Showing posts with label @HollywoodFLCRA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label @HollywoodFLCRA. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

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!

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 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/2018/05/30/louis-birdman-partners-sell-127-acre-diplomat-property-in-hallandale-for-43m/ 

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>, Vice Mayor Michele Lazarow <MLazarow@hallandalebeachfl.gov>, Commissioner Michael Butler <mbutler@hallandalebeachfl.gov>, "Comm.Rich Dally" <rdally@cohb.org>, "Comm. Anabelle Taub" <ataub@cohb.org>, Leigh-Ann Dawes <ldawes@hallandalebeachfl.gov>, Laurent Thibault <Fairways400@gmail.com>, Diane Lyon Wead <dianelyonwead@usa.net>
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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Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Important development and gridlock hearings/meetings in Hallandale Beach and Hollywood today: Huge Oasis development project on Hallandale Beach Blvd. and Hollywood CRA mtg re Downtown Hollywood commuter train station

Important development and gridlock hearings/meetings in Hallandale Beach and Hollywood today: Huge Oasis development project on Hallandale Beach Blvd. and Hollywood CRA meeting re Downtown Hollywood commuter train station


Tonight at 8:30 PM the City of Hallandale Beach City Commision is schedued to come face-to-face with its future direction when it has the Second of two required hearings on the second incarnation of the HUGE Oasis project on Hallandale Beach Blvd. next to Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino's northern entrance on Hallandale Beach Blvd., which first came up ten years ago.

I attended those meetings, too, where then-state Senator Steve Geller represented the developer. At the time it featured two very large buildings as well, but seemed to be set back farther from the sidewalk so didn't seem quite so... looming, and featured a not-unattractive office and retail building in front of a residential condo.
Not fantastic, per se, but certainly much better than what HB usually has presented before them in terms of looks of proposed buildings and projects.
That was then.

Well, this new proposal has the buildings side-by-side, and what seems to me to be closer to the road and both large buildings will be residential, which means ... MORE cars on F-rated HBB.

This is a time-certain agenda item at 8:30 PM
But then you know how time certain things are in HB, so, get there earlier!


I plan on being at the Hollywood CRA meeting at 10 AM that will feature what's being called an "Updated Presentation" by Dana Little, Urban Design Director, Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, regarding The Station Area Master Plan. 
That is to say, what's what with where the Hollywood Blvd. area commuter train station may be located and other useful information about what will completely transform Downtown Hollywood and US-1 once a commuter train is up and running, whether that's the Tri-Rail Coastal that I've championed forever, or something that's the creation of Brightline, not my favorite people these days, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/status/989981873278541824
who seem very much to want to elbow SFRTA out of the picture entirely, and with it, some real public accountability and oversight. 

Not that the local South Florida news media is asking too many hard questions about that, though it's been low-hanging fruit for MANY MONTHS. 

I spoke with Dana Little and his associates a few months back at an informal meeting on the train station project for just under an hour at the Littman Center.
I was very surprised and angry that there were ZERO fliers and or sandwich boards on US-1 and in the downtown area, inc. on store fronts, about the meeting, just as there were none regarding the Young Circle meetings last year that I felt were preposterous on so many levels.
Very, very curious that.

Last I heard, the downtown train station will be on FEC tracks between Dixie Highway and N. 21st Avenue between Taylor and Fillmore streets, 4-6 short blocks north of Hollywood Blvd., in part because the city owns much of the land in that vicinity and can control what happens.
(Yes, the same Fillmore Street I lived on off US-1 for a few months after Thanksgiving until last month.)

I will also be at the Hollywood City Commission meeting scheduled for 1 PM, 
with some time afterwards to catch my breath, grab something to eat, write some clever and informed words on what I saw and then head over to Hallandale Beach to see what sort of turnout there is for the Oasis project, which will likely be the largest development project coming before the HB City Commission for the rest of the year.

Coincidentally, coming just as many of the city's best-informed citizens and part-time residents have fled for northern climes before the heat and humidity hit us like a hammer for the summer.
Like my friend and fellow civic activist Csaba Kulin to name but one.
Just as happened with the meetings regarding The Related Company's Beachwalk project a few years ago.
Sure, there's nothing at all curious about that.

 ----
5:45 PM Update

 I've included a link to Google Maps here, right above my friend and fellow Broward civic activist Csaba Kulin's comments so that those of you who don't go by this site on Hallandale Beach Blvd. very much -the only east-west street that connects A1A to I-95 in HB- could et some useful perspective for what an unmitigated disaster this could be unless the developer and Gulfstream Park reach an accord so that construction crews entering and exiting the site spend a minimum amount of time on HBB.

It's time for Gulfstream Park to actually BE a good neighbor instead of just talking about it, having gotten their way years ago when they got the clueless city to approve their three employee dorms/apts.RIGHT WHERE Hibiscus Street should have been extended east from US-1 down to behind the Publix on 14th Avenue many years ago, so that local traffic, esp. Three Islands residents, could avoid HBB instead of being forced onto it, with ZERO 
alternatives.

Item is scheduled to come up at 8:30 PM tonight.


---
 Mayor London, Vice Mayor Lazarow and Commissioners,

 What one hand gives the other hand takes it away.

 On one hand you have done a great job fixing N. E. 14th Avenue. Narrowed the roadway to reduce speed, added a bicycle lane and created a lovely landscaping.

 We are very happy about it. Thank you.
On the other hand you are about to approve the Oasis (1100 East Hallandale Beach Blvd.) with its flawed traffic proposal. Exiting the property you have to cross three (3) lanes of traffic to get to N.E. 14th Avenue and ether make a U-turn or turn left into N.E. 14th Avenue. It does not make any sense.

 If you allow this to happen you just created a major problem for the next 100 years.
During the last 10 years no better solution has been found than this? There must be an effort made by the developer to come to an agreement with Gulfstream to allow an exit to Gulfstream Boulevard and N.E. 8th Avenue. It will cost money but otherwise the residents will suffer.

 In my opinion when FDOT installed the dividers on Hallandale Beach Boulevard they significantly reduced the utility and value of that property.

 The Oasis owners are sophisticated investors, they should have known this fatal flaw in this property.

 Now you are facing no win situation tonight. Either the developer or the residents will be upset with you.

 You can explain to the residents when you will be knocking on doors this summer.  

Sincerely,

 Csaba (Chuck) Kulin 

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Friday, October 27, 2017

It's finally here! #Hollyweird, one of the fun highlights of the year for kids and adults in #HollywoodFL is this Saturday, 6 PM - 2 AM; #Halloween, @HollywoodFLCRA







https://youtu.be/BXQT6Qc-fcI

https://youtu.be/Q7os2BalKGE

 Go to http://www.floridashollywood.org/hollyweird.aspx for more information

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