dollar of government funding. A 2013 study on the fiscal impact of seven CRAs in Broward County during 2008-2013 also showed:
• $19.5 million in tax increment financing funds has been invested through their redevelopment programs.
• $371.9 million in private sector investment was generated or created because of that investment.
• More than 2,147 jobs were created.
• $136.2 million infrastructure improvements were invested collectively by those seven CRAs.
The study was produced in conjunction with the Florida Redevelopment Association and covered Davie, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale,
Hollywood, Margate and Pompano Beach. For the full report, click here.
Plans now under review call for the Rybovich Superyacht Marina to be transformed into a condominium development that will remake the West Palm Beach shoreline.
Transforming West Palm Beach
From the urban core to the waterfront, West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County is changing. For example, West Palm Beach’s Northwood Village in 2005 was a blighted area. Recognizing the efforts of the West Palm Beach CRA, Southern Living magazine has written about it, and the New York Times has called it a hot new redevelopment district.
CRA efforts downtown have made the area an ideal location for economic development in the finance and banking industries. Nearby, plans from Rybovich Yachts and The Related Group — in coordination with the CRA — could transform the blighted and underdeveloped North End into a marine
village. The district will bring marine-related businesses to the area and further the waterfront’s play destination.
“There is no doubt that the West Palm Beach CRA’s focus on creating, through redevelopment, an international marine industries destination is a decision that will result in significant benefit to the local community for decades to come,” says Wayne Huizenga Jr., owner of Rybovich.
For more information on South Florida CRAs
Pompano Beach
www.pompanobeachcra.com
nguyen.tran@copbfl.com
Hollywood
www.hollywoodcra.org
jcamejo@hollywoodfl.org
West Palm Beach
www.wpb.org/cra
jward@wpb.org
Fort Lauderdale
www.fortlauderdale.gov/cra
abattle@fortlauderdale.gov
Hallandale Beach
www.hallandalebeachfl.gov
drosemond@hallandalebeachfl.gov
Lauderdale Lakes
www.lauderdalelakes.org
jgaryr@lauderdalelakes.org
Dania Beach
www.daniabeachcra.org
jearle@ci.dania-beach.fl.us
Margate
www.margatecra.org
rbach@margatefl.com
Coral Springs
www.coralspringscra.com
etaschereau@coralsprings.org