re Hollywood extending the iconic Broadwalk south to Hallandale Beach city line; new Diplomat Development Agreement at tonight's 6 PM Hallandale Beach City Comm. mtg. will show what lessons have been learned -if any. We'll be watching!
My friend and fellow Broward County civic activist Csaba Kulin wrote the comments at the bottom of this email re the Diplomat Development Agreement while up in Cleveland for the summer, far from our oppressive heat and humidity. It's well worth reading because he knows the subject better than nearly anyone, and not just because he lives next door to the Diplomat Golf Course.
I'll be at Hollywood City Commission's 1:00 PM meeting and then head over to Panera Bread for a bit to get properly caffeinated and prepared, before heading over to Hallandale Beach City Hall to watch for any hijinks there.
If you know/hear anything useful about the new Diplomat Development Agreement this during the course of the day, please call me, since though I'll have my phone on mute at the afternoon meetings,I'll head out of the Chambers to call you back.
Interesting news at this morning's Hollywood CRA meeting, or at least, new to me...
I'll be at Hollywood City Commission's 1:00 PM meeting and then head over to Panera Bread for a bit to get properly caffeinated and prepared, before heading over to Hallandale Beach City Hall to watch for any hijinks there.
If you know/hear anything useful about the new Diplomat Development Agreement this during the course of the day, please call me, since though I'll have my phone on mute at the afternoon meetings,I'll head out of the Chambers to call you back.
Interesting news at this morning's Hollywood CRA meeting, or at least, new to me...
At today's @cohgov #CRA mtg., after city Dune Task Force member asked questions abt firm being hired for Dune mgmt., was clear that city is interested in extending city's iconic Broadwalk south to city line w/#HallandaleBeach.— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) June 6, 2018
Nobody in HB knows anything abt it.
Or do they?🤔
I'll have more about this soon, but it's very interesting because as many of you know -and Comm. Hernandez pointed out- The Diplomat does NOT currently mention or promote the Broadwalk, largely because they want to keep all hotel guests on their property as much as possible.
Later, Mayor Levy discussed his speech to a group where he spoke about this Broadwalk expansion idea and it was warmly received. He then mentioned that he'd spoken to Diplomat management and they said they thought it'd be a good idea.
But the question in the minds among many people would be this:
Does The Diplomat really think that or did they just tell the mayor what he wanted to hear?
I don't know the answer to that question.
I will believe The Diplomat when they actually mention the Broadwalk by name in their own promotional materials and mention it online.
That would show a clear change in their attitude.
Many of you will recall that for years I've publicly asked why, if they are serious about it making it successful, The Diplomat didn't properly promote their golf and tennis property in HB.
I even said that very thing at the Broward County Comm. hearing many years ago when their first effort to build multiple incompatible condo towers on the perimeter of the golf course, which would have put many HB residents in near-perpetual shade, esp. on Diplomat Parkway.
The County Commission correctly rejected their plan.
It was rejected because, in part, The Diplomat could not explain why there are ZERO directional signs for their property on any main street in Hallandale Beach, even while there are, in fact, ones for very small churches, a point I mentioned.
The Diplomat's General Manager at the time was very unhappy that I asked questions he could not answer, and was cursing me as he got up from his seat one row behind me at the County Chambers, leaving after a loss he never saw coming.
Their defeat came about in large part due to Csaba's efforts, as well as my own to show South Florida residents and officials what was being proposed against the wishes of the city's residents, many who also spoke out against The Diplomat's plan to swamp a gridlocked area with thousands of more cars on an F-rated road.
Eight years later, there are still ZERO directional signs in HB for the Diplomat's Golf and Tennis property on HB streets.
Draw your own conclusions about how committed they were to making that a success.
Louis Birdman, partners sell 127-acre Diplomat property in Hallandale for $43M
Dev site was approved for high-rises with 1,200 units
https://therealdeal.com/miami/
Dev site was approved for high-rises with 1,200 units
https://therealdeal.com/miami/
I've deleted the recipients of Csaba's email list and left the officials who are involved in the process.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Csaba Kulin
Date: Tue, Jun 5, 2018 at 11:05 PM
Subject: New Diplomat Development Agreement Wednesday Evening
To:
Cc: Mayor Keith London <klondon@hallandalebeachfl.gov
Friends,
Tonight as I was preparing for Wednesday’s (June 6, 2018) City Commission Meeting, I noticed Item 13 E.
“DISCUSSION OF THE AMENDMENT TO THE DIPLOMAT DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT (STAFF: CITY MANAGER AND CITY ATTORNEY)”.
The meeting will start at 6:00 P.M. but it is at the very end of the Agenda, so I cannot tell you what time the Item will come up for discussion. No detail is given in the Agenda.
As you know, the Diplomat Golf Course had been sold recently. We heard rumors about the sale, we asked several Commissioners what is going on but we got no good answers. The City Manager made some comments as to what he is going to do with the “extra” money from the new developer. It is obvious that something was going on, out of the view of the residents.
Disgraced former Mayor Cooper and her similarly disgraced friends on the City Commission sold us out two years ago to the developers. Those commissioners are now gone, possibly going to jail.
We had been told that we cannot un-do the approved Development Agreement but we had been assured by members of the current City Commission that they do NOT support any changes to the current Development Agreement. I hope we can trust their words.
I do not want to sound the alarm bells at this time but I need to give you a “heads- up”. We need to watch Chanel 78 Wednesday evening, contact our city commissioners and do not be shy to speak up.
I do not think everyone at City Hall understands that we, the residents of Hallandale Beach, will fight tooth and nails to keep the Diplomat Golf Course a green space, not a condo jungle.
The main architects of the last deal, Cooper, Sanders and Julian learned the hard way, leave the Diplomat alone. They just did not listen.
Make sure you to let your views known to the City Commission.
Csaba (Chuck) Kulin
President
Fairways North, Inc.
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