By Noreen Marcus, FloridaBulldog.org
When Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy won re-election in November, the oceanside condo-tower development he’d aggressively pushed was mired in red tape and dissent.
But Catherine “Cat” Uden, who ran against Levy on a no-beach-building plank, predicted that if he won, the condo’s developer would regroup and return.
She was right: Jorge Perez’s Related Group and its luxury Hollywood Arts Residences project, known as the 1301 project, are back.
“It’s kind of like a reboot of this project we thought was dormant but now it’s rearing its ugly head,” said Ann Ralston, a 40-year Hollywood resident, retired government employee and full-time gadfly.
The Related Group is finalizing a new proposal for the high-rise condo on public land at 1301 S. Ocean Dr. It seems Related’s people want to hurry their plan through the city and county approval processes to break ground and deliver on marketing pitches for occupancy in 2027.
Hollywood residents who attended a Pre-application Conceptual Overview (PACO) meeting on June 16 heard a presentation about the gleaming skyscraper where condo prices will average just under $1 million. They weren’t allowed to comment about what’s been a deeply divisive issue for more than three years, according to Steve Schneider, a resident who was there.
Assistant City Manager Raelin Storey would not explain how the meeting conformed to a Sunshine Law comment requirement; nor did she respond to any other emailed questions from Florida Bulldog.
Speaking for Related, Fort Lauderdale lawyer Keith Poliakoff introduced Jonathan Gann of Skidmore Owings & Merrill (S0M), the new 1301 project architects. The firm is known for a World Trade Center redevelopment in Manhattan and the world’s tallest building in Dubai: 2,717 feet and 163 floors.
‘LIPSTICK ON A PIG’
Skidmore’s mission in Hollywood is to reconfigure a site plan for a 30-story tower and surrounding spaces into a successful proposal built around a 27-story tower with less density.
Designers still have to quell concerns about flooding and evacuation routes to get approvals from resilience experts. Then they must win over city and county officials so they agree to change future land-use maps that do not presently permit the type or scale of development that Related is proposing.
Also, Hollywood residents must be convinced to support the project by passing an enabling ballot measure next year.
Related’s original deal with Hollywood would give Related a 99-year lease in exchange for $400,000 annual rent, a slice of condo sales and 30 percent of rental payments from a restaurant Related will build inside a new, two-story community center. The developer promised the city a $5 million contract-signing bonus, The Real Deal reported.
To Ralston, Uden and other opponents, the latest 1301 project proposal is no better than the last one.
“I don’t care what kind of shiny frosting, cherry on top, the details are not important,” Uden said. “The fact that it’s a condo tower on public land that was meant to be for the community is wrong.
“There’s no reason to build on that property, it’s a total insult to the residents,” she said. The existing 1301 building, which would be bulldozed and replaced, is a popular cultural and community center beside a park.
The latest proposal, Uden said, “is like putting lipstick on a pig.”
RELATED GETS ANOTHER SHOT
Richard Grosso, a Plantation lawyer who represents Broward County’s Sierra Club chapter, also opposes the revamped project.
“I don’t think the changes change the basic fact that this is an inappropriate conversion of city-owned, scarce beachfront land to a private development,” he said.
Hollywood Commissioner Caryl Shuham voted against the 1301 project and told her constituents last year that Related had a Jan. 22, 2025 deadline to obtain final building approvals. She said the developer hadn’t taken steps to secure the approvals, suggesting Related might let its contract with the city expire.
Related apparently managed to secure an extension. Neither Storey nor Shuham, a construction lawyer, responded to Florida Bulldog’s questions about how and why that happened.
Schneider used his smartphone to record the June 16 meeting. It shows, Schneider said, SOM architect Gann explaining that the updated site plan shifts the positions of the tower, the community center and Harry Berry Park.
Gann said the buildings have been reoriented to give the condos an appropriate amount of sunlight and better views. The park’s reconfiguration is necessary to accommodate changes to the building sites, he added.
City activist Rita Lipof said another possible reason has to do with securing approvals. The park’s footprint in the original proposal was on state-owned land requiring both state and federal sign-offs and “That was very unlikely to be approved,” she said.
Gann told residents that Related and SOM have been consulting with Jennifer Jurado, Broward’s chief resilience officer, about how to assuage her concerns. For example, the new plan elevates the community center, now east of the tower and closer to the water, to avoid flooding.
THE RESILIENCE INFLUENCER
Jurado has influenced previous votes on the 1301 project and winning her buy-in is considered crucial to making it happen.
Before the Hollywood Planning and Development Board voted on the project in May 2023, Jurado expressed her opinion that the tower would add too much density to an area with a high risk of flooding from sea level rise.
The planning board rejected Related’s proposal in an 8-0 vote. Board member Dick Blattner said at the time that Jurado’s memo convinced him “this was not the right place for the project,” the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.
Last week Blattner said that while he doesn’t know the particulars of the new 1301 project plan, “the fundamentals are still the same, the conditions haven’t changed.”
He said a recent Miami Herald article quoting Jurado shows she thinks that a focus on sea level rise, groundwater levels and rainfall “needs to be front and center when it comes to projects on barrier islands” like the proposed location for the 1301 project.
Those are “stronger considerations than what she came up with a couple years ago,” Blattner said. “My opinion is she’s not gonna change her mind.” Jurado could not be reached for comment.
MAYOR LEVY’S LINK TO RELATED
Mayor Levy did not respond to Florida Bulldog’s request for a statement about his position on Related’s new proposal. But his full-throated support for the 1301 project isn’t exactly a secret.
Levy has taken an adversarial position toward project opponents, calling them “slanted advocates” who manipulate other residents into joining their cause.
Still, he did win re-election with a pro-development platform. He also had significant financial support from entities connected to Related.
Florida Bulldog reported in December that a political action committee (PAC) backing Levy accepted $100,000 in contributions from corporations tied to Related during the final three weeks of his campaign.
State election records show the money given to A Bright Future For Hollywood PAC came from four companies traceable to the Related Group. The contributions appear disguised to hide the developer’s involvement.
Florida Bulldog asked Levy in an email whether the contributions influence his support for the 1301 project. He did not respond.
But it would be wrong to suggest that the mayor should recuse himself from voting on the project, according to planning board member Blattner.
“This is not one of those cases where there’s family money being invested in the project,” he said, meaning it would be difficult to establish a direct conflict of interest.
Going forward, Levy is well-positioned to help bring the 1301 proposal to fruition. He’s not only the leader of the city commission, he’s a member of the Broward County Planning Council.
The council is supposed to vet the proposal, which Related indicated will be submitted next month, to prepare county commissioners before they decide the fate of the beach tower a powerful developer seems determined to build.
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