Showdown at
City Hall Tonight on Rain Tree and Marina Lofts Development
From
the New Times , May 14 2013
Tonight,
people who both support and oppose the Marina Lofts development proposed for
near downtown Fort Lauderdale will meet for what promises to be a heated
showdown in front of the Planning and Zoning Board. The board will make a
recommendation to the City Commission, which will ultimately vote on whether to
allow the project. Today's hearing will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Fort
Lauderdale City Hall. Commenters will get three minutes to speak.
The
project is big (two 36-story towers and one 25-story building with about 1,000
units), and its design is downright radical for Fort Lauderdale. The vision of
hotshot Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, it has jagged walls, appearing as
though the building has been ripped in half. Its developers proudly describe it
as "a cross between a Rubik's Cube and Lego creation." The idea was
to create a "cave" that would invite people to walk through the middle
and come to the river, where one day, if you believe the developers, there
could be farmers' markets, entertainment, and a pedestrian bridge across the
water to Riverwalk.
Developer Asi Cymbal says Marina Lofts
would finally bring something cool to downtown, inject life into a sleepy area,
and make use of the underutilized waterfront on the New River. "Too many
people in Fort Lauderdale who love this city end up leaving because they can't
find affordable housing options that are luxurious and cool in downtown,"
he has said. "Imagine hopping on the Water Taxi to jump to Las Olas for
work or shopping, catching a show at the Broward Center, and then going
home."
But
the project has garnered a lot of opposition, partly because of its size,
partly because demand is debatable (Fort Lauderdale already has plenty of other
mixed-use projects with empty ground-floor retail), and largely because, to
build it as currently planned, Cymbal intends to move a majestic, nearly
100-year-old rain tree that was somewhat protected years ago by a city
resolution that declared commissioners must consider the tree in any proposed
development.
We've
told you about the folks who oppose the development -- like Chris Brennan, the Water Taxi employee
who was fired after making a YouTube video in defense of the tree,
and dozens of people who showed up at a parade last month.
Activist Cal Deal has been railing against the project on his blog. He fears that the development would
plunge the neighborhood into shadows and that traffic from so many new tenants
would adversely impact the area.
He also questions the integrity of Cybmal, who
on a "portfolio" page of his website takes credit for New York
projects he worked on under his former employer, Shaya Boymelgreen (who disappeared after facing multiple lawsuits for shoddy
construction), and also takes credit for projects that were designed but never
built. Some fear that Cymbal could get all of the permitting, then
sell the project to someone who would not deliver the promised affordable rents
or other amenities.
Cymbal did not respond to a call asking to address Deal's concerns, but last week, he released the above bit of counter propaganda, in which he is interviewed with softball questions by one of the lawyers he's retained.
He promises that apartments will rent for $1,100 and that for $2,000
or less, residents can have an apartment and keep a boat onsite.
Cymbal
has offered to hire some of the world's foremost tree experts to move the rain
tree to a new park he'll establish and put up a $1 million bond in case it
dies.
The Sun Sentinel on Sunday ran an editorial in favor of
the project, written by Dan Lindblade, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce.
(In
an email, Deal responded, "If the Sun-Sentinel was a decent, responsible
local paper, they would have had a balanced presentation. Instead they let the
C of C Cheerleader parrot the developer's arguments" and chided Lindblade,
who "seems unable to wrap his head around the idea that we enjoy something
green that does not go into a wallet.")
www.aventura-shortsales.com
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