Some waves can’t be stopped.
The wave that turned Bahia Mar over to the private sector in 1962 set in motion a chain of events that will keep the taxpayer-owned peninsula in private hands for the next 100 years and see the rise of a five-star hotel and four luxury condo towers.
Fort Lauderdale commissioners gave their final blessing to the plan with a 4-1 vote Tuesday night.
Commissioner Warren Sturman cast the lone vote against the project, just as he did two weeks ago during a marathon meeting where critics listed all the reasons the city should say no.
They warned of nightmare gridlock. Construction dust. Noise and traffic and sea level rise.
But in the end, developer Jimmy Tate and his partners got what they needed: A supermajority “yes” vote from four of the five commissioners.
Upscale legacy
Tate has promised to turn the aging property at 801 Seabreeze Blvd. — long home to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show — into a world-class destination.
The $1 billion project calls for a 256-room hotel and four condo towers with a total of 350 units. The hotel will rise 300 feet and the condo towers will stand 270 feet high.
Also on the menu: An upscale marina village, a waterfront restaurant to the north, a park overlooking the Intracoastal and a public waterfront promenade that will be 25 feet wide and half a mile long, encircling the entire 39-acre site. Bahia Mar’s 245-slip marina will remain untouched.
Lisa Namour, general manager at Bahia Mar’s existing DoubleTree by Hilton, was one of a handful of speakers Tuesday night who urged the commission to back the plan.
“This is a legacy they’re developing for all of us,” Namour said. “It would be a big miss for Fort Lauderdale and the future of this city (if you vote no).”
A “no” vote would have paved the way for a bulkier project approved by a prior commission in 2017.
City leaders say 350 condos are better than 651 rental apartments scattered throughout 12-story boxy buildings, even if the new condos will sit in taller towers. The earlier plan also called for substantially more commercial space: 152,000 square feet compared to the new allotment of 88,000 square feet.
Commissioners have made much of another fact: The former lease, which included a yearly base rent of $300,000, earned taxpayers a measly $1.7 million per year. But the new lease approved last year will add around $24 million a year to city coffers through 2122 once the property is built out, according to a financial analysis by Colliers International.
Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel
Critics have warned city leaders that future generations will question why they let private condos be built on prime taxpayer-owned land just blocks from the beach.Tate told the South Florida Sun Sentinel the hotel and first two towers could be built as soon as 2027. The next two condo towers would come later, based on market demands.
Prized property
This week’s “yes” vote paves the way for a modern new chapter in Bahia Mar’s long history.
In 1839, well before it became known as Bahia Mar, it was an Army fort. By the mid-1800s, it served as a house of refuge for shipwrecked sailors. The Coast Guard built a station in the 1920s and stayed for more than 20 years.
The people of Fort Lauderdale became the owners in 1947 when the federal government sold the peninsula to the city for $600,000.
The land is now worth at least $256 million, according to a recent appraisal.
Nancy Thomas, a longtime resident and member of the group Lauderdale Tomorrow, sent an email to the commission Tuesday asking why they were allowing the city to be taken advantage of by what she called deep-pocketed developers.
“Where is your representation of taxpayers who own this very expensive and unique piece of property?” she wrote. “If you think that the Lauderdale Tomorrow folks are the only folks who are against it, you are incorrect. The fact is that most taxpayers do not know what’s going on with Bahia Mar. You may think everyone knows what’s going on, but I assure you, they do not. Stop kowtowing to developers who offer projects that might NOT be what citizens want.”
Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel
Developer Jimmy Tate says he has spent about $20 million on renovations and improvements to the Bahia Mar including the rooftop pool deck and the Hightide Bar & Grille, as seen on April 26, 2022, in Fort Lauderdale. The city has granted a land lease to Tate at Bahia Mar for up to 100 years, with plans for a marina village with four condo towers up to 20 stories tall, a 256-room hotel that includes 60 condo apartments and a public waterfront promenade.Dreaming big
Tate, the leaseholder for Bahia Mar, pulled off the deal of a century last year, persuading commissioners to give him full rein over the city-owned land for another 100 years.
Before Tuesday night’s vote, Tate and his team of partners, including brother Kenny Tate, longtime friend Sergio Rok and Related Group’s Jon Paul Perez and Nik Perez, watched from the audience.
Tate sent a text message to the Sun Sentinel two hours before the commission meeting, saying he was praying for that long-awaited “yes” vote.
“I have left it all out on the proverbial ball field,” he said. “There have been no stones left unturned. Bottom line, we have done all we can possibly do to improve and design a transformational site plan that meets the needs of the community, the city, the boat show and still makes economic sense to develop as developers. Let’s pray the commission recognizes the wonderful opportunity they have before them by voting yes tonight.”
And now that he got that final vote, Tate says he and his partners can celebrate before turning their focus to all the prep work needed before they can break ground.
“People think it ends now,” he said. “But once we get the approval, the hard work starts.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan
