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A Streetcar Named Devour: Downtown Fort Lauderdale officials invested over $18M in quiet bet on WAVE ‘Loop’ they pushed

Fort Lauderdale DDA board members and restaurant and real estate entrepreneurs Tim Petrillo, left, and Alan Hooper

By Noreen Marcus, FloridaBulldog.org

In Fort Lauderdale, and especially in the Sistrunk neighborhood, the WAVE streetcar plan was little mourned when it derailed 10 months ago.

But for two Downtown Development Authority (DDA) insiders, the end of the line hit home in a personal, financial way.

DDA board members Alan Hooper and Tim Petrillo invested more than $18 million in real estate beside or near a planned “Loop” route along North Andrews Avenue at the northern WAVE terminus, near high-end Flagler Village, according to property records.

The timing of those deals raises concerns about a possible conflict of interest that was not made public. They were done after 2014, when the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA)  board – actually the Fort Lauderdale City Commission – added the Loop to the WAVE route and decided to pay for it with public money that might otherwise have gone toward improving the predominantly African-American Sistrunk area immediately to the west.

Hooper and Petrillo’s land buys, through their Fat Village Properties LLC, ended when the WAVE was scuttled in May 2018. One deal that closed four months later apparently had been in the works for some time. Another in August 2016 is owned by Rio Nuevo LLP, a limited partnership of which Hooper is identified in corporate records as the general partner.

‘Doesn’t pass the smell test’

“The thing is, it doesn’t pass the smell test, the basic smell test of what is ethical in government,” CRA consultant Frank Schnidman said.

He described city commission appointees to the DDA board, like Hooper, as public officials. The DDA focuses on business development. The city also has three CRA districts whose overall mission is easing the blight of poverty.

“The city was using CRA money to pay for the Loop, and Hooper was investing to personally benefit from the expenditure of public money,” Schnidman said. “That is not what a public servant does.”

Property purchases beside or near the proposed Wave streetcar line by entities owned by Alan Hooper and/or Tim Petrillo

Hooper responded to questions in an email. “Any local will tell you that my partners and I have been redeveloping in and around the Fat Village area for around 20 years. We didn’t just start buying properties,” he wrote.

He also stated that “owning and leasing real estate is specifically excluded from what constitutes a financial conflict of interest as a DDA board member.”

Asked for his authority for that assertion, Hooper did not respond.

Schnidman, a former DDA executive director, addressed the issue. “You have to have an interest in real estate to be on the board, but that doesn’t mean you can use the position for personal benefit,” he said.

Petrillo did not answer similar emailed questions.

Successful track record

Hooper has a successful track record in Fort Lauderdale. A builder of both residential and commercial projects, he was a force behind the Himmarshee entertainment district. His company website boasts he was Fort Lauderdale Citizen of the Year in 2006 and in 2008, Downtowner of the Year. Hooper and Petrillo, who head The Restaurant People, developed and manage a string of popular spots including Yolo and Boatyard.

Both are past chairmen of the DDA, the 54-year-old, state-authorized taxing district that sets spending priorities to promote economic development for the business core of Fort Lauderdale. At every turn of the WAVE story, the authority played the role of informal lobbyist for the streetcar line.

The proposed route of the Wave streetcar with the Loop at the top. Its western line was to run south from Sistrunk Boulevard along Andrews Avenue to Fourth Street.

After more than a decade of preparation, the city finally killed the WAVE because the cost had ballooned to $225 million for outmoded technology. “Just about everybody realizes that the WAVE… is not going to be appropriate for our city,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis, who campaigned as a WAVE opponent, told WLRN public radio.

Earlier this year, the WAVE unwinding process benefited property owners in the DDA’s taxing district. They were reimbursed for five years of special taxes, plus interest, totaling $10 million.

In contrast, the end game hurt Sistrunk residents, whose northwest CRA district lost at least $1.67 million in blight-fighting dollars due to city leaders’ reimbursement choices. “I’m still annoyed that the CRA isn’t getting all of its money back, but downtown property owners are,” Schnidman said.

The city had pledged $7.5 million from northwest district funds to build the Loop. Throughout the run-up, Sistrunk advocates protested that the streetcar would barely reach the area’s outer edge, let alone provide mass transit for commuters who live more than a few blocks west of Andrews Avenue.

The Loop would burden mostly poor, mostly black residents with funding transit for white riders. This unfairness “bears consideration beyond that of headways, route efficiencies, and future real estate development plans,” Sistrunk activist Marie “Ms. Peaches” Huntley wrote in a June 11, 2017 email to Broward County commissioners.

Huntley, who mentors disadvantaged youth, said recently she hadn’t known about Hooper’s Loop investments. But she wasn’t surprised “he had a set agenda. It speaks to what’s going on in Fort Lauderdale,” she said. “If you don’t have the money to talk, then your voice doesn’t need to be heard.”

The founder and president of Hooper Construction was an early, vocal champion of the Loop. At a July 23, 2014 meeting of the northwest CRA advisory board, Hooper predicted the extension would lure about $7 million in investment over four to five years. The minutes do not indicate whose investment he was talking about.

With a condo and offices in Flagler Village, Hooper represented his fellow property owners at the advisory board meeting. After touting the Loop addition, he urged the board to take it to CRA leadership.

Clearly they did, and the rest would have been history–if not for the WAVE’s derailment before a single track was laid. A reported $33.7 million had already been wasted on lobbying, consulting and other preliminaries.

Hooper took the defeat personally, judging by a video the anti-WAVE civic group Lauderdale Tomorrow posted on Facebook. It shows Hooper berating city commissioners: “When we sign an agreement…what I don’t expect is that we renege on that agreement,” he scolded.

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Latest comments

  • Noreen, I am so surprised that you conveniently left out the map that I sent you. You know, the one that shows that the properties are outside of the DDA boundaries.

  • So you remove comments? Really??

  • First of all HOOPER IS A FORT LAUDERDALE NATIVE who started on North Andrews BEFORE THE WAVE. Second AT LEAST ONE OF THESE ‘WAVE DEALS’ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DDA or WAVE but was a RETIRING BUSINESSMAN RETURNING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY WHERE HE WANTED CASH TO EXPAND HIS BUSIBESSES THERE. Since the property was ACROSS THE STREET FROM HOOPWR’S OFFICE IS WOULD HAVE BEEN DUMB TO PASS UP THE PURCHASE.
    Attacking NATIVE INVESTORS with NO MENTION OF ALL THE FACTS IS NOT JOURNALISM

  • Discredited former mayor and lawyer John P. “Jack” Seiler only lives 8 doors down from Hooper on the golf course, or what is now a golf course after “Jack’s” re-zoning of the American Golf Course that had previously been open to the public. I guess birds of a feather really do flock together. And don’t even get me started on the time CRA recipient Alan Hooper was sent in to get a Flagler Village Civic Association vote reversed on behalf of Mayor “Jack” to re-name NE 6th Street to a pretty crime and poverty stigmatized Sistrunk Blvd, solely to advance the political career of “Country Club” Jack Seiler in the Democrat Party. We were told it would happen anyway without our consent and all the CRA money generated in Flagler Village would head west down Sistrunk if we didn’t get on the “right side” of this.

  • When i became aware of this type of transportation ( back 5/6 years ago and still working in downtown) i knew it would be a loser from the get-go. Very happy it will not be a go and i don’t even live in Ft. Lauderdale 225 million +++, are you out of your GD mind!

  • Noreen, Alan Hooper’s comments are the words of an angry and frustrated man whose real estate investment strategy went down the drain with the demise of the WAVE. “Sour grapes”, Mr. Hooper. Now, regardless of where they’re located, what are you going to do with those properties you bought? There’s not going to be any Loop, so there’s not going to be any investors – or their money. But you can always dump the properties, right? And what “removed” comments are you referring to? Please specify. If you go back just 3 days to the March 15th Florida Bulldog posting and review the comments made regarding Waste Management’s questionable litigation practices, you’ll see the first comment was made by some crude, uneducated, low-class clown named Marc Cooper. Mr. Cooper’s rant was pointless, laced with profanity and showed an obvious lack of education – but his comment has not been removed. First Amendment Right of Free Speech, I guess – even when it’s from a gross, uneducated IDIOT! Go back to school, Mr. Cooper and this time, pay attention in class! Meanwhile, Mr. Hooper, stop venting your frustrations on Noreen. You rolled the dice, and it came up “Snake Eyes”!

  • You guys just don’t get it. I work in Fat Village, and live in Fort Lauderdale, and have for a very long time now. The idea that Alan Hooper and Tim Petrillo are investing because of the Wave loop is just stupid. You can say whatever you want, but those two guys care about this city and the reason they are investing in the area, is because they care about the community with or without a Wave Loop. They didn’t bet on the Wave loop. my god. They are betting on Fort Lauderdale and specifically, the arts district. Will they make money on it? Maybe, thats good business. But stop acting like you give a shit about money that could go to the African American community. As a black guy, I’m tired of white people writing about what “poor black people” need.. if you feel so passionate about the African American community, then get off your ass and go help cultivate the community rather than post some bullshit article on the florida bulldog.

  • Joshua Miller is an owner of C&I Studios. C&I Studios is a DDA vendor who provides them with marketing and public relations services. Mr. Miller fails to disclose that important contextual fact, the same way Hooper and Petrillo failed to disclose their special interest in properties abutting the WAVE Loop route. . The difference is, Mr. Miller is just doing his job – doing all he can to make his client appear to be the victim. Hooper and Petrillo are public officials who had a legal obligation to disclose their conflicts before voting on WAVE policies that they stood to profit from.

  • As a NATIVE SOUTH FLORIDAN who ACTUALLY ATTENDED meetings at the DDA; EVERYONE INCLUDING Messrs Hooper n Petrillo ALWAYS disclose ANY REAL ACTUAL LEGAL CONFLICTS.
    And I agreed with Charlie King about Sistrunk UNTIL HE MADE RACIST REMARKS which made me AGREE WITH THE RE naming.

  • The Wave took a ninety degree turn every two blocks north of Las Olas, it was never a transit system as you could walk faster. Who selected the route, could it be developers with vacant land? Interesting, who else bought property ?

  • The racist remark being exactly what Count? I’m sure you can remember the specific of it.

  • Insightful Bulldog piece, Noreen Marcus. (Not that reasonably intelligent property owners didn’t know all along that the ill-fated Wave was conceived to line the pockets of a few.)
    What a relief to know Fort Lauderdale residents still can muster enough clout to overcome dunderhead notions of the DDA and other opportunists.

  • WOW…look at all these passionate, opinionated comments on a DEAD issue – the Loop! There’s NOT going to be any Loop – there’s NOT going to be any investor money – and there’s NOT going to be any profit for Hooper and Petrillo from their real estate venture! And NOBODY gives a shit that N.E. 6th Ave. was renamed Sistrunk Blvd. – except maybe Jack Seiler. So the name on the street sign changes…the neighborhood DOES NOT! There’s a “Sistrunk Blvd.” in almost EVERY city in the country – and there always will be! And to Count LF…..whatever, I would ask – what makes Hooper, whom you describe as a “NATIVE INVESTOR”, different than other investors who come from somewhere else originally? They’re all in it for the same reason…TO MAKE MONEY$$$. That’s why it’s called….”investing”! Maybe we should all start focusing on “live” issues…

  • Charlie King.In response to above comments.When Atty.Jack Seiler( folks if u need an atty.if it’s a slip and fall, to civil case to just about any legal encounter u have , he either will take your case or refer out to someone just as good-looking connections like Kissinger, credit given,when credit warranted) anyhow when he bought over where u r refer Charlie I was made aware that he pays over 20G in property tax.So u bet your ass he made sure that golf course is members only( ever been to a public golf course,then u get it).Plus his neighbors love him because by doing what u stated made all his neighbors inc.his own property- there value went up.Your insinuations that Seiler is corrupt is plain silly.Also speaking with his” gift of the Irish” locally he could run and win with no difficulties.I say he should have ran for county comm.for Chip Lamarca seat.Lucky he didn’t.t Lamar Fisher because u would be auctioning at old lady estates even with your Gucci shoes( nice dresser I will give u that Lamar).As far as the others mentioned.Who u kidding u bought real estate in these areas etc to flip them and make money.Lastly CRA monies should be utliluzied to build up slum and blight neighborhoods where the tax monies come from etc to get them off this slum and blight.Not to be used for parties,festivals,or for stoves for people’s restaurants,or for chicken wing business etc.U get it..

  • I’m sure “Country Club” Jack Seiler is glad you set the record straight for him Robert, NOT! Funny how “Jack” renamed other people’s properties address against their will and then re-zoned away the American Golf Course open to the public behind his house into a passive park/golf buffer area. What a guy, I guess the public can join a private club or find a Top Golf as far as “Jack” is and was concerned. By the way at that vote “Jack” refused to consider his gambit you so eloquently detailed above a conflict despite the public explanation from the podium I delivered to him. I guess that’s why “Jack” has 7 toilets in his house and I only have 3. It must be that substance he as a career politician is considered to be full of that has made go for the 7 toilet option. Anyway, I can’t let that overstatement of yours of “Jack” the highly electable lucky Irish politician slide. First I am and most of us are probably more Irish than Herr Johannes Seiler and his lucky charms act. Second, this guy left Fort Lauderdale in shambles after he and his crew looted the city’s infrastructure top its core, with literally feces flowing in the streets. Given that record, why would anyone elect him to do anything, other than maybe getting himself appointed to replace Mike Satz when he goes to his great reward.

  • Oh Charlie, u and those 7 bathrooms…

  • It is disgusting that you cast these aspersions at Alan and Tim! These two men have done a lot for the betterment of this community and making Fort Lauderdale the city it is today! Sure they have made money for themselves along the way, but they didn’t do it at the expense of Fort Lauderdale! The businesses and properties they built brought jobs and tax revenue to the city and provided citizens with great places to live and fun places to eat and drink. These two men are on every board and charity in this city and give time and expertise whenever asked. As far as the properties that were purchased along the Wave and the Loop… those guys have been buying properties there forever!! They built that neighborhood with all of those loft buildings they developed. Guess what, with no Wave and no Loop, they are still going to make a ton of money on what they develop there and make the city even better. If you want stakeholders on these boards, certain factions will always cry “conflict of interest” when there is none! I would rather an entire committee of self made guys like Tim and Alan who are constantly trying to make this city a better place than Charlie King types who inherit a few properties and spend the rest of his time complaining about everything else or a know nothing like Stan Eichelbaum trying to make a name for himself by opposing everything!

  • ALAN HOOPER WAS BORN HERE.
    ALAN HOOPER INVESTED HERE.
    ALAN HOOPER EMPLOYS PEOPLE HERE.
    ALAN HOOPER N TIM PETRILLO CREATE JOBS TAX REVENUES HOUSING N BUILDINGS FOR BUSINESSES.
    EDDIE C OBVIOUSLY IS MISINFORMED AS SISTRUNK IS AN USUAL NAME AND AS A GENEALOGIST N RESEARCH HISTORIAN IN THE SOUTH MID ATLANTIC N NEW ENGLAND STATES CAN SAY THE STATEMENT ABOUT “SISTRUNK BOULEVARD” IS INACCURATE.
    AS FOR LYNN HELM – BET SHE’S NEVER BEEN A TRAFFIC MANAGER because NEARLY EVERY CITY THAT HAS TRIED LIGHT RAIL OR TROLLEYS HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL N ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE. THE WAVE BECAUSE – AS USUAL – BROWARD COUNTY DID NOT USE FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE VENDOR MANAGEMENT.

  • To Noreen.Great reporting.Old saying- truth will set u free, but first will make u miserable.Keep up the good work Noreen…

  • Also to point out this reporting was not about Jack Seiler but u Charlie King with your anamosity towards him is beyond inappropriate.Seiler did not raise the mill rate is whole three terms as Mayor.And yes property taxes went up because home values went up( which is a good thing).Taxes went have went up higher if he raised the mill rate.He did not.Also his St.Patrick Day Parade.A big hit with the residents and local business owners call it a Jack pot($) weekend.Seiler take on the homeless was better reception with the residents than current Mayor( who I like) giving over a million dollars to the homeless and esp.giving them free apartments.Beyound ludacroius.So all in all Seiler was good for Ft.lau.U bring up valid point Charlie in regards to raiding the water and sewer monies.Also it’s not right for Seiler to have 7 bathrooms but it’s ok for u ( King) to have 2 Porche in your driveway.Back to the story here which one of these guys owns the bar off A1A..That whole area outside that bar is a dump.Now to use CRA monies to spruce up that entire corner and enclave I would have no issue with.Lastly Noreen u did a great job with this story…

  • Robert, “Jack” is so yesterday. There is really no reason for you to continue shining that turd anymore. You’re better than that Robert. I think we have heard the last from “Jack” given the record he cemented in place over those 9 years running the city to infrastructure ruin. How is looting the infrastructure of hundred of millions any different from raising property tax? It’s just a cowardly and expensive way to do it. He’ll do something related to all the judicial brown nosing he does. Probably winds up a judge or Mike Satz replacement if he is lucky enough to get appointed his replacement and then wins re-election.

  • Wow, must be some ADHD going around here. Few seem able to stay on topic. The question here isn’t whether Seiler stole the sewer money, not whether or not Petrillo and Hooper are nice guys who’ve lived here a long time (does the amount of time you’ve lived here afford special priveleges?). The question is where they obligated to disclose their financial interests when voting as public officials.
    I was curious to know on what authority Hooper made this statement: “He also stated that “owning and leasing real estate is specifically excluded from what constitutes a financial conflict of interest as a DDA board member.” I read the DDA Charter on their website. Mr. Hooper would be well advised to read it himself. Here the section I think is relevant to this topic: Section 14. No board member nor any employee of the board shall vote or otherwise participate in any matter in which he or she has a financial
    interest, either direct or indirect. Such indirect financial interest shall not,
    however, be deemed to include that indirect financial interest which would
    accrue to all members of the board solely by virtue of being lessees or owners
    of property in the downtown area, it being the intent hereof that the prohibition herein shall apply in the event a specific indirect financial interest
    accrues to one rather than to all members. When such interest shall appear,
    it shall be the duty of the board member or employee to make such interest
    known and he or she shall thenceforth refrain from voting on or otherwise
    participating in the particular transaction involving such interest. Willful
    violation of the provisions hereof shall constitute malfeasance on the part
    of the board and shall be grounds for instant dismissal of any employee. The
    board may, in its rules of procedure, provide for automatic forfeiture of office
    by a board member for violation hereof. Any transaction involving a conflict
    of interest, wherein a violation of this section is involved, may be rendered
    void at the option of the board.
    I’m not a lawyer but it sounds like these guys had “a specific indirect financial interest
    accrues to one rather than to all members.” If so, then it constitutes malfeasance on the part of the board member.
    Lastly, is anyone aware that the DDA is right now using tax dollars to lobby the legislature so they can have another 20 years to fix downtown. If that happens, it will mean that it took the DDA 85 years to turn around the Downtown of a relatively small city. Personally I think they should retire at the end of their now 65 year charter.

  • O.K., last comment on this LONG DEAD subject…and it goes directly to Count L.F; First of all – get yourself some typing lessons! Secondly, and I’m pretty sure everyone else picked up on what I meant, except YOU! When I said there’s a “Sistrunk Blvd.” in almost every city, I was speaking METAPHORICALLY, you idiot! I meant that most cities have a section that is SIMILAR to the Sistrunk Blvd. neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale! And THAT situation will never change because there will ALWAYS be poor, disadvantaged people in the world – and they have to live SOMEWHERE…right? “Welcome to Sistrunk Blvd.”!!!

  • I’ll offer to buy those properties for 50c on the dollar. Considering the real estate downturn is on it’s way, that’s a generous offer

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