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From South Florida Business Journal – May 15, 2013
Cymbal's Marina Lofts gets key approval in Fort Lauderdale
Marina Lofts would transform the south bank of the New River.
Marina Lofts received a 9-0 approval from the Fort
Lauderdale Planning & Zoning board just before 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Fort Lauderdale City Commission chamber was overflowing
with supporters wearing green t-shirts and opponents wearing blue shirts. There
were so many in attendance that the fire marshal ordered that some attendees in
the back of the chambers leave.
Developer Asi Cymbal and his team gave a detailed one-hour
presentation about the project. Before the vote, city staff basically said the
nearly 1,000-unit rental project fit with desired development in the area.
A controversial plan to move a giant rain tree wasn't within
the purview of the P&Z board's review, so opponents' last-ditch efforts to
stop the project will depend on the Fort Lauderdale City commission. So far,
the commission appears to support the project.
Marina Lofts would be a major landmark on the south side of
the New River west of Andrews Avenue next to the site of Related's New River
Yacht Club.
Cymbal said the project was a tremendous opportunity to help
make Fort Lauderdale a world class city.
"We are not looking to create an average or ordinary
community. We are looking to transform and transcend," Cymbal said.
His team has built 15 million square feet of high rise
construction, including a 67-story tower, he said.
Cymbal talked about an initial project in Miami's Wynwood
area, which was 100 percent leased during tough economic times, and an upcoming
project with architect Enrique Norten that he said is fully funded and awaiting
permits for construction to start.
Cymbal also talked about working in New York with Norten and
architect Phillipe Starke on a $60 million project in the Soho area and a $150
million project in the city's Tribeca area.
"We are builders. We are not speculators," Cymbal
said. "I didn't come from money and my family isn't in the business. I
fought very hard to get in this field."
Cymbal said he grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn that
had lots of concrete and he has gained an appreciation of architecture because
"your environment affects who you are."
Cymbal has retained Danish architect Bjarke Ingels for
Marina Lofts and noted he was named an innovator of the year by the Wall Street
Journal.
Cymbal said he has invested $30 million in the project so
far and will provide $10 million in public benefits, such as a riverwalk along
the New River.
The density for the project is needed because he wants to
create rentals starting at $1,100 a month, Cymbal said. He has a waiting list
for half the units in the first building.
Many of the concerns expressed by residents had to do with
density and traffic. A bulk of the opponents opposing the project live in the
Esplanade Condominium, which is just to the west of the Marina Lofts site.
However, it turns out the condominium board at Esplanade
doesn't oppose the project.
President Dan Norman said the condo board unanimously passed
a position paper with conditional support and found the overall concept to be
"impressive, innovative and even daring."
Norman said the board found Cymbal responsive to its
concerns. Two towers were reduced from 36 to 28 stories and the total units
were reduced by almost 100 to just under 1,000.
Norman, who was previously a senior editor at the Sun
Sentinel, said as a 44-year city resident he wouldn't be disappointed if the
city asked for a further height reduction, "but if Fort Lauderdale is
going to compete with other cities it has to satisfy the thirst for a downtown
urban atmosphere. The only place to expand is up not out. I say yes to Marina
Lofts no matter what the size is. It keeps the city growing in a stunning
way."
Representatives of key business groups also supported the
project, including the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce and the
Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance. Marine industry
supporters also said the
development would be beneficial by preserving a marina a 200-boat storage
facility.
Chamber President Dan Lindblade said his board has voted
unanimously in favor of the project and handed over a letter of support from
Winterfest, which puts on the annual holiday boat parade.
Marina Lofts would help make Fort Lauderdale an
international destination of choice, Lindblade said.
Rob Hink of the Spinnaker Group, past president of the U.S.
Green Building Council, said Marina Lofts was a model for LEED development.
"This project meets the very definition of
sustainabilty," he said. The dense urban project is the opposite of
suburban sprawl, but has an extraordinary amount of open space plus green
roofs.
Perhaps the most powerful speaker was Adriana Fasano, an
Amherst College Fulbright Scholar, who moved back to the city where her parents
live.
"We as a city are in one of the biggest and darkest
brain drains in history," she said, saying the city needed innovators to
attract talented young professionals. She outlined some widespread concerns
that South Florida isn't on the cutting edge of culture, though leadership, the
arts, engineering and math.
Cymbal's project would help change that, she said. "We
cannot be the city that stifles innovation."
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