Showing posts with label ArtsPark Village. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ArtsPark Village. Show all posts

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Miami Herald editorial re Hollywood Circle: "Lop the top off that tower, city says"

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/914424.html


Miami Herald

Editorial 

February 21, 2009


Local perspectives

HOLLYWOOD

LOP THE TOP OFF THAT TOWER, CITY SAYS

Civility and common sense have taken root among Hollywood officials -- a welcome development. For instance, the City Commission, with Mayor Peter Bober and Commissioner Heidi O'Sheehan dissenting, gave the green light to a condo tower and retail development project this week without the usual accompanying fireworks. But the commission added one condition with its preliminary approval: Reduce the height of the proposed 25-story condo.

Good call. Mr. Bober and Ms. O'Sheehan said they couldn't vote for the project unless it is reduced in size.

The project would be at the northeast corner of Young Circle and would have a new Publix -- long a fixture there -- along with 20,000 square feet of office and retail space. The tower would have 424 condos.

But that number should be reduced. The developers should comply with the commission's reasonable requirement. Downtown is the right place for highrises, but not too high or too crowded. Staff recommends that the tower be reduced to 22 stories, the height of the Arts Park Village project also located on Young Circle.

City Planning Director Jaye Epstein says that project should represent the city's height limit. This is a sensible way to allay residents' concerns that Young Circle could become a condo canyon. You wouldn't want to surround the county's ArtsPark with a wall of highrises.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

In Hollywood, blighted Block 55 gets a new lease on life as "Hollywood Circle"

My comments follow the Miami Herald article.

I should mention that due to the Blogger.com software once again playing tricks with the fonts and the Preview function, the below may appear very different from what I initially intended, as it took forever to actually post this.

Then I noticed a few mistakes I'd made in haste and received word that something I'd already written earlier in the day was not, in fact, 100% correct, causing more upset, since that meant jumping thru this hoop one more time.
Hopefully, this will be the last time I have to do this.

This corrected version is slightly different from what I originally wrote and posted a few hours ago, and also now has an addendum at the end. 
----------------------------------
Miami Herald
Proposed condo tower on Young Circle gets boost from Hollywood commissioners
By Breanne Gilpatrick
February 19, 2009

In a late-night vote, Hollywood commissioners on Wednesday agreed to pave the way for a proposed condo tower and retail development along Young Circle. There was one catch: to go forward, commissioners say, the proposed 25-story project needs to be shorter.
After roughly four hours of debate, commissioners voted 5-2 to give their initial approval to a key zoning change for the project known as Hollywood Circle. The development, which would sit at the northeast corner of Young Circle, currently includes plans for 424 condominium units, a new Publix grocery store and roughly 20,000 square feet of retail and office space.
However, commissioners said developers need to work with the city to reduce the project's height before a final vote in the upcoming weeks.
''What can I say?'' Commissioner Linda Sherwood said. ``This is Hollywood and Hollywood is always concerned about height.''

TOO TALL?

If built as proposed, the project would be the highest development planned for the Young Circle area so far.
City staff says that's too tall. Jaye Epstein, the city's planning director, urged commissioners to crack down on the growing high-rises cropping up around downtown.
He said the ArtsPark Village project -- a 22-story condo and office tower approved last year for another corner of Young Circle -- should serve as the city's development ceiling.
''In Hollywood, whatever A gets, B gets more,'' Epstein said. "There has to be a line in the sand. . . . The point has to be made. We need to stop the madness.''
Some residents also worry that the number of high-rises planned will create a canyon effect around Young Circle ArtsPark -- Hollywood's downtown centerpiece.
Critics also have said they don't want the city to approve any more major developments in the area until commissioners receive the results of a downtown master plan being created by architect Bernard Zyscovich.
But developers say only the portion of the project closest to Young Circle -- and furthest from the surrounding neighborhoods -- will be 25 stories tall.
Supporters and business leaders also praised the overall project, saying it will draw more residents and retail shops to the area and help reinvigorate downtown. Developers say the project is several years from completion, when the economy should be in better shape.
The property now houses a smaller town house development and the site of a former Greyhound bus station.

`DO A LITTLE BIT MORE'

''Downtown Hollywood really needs to be revitalized,'' Commissioner Dick Blattner said. "I think all of us feel strongly that we need this kind of development downtown. . . . You've done so much so far, just do a little bit more.''
Commissioner Heidi O'Sheehan and Mayor Peter Bober voted against the project, saying they couldn't support it until the height had been reduced.
''Do we need this? Is this a good project? Is this a blighted block? Absolutely,'' O'Sheehan said. ``But sometimes I need a new car, and I don't go onto the car lot and pay the sticker price.''

Reader comments at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/910744.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1

-------------------------------------
The Sun-Sentinel initially had a report without a byline at:

Later, they ran this article on the approval of Chip Abele's project, Hollywood Circle.

Downtown Hollywood condo-retail project gets initial approval
By Ihosvani Rodriguez
February 19, 2009

HOLLYWOOD
Plans for what could be a 25-story condo and retail project in downtown received an initial approval on Wednesday, despite the protest of nearby residents who say it's too high.

Commissioners passed on first reading a zoning change that would allow the proposed Hollywood Circle to tower above all other buildings around Young Circle.

The approval came even though commissioners have not yet received the recommendations of an architect being paid $200,000 to draw up a vision for downtown.

Even the city's planning director has issues with the proposed neck-arching height.

Under the proposal, the $100 million Hollywood Circle will include 424 condo units and an eight-story parking garage. It also will have 46,000 square feet to build a new home for a Publix supermarket.

Developer Chip Abele plans to build in phases, starting with the supermarket and stores. He would build the residential part when the real estate market improves.

The project has gained much support from the Hollywood business community and from residents in Parkside, just south of Young Circle.

"Life presents opportunity and here's a great opportunity in this economy," said Parkside resident Barry Stock. "We need help in this economy and we shouldn't complain to the Lone Ranger that his horse's legs are too long."

But residents in adjacent Hollywood Lakes say they want to see a project there, but not one that high. They wanted Wednesday's meeting postponed until after March 10, when architect, Bernard Zyscovich, presents his study. Officials plan to incorporate the study -- including building heights -- into city zoning laws.

Mayor Peter Bober and Commissioners Richard Blattner and Heidi O'Sheehan voted to postpone the meeting.

"I don't think this is consistent to what the majority of the Hollywood residents want to see," said Bober.

The rest of the commission didn't want to wait, and received the scorn of a number of residents.

"You all talk about being stewards of our money, but how do you explain to your districts that you spent $200,000 and then disregarded the report," said Siobhan McLaughlin. " I find that absolute disheartening. It's a disgrace."

Commissioner Patty Asseff, whose district covers the area, said she wanted to move quickly on correcting the blighted corner.

"It's been too many years," said Asseff. "Everyone has been waiting patiently, and now is the time to finally do it."

Hollywood Lakes residents are not the only ones concerned with the project's height.

City Planning Director Jaye Epstein said the developer should lower the height at least three floors before the plan returns for a final vote in upcoming weeks.

A different project, on the southeast corner, has already been approved at 22-stories. Epstein said that should be the limit for all of downtown.

"The message should be that we're fed up ad we're not taking it anymore. It has to stop," said Epstein. "Whether its Zyscovich or Epstein, I think it needs to stop. Stop the madness"

But Abele said lowering the residential tower would be costly and could mean having to raise the rent on tenants.

"We're in a horrendous economy. To chop down or take things away from the project is not the right thing to do," he said.

Commissioners have not yet scheduled a final vote that would include setting a height limit.

-----------------------------------



Looking north towards Hollywood from in front of Gulfstream Park, 500 block of South Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach, the block south of Hallandale Beach City Hall.
February 18, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.



A different perspective on Hollywood than what you're used to, using my camera's Zoom-in function. Looking north towards Hollywood and The Radius at Young Circle, from the 500 block of South Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach, the block south of Hallandale Beach City Hall. February 18, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.



Looking north at Radius, the NW corner of Young Circle, from the east side of The ArtsPark at Young Circle, Hollywood
February 18, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.



Looking north at Block 55 from the east side of The ArtsPark at Young Circle, Hollywood
February 18, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


I plan to comment on this article later on both the Miami Herald's website and more later on the blog, but I wanted to post this now in case you hadn't seen it yet.
In my opinion, this Herald article has a weird combination of both mis-statement of basic facts as well as a paucity of important self-evident facts that add context to this story.

The most glaring being that the article starts by saying "In a late night vote..."
H-m-m-m...

Well, I got home from the meeting around 8:45 p.m., after poking my head in for a few minutes at the HB City Commission meeting -Donald Shockey of EDAW was making his presentation of the HB Master Plan they've been working so hard on- I turned on my computer to watch the rest of Hollywood's meeting via their website, something we can't do currently in Hallandale Beach.
The final vote on Young Circle happened just before 9:05 p.m.
Late night?

Hollywood Planning Director Jaye Epstein specifically said that just as Hollywood 
residents and City Hall all recognize that the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa will be the tallest structure on the beach, they also recognize that the WSG will be the tallest structure on The Circle.
Absolutely nobody disputes this point at City Hall or anywhere in the city.
Now that is context.

Yet in her article, Gilpatrick mentions the number of storeys of the proposed WSG 
project on the SE corner of Young Circle -never actually referring to it as the WSG
project- even though everyone else does- or more importantly, even say what the actual height approved by the city for that project is: 236 feet.

So how do you not mention the actual approved height of WSG in a news story about the height of structures on The Circle?
Or neglect to mention the height of the much-criticized building directly across the streetRadius, is 141 feet?

I don't know, and for what it's worth, outside of Hollywood City Hall, I've heard exactly one person in the area refer to it as ArtsPark Village, not WSG.

I think for the most part, Gilpatrick is a good reporter, but I honestly don't know how she could neglect to mention the approved height of WSG when it directly answers the comparison question.
She also neglected to mention that the project will actually have many MORE parking spaces than required, or even the presence of the Papa John's Pizza on U.S.-1, the only existing retail on the entire block.

More importantly for HB's consideration, she neglected to mention that Jaye Epstein 
specifically said that he personally doubts developer Chip Abele will be able to do all the 424 condo units until at least 2011.
2011.

I realize that all things involving design or real estate are a bit subjective, but having been there last night, just a few feet away from the renderings, and having previously read lots of the docs, in my opinion, the proposed project on Young Circle I saw is MUCH MORE attractive than any of the three recent development projects I can think of involving residential units that the HB City Commission has approved over the past 18 months, but which have yet to start building.
And that's true of those on U.S.-1 and Hallandale Beach Blvd., like Oasis, the project that Steve Geller represented.

Background docs on the Hollywood Circle project are at:


City of Hollywood City Commission
February 18, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

To me, that's not only very bad news for Hallandale Beach, but an important reality check, since if Abele's very attractive project will have vacancy problems before 2011, how long will the HB projects remain vacant, garbage-strewn lots?

Recall what I said previously about having personally observed -and photographed- the fact that at the much-ballyhooed, pie-in-the-sky project known as The European Clubon HBB 
and Three Islands Drive, there was a red warning notice put on its fence on Dec. 15th by a contractor for non-payment of funds?

Well, as bad as that area is now, in part because of the bus stop, imagine that huge lot 
without a fence!
Instant new dumping point for the many lazy residents and contractors of SE Broward, who already are pretty brazen about dumping materials in the city, whether at the city's poorly-run (and inadequately-marked) recycling areas, or, even just off of U.S.-1 itself.

It recently took the City of Hallandale Beach almost two weeks to respond to a report I called in to the Sanitation Dept. of a Christmas tree having been dumped across the street from Gulfstream Park on SE 7th Street, a popular dumping ground that I complained about two years ago, next to the city's "NMB water connector."
The tree that had already been there for two weeks.

In case you're trying to visualize that location in your head, that's exactly two blocks south of Hallandale Beach City Hall.
Yet somehow, day-after-day, week-after-week, the city and its employees never quite
noticed the Christmas tree off the side of the road, next to a govt. location it is legally responsible for maintaining.

To be honest, last Friday morning, before heading to downtown Miami for the Marlins 
Stadium hearing, I was tempted to go over there and drag the tree down the sidewalk 
and deposit it in front of the HB City Hall sign, to see what the response rate might be for the city's slothful employees, but decided not to.
We all know how that would've ended, don't we?

More alibis, excuses and finger-pointing from HB City Hall, as if I haven't already heard a lifetime of that from this crew in five years.

Looking towards Hallandale Beach City Hall.  September 17, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

This is a city, after all, which never noticed that ALL the parking lot lights in front and 
alongside of their own City Hall and Police Dept. HQ were out for well over three weeks in October, right before the election.
Even while all sorts of things were taking place there, including, yes, evening HB City 
Commission meetings.

In case you're coming late to the party on that embarrassing issue, see my October 15th post: Lights Out -AGAIN!- at HB City Hall; Anger at City of Hollywood!



The HB Cultural Center suffered a very similar fate, a point I made repeatedly to print and TV reporters who were assembled there late every afternoon covering the long lines of Early Voting taking place inside.
As usual, the reporters had Less Than Zero interest in figuring out how a city that poorly-run could have the gall or chutzpah to nominate itself for a City of the Year award from the Florida League of Cities, the eternal opponent of Florida's concerned citizenry.

Just because the city says on their terrible website that, "Hallandale Beach is a progressive city with big city sophistication and a hometown feel." doesn't make it true.

In any case, since she didn't see fit to mention it, the much-anticipated Bernard Zyscovich zoning/design plans for the City of Hollywood are scheduled to be publicly unveiled on March 10th.

FYI: The official address for Chip Abele's Hollywood Circle project will be 1740 Polk Street, Hollywood, FL 33020
----------------------------------
Earlier I initially posted that I hadn't seen Breanne Gilpatrick present in the Hollywood City Commission Chambers as I usually have in the past, and nobody I knew (and trust who also recognizes her) had seen her either, so I naturally assumed she wasn't there.
I also mentioned that I hadn't seen anyone from the Sun-Sentinel, either.
Now I know why.

Around 8:30 p.m. or so tonight, I received an email from the Sun-Sentinel's Ihosvani Rodriguez informing me that the two of them are now working "out of Room 215 (rear City Hall conference room) during meetings."
"It's now the quasi-press room."
"We were both there "late" last night."

I apologize to Breanne Gilpatrick and Ihosvani Rodriguez for my mistake and will know better next time not to assume that just because I can't see a reporter in the room, that they aren't necessarily there somewhere.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The WSG/Young Circle ArtsPark Project

Looking southeast at scale model with Harrison Street to the left and U.S.-1 to the right;
July 22 photo by
South Beach Hoosier



Looking north at scale model from perspective of north-bound U.S.-1;
July 22, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

I got up early this morning and for the first time, actually posted some comments to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's circus-like Topix forum, per Michael Mayo's Hold the Mayo blog comments of yesterday regarding the WSG/Young Circle project.

I'll greatly expand upon my comments there -below- on this blog site on Friday, including some photographs I snapped of the proceedings and the scale model, which was outside the Chambers in the lobby near the City Clerk's office.

(The sort of thing you NEVER see at Hallandale Beach City Commission/CRA meetings, save the Village of Gulfstream.)

Adding to their track record of doing less when more is actually called for, neither the Herald nor the Sun-Sentinel was smart enough to actually send a photographer to the critical CRA meeting, to either capture any of the inherent drama or snap some shots of the scale model outside in the lobby to give readers some perspective.

They didn't even run a rendering of the building that's at the very heart of the controversy.
Yeah, that good quality journalism, South Florida-style.


I may prove to be in error here, but I strongly suspect that Michael Mayo wasn't present at Tuesday's eight-hour meeting, based on what he's chosen to write.

More likely, got everything he knows about it second-hand, since I personally didn't see him around the Chambers at any point in the proceedings, and I walked around a lot.

Considering how every thorough he usually is, I was also very disappointed that John Holland's article in the SFSS seemed as threadbare as it was, too, though that may have more to do with when the meeting ended and their print deadlines than anything else.


A couple of points worth keeping in mind as you read what the Herald and Sun-Sentinel have chosen to write about since the meeting concluded Tuesday night at 11:42 p.m. -

1. The goals that have been generally outlined by Bernard Zyscovich, often referred to in these news articles as "recommendations," have, according to the Commissioners themselves, YET to be officially adopted by the City of Hollywood City Commission, though you wouldn't know that by reading the news articles or the various readers comments.

In fact, mention has been made numerous times throughout the entire debate on this project, at both public workshops and official meetings I've attended, including Tuesday night's, that Zyscovich and his team won't be finished with everything until January of 2009.
You know, five months from now.



Not surprisingly, the City Commissioners have constantly urged him and his team to go faster, sometimes almost as if they needed a life preserver to hold on.

Even though I greatly respect and admire Mr. Zyscovich, as I've written here before, the Commissioners are the ones who were actually elected to make tough decisions, not him, and it's often quite uncomfortable to watch them defer to him so often when they can't decide how to proceed.

He's honest enough to admit that quite frankly, he doesn't feel so comfortable with it either, since he's said before, including Tuesday night, that he doesn't want to have to play the role of a firemen, continually being dropped in to intervene every time something flares up.

Though many of the recommendations are commonly understood because of what's been articulated by Zyscovich and his colleagues at these workshops and meetings, some of whom I've spoke to, from an outsider's p.o.v., the recs have about as much legal weight as a Promise Ring, and that's been true since the ball got rolling with WSG as the developer.
And a Promise Ring at that that you don't actually have possession of yet.

I previously wrote about Bernard Zyscovich here:






2. I spoke to Terry Cantrell of the Hollywood Lakes Civic Association at Tuesday's meeting, introducing myself after having sent him the occasional email from time to time over the past few months about local matters, and his group's website and newsletter are listed on my blog roll.

I don't know how many members Terry theoretically represents, or whether they've even been polled recently regarding the newest incarnation of the WSG project, with 22-floors fronting Young Circle, instead of the previous 25, but I doubt it.

Frankly, I meant to ask, but I just spaced it out over the course of the evening, much like my appetite. But you'd think that it might've occurred to Sun-Sentinel reporter Ihosvani Rodriguez to ask those same questions when he interviewed Terry. so that the facts would be known.

And even if they were asked, we never get the answers to those questions in the article today, about the supposed dismay the decision is being greeted with, which was perfectly predictable.

Terry is clearly a very sincere guy who cares about these issues and does a lot of hard work in order to be properly informed, even if he necessarily finds fault with certain of the city's, developer's or CRA's conclusions or numbers in their myriad reports and presentations.
He's very cordial and professional, but the same can't be said of all the people who've opposed the WSG project over the past few months, who as late as Tuesday evening, were saying things, both in the hallway and into the microphone, that I knew to simply not be true.

Some things really are facts, not opinions, including the large number of empty downtown Hollywood storefronts I passed along Hollywood Blvd. as I walked to the meeting from Young Circle, after taking some photos of the property from different angles for future inclusion here, i.e. tomorrow.

Just so you have some sense of my perspective on the evening's proceedings, Terry was sitting one seat to my left for much of the meeting, in the fourth row to the right as you enter the Chambers, directly to the right of WSG's attorney Alan Koslow, who was on the aisle.
That placed the two of us directly behind Bernard Werner and Jennifer McConney, the project architect from Kobi Karp Architecture & Interior Design, Inc., http://www.kobikarp.com/

McConney had to endure lots of criticism of the building's design features from people for hour after gruelling hour, and she kept an upbeat look on her face throughout, even though everyone also said publicly that it was an IMPROVEMENT

It was a rather jarring example of 'killing with kindness.'
Big kudos to her!

This is the old 25-story design:

To my immediate right and in front of me were a number of Hollywood Academy of Arts & Science charter school supporters, including members of the Armas family, two of whom spoke persuasively and enthusiastically during the public comments portion of the proceedings.

(Rather inconveniently for the public, that came about FIVE HOURS into the process.)

That included both Kelly Armas, referenced below in the Holland story, and her charming daughter Marina, who had the room laughing with her, who was the last public speaker around 9:10 p.m. or so.

Tomorrow morning I'll be posting a critical email about local Broward news coverage that I sent last week to the Herald's AME for Broward, Patricia Andrews, along with a cc to Executive Editor Anders Gyllenhaal, and the Herald's part-time, once-in-a-while Ombudsman.
By the way, the original headline for Holland's story was "Hollywood says developer can keep the loan ... and build the tower."
______________________________________http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flsbartsparkx0723sbjul23,0,2091786.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
$3.5 million loan payoff deal approved in Hollywood
By John Holland
July 23, 2008


A downtown developer can keep a $3.5 million taxpayer-funded loan and build the highest residential tower ever allowed on Young Circle, City Commissioners ruled last night over the objections of some residents who live nearby.


The 4-3 decision followed eight hours of debate and paves the way for Arts Park Village, a $120 million, 22-story apartment complex on the Southeast corner of the circle that includes an office building and a charter school.


It also allows WSG Development Group to back out of its promise to pay off a $3.5 million loan it assumed last year when bailing out the previous developer.


And commissioners voted to give WSG 90 percent of future property tax revenues, estimated at between $13 million and $20 million.


WSG Development moved in last year to take over the project from former developer Gary Posner, whose failed HART District was heading toward foreclosure.


"Developers like WSG don't come into town very often and the city has to take advantage of having such a great partner,'' WSG attorney Alan Koslow said during the meeting of the Community Redevelopment Agency.


Supporters hope the project sparks a downtown revival for a city hit by waves of vacancies and business closings despite tens of millions of dollars in financial incentives to developers.


Parents also praised the inclusion of a new home for the Hollywood Academy of Arts & Science charter school, which already has a highly-rated school on the site.


Critics countered that the project doesn't conform to the city's own rules for development, is too large for the area and will overshadow the $32 million Young Circle Arts Park.


Perhaps the strongest criticism came from Bernard Zyscovich, the city's own independent design consultant.


Zyscovich, who has been highly-praised and highly compensated by city leaders for his role in reshaping downtown, said the project was too flawed to win his support.


"There are still some issues I think are problematic for the overall, long-term development,'' Zyscovich said, pointing to its size, height, shape and potential to infringe on Van Buren Street to the south.


"It's my mission to look at the overall good for the circle and our vision for downtown,'' Zyscovich said.


"This is better than it was, but it's not there yet.''


But commissioners, who have used Zyscovich's recommendation to approve controversial projects in the past, ignored his pleas.


That upset Commissioner Heidi O'Sheehan, who said city practice specifically mandates that commissioners follow Zyscovich's recommendation when approving certain zoning changes.


The area, abutting Federal Highway South of Young Circle, has been plagued by problems.


Five years ago, City Commissioners gave Posner millions of dollars to build a charter school, playhouse and residential tower on the property, even though Posner had no experience building large-scale urban projects.


Only the charter school was completed before Posner walked away from the deal, leaving the city scurrying to find a developer.


WSG stepped in, and asked the city to change its zoning rules to allow a 25-story tower.


After complaints from residents of the adjoining Hollywood Lakes section, the project was cut to 22 stories.


In return, WSG asked that the loan be foregiven, to make up for money lost by a smaller tower.


For many, inclusion of the school was crucial.


"The charter school is a great benefit to the entire city and I'm asking you to help make sure this project goes forward,'' resident Kelly Armas said.



_______________________

Miami Herald
Hollywood OK's Village project
Hollywood commissioners approved a controversial downtown redevelopment project after a late-night debate Tuesday.
By Breanne Gilpatrick
July 23, 2008

Hollywood

After more than eight hours of debate, city commissioners approved plans Tuesday for a 22-story apartment tower and office project in the heart of downtown Hollywood, frustrating residents who argued the project was too big for Young Circle.


Shortly after 11:30 p.m., commissioners voted 4-3 to approve a key zoning change and site plan for ArtsPark Village, a proposed residential, office and retail project on the southeast portion of Young Circle.


The project by WSG Development Co. also includes an expanded home for the Hollywood Academy of Arts & Science, a charter school now housed in a nearby property, and more than a half dozen parents came to the meeting to support the proposal.


''I have a lot of people in my district and in the downtown -- civic associations in particular -- who want me to vote for this project, because they think it will help the downtown and help the neighborhoods,'' said Commissioner Beam Furr, who voted for the project. "The area needs something like this to pull the neighborhoods up.''


An initial vote on the project in April split the commission 4-3 after seven hours of debate. Now, the commission's final decision could set the tone for how the new slate of political leaders tackles future redevelopment projects.


Commissioners also approved eliminating a provision in the contract with WSG requiring the company to repay $3.5 million in community redevelopment agency money given to the project's previous developer, who defaulted on the loan.


WSG's Bernard Werner told commissioners that deleting the repayment provision makes it more affordable for the company to build a slightly smaller building on the property. Original plans called for a 25-story tower and more office space.


Hollywood has spent years trying to redevelop the property bordered by Harrison Street, 17th Avenue, U.S. 1 and Van Buren Street.


Developers plan to replace the rundown residential and commercial buildings on the property with 390 luxury apartments, about 35,449 square feet of retail space and an eight-story office building.


The project would bring in an estimated $24.3 million in new tax revenue, and supporters say it would help kick-start the city's struggling downtown by bringing residents into the area.


But critics say the 22-story residential tower is too tall.


''The people of Hollywood aren't served by this mess that you're going to stick us with,'' said Hollywood resident Joe Schneider.


And architect Bernard Zyscovich, a city consultant, told commissioners that approving the project would interfere with the master plan for Young Circle and recommended they reject the current proposal.


Mayor Peter Bober, Commissioners Heidi O'Sheehan and Fran Russo agreed, voting against the project.


''Clearly, the block needs improvement,'' O'Sheehan said. "But I just don't buy into the idea that anything is better than what's on the block now.''



_______________________

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Hold the Mayo blog

Hollywood vote: New faces, same old resultPosted by Michael Mayo at 11:54 AM


By a 4-3 vote late Tuesday, the Hollywood city commission voted to approve a 22-story residential complex on Young Circle that included some major concessions and incentives for the developer.



_________________________So without further adieu, my comments to the Sun-Sentinel:

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion on this issue, of course, but this morning, in reading the morning-after reports in both the Sun-Sentinel and the Herald -since no South Florida TV stations deigned to actually cover this important local story- what I'm most shocked by is the media's complete dis-interest in mentioning, much less analyzing, so much of the context and facts presented yesterday that led to the decision, most of which was left out of both the news article by John Holland and Michael Mayo's blog comments.


As someone who was actually there at the meeting from beginning to end, all eight hours and twelve minutes, and who took about 34 pages of notes, frankly, reading what's been printed is like hearing someone else describe the ups and downs of a titanic football clash -as told to them by someone who heard it on the radio.


Having actually been at the game, and seen what happened with my own eyes, and not having a particular dog in the fight, I think I'm in a better position to analyze what ACTUALLY happened.


Here, in my opinion, are the four largest elements of the hearing that have been completely neglected in the Sun-Sentinel's coverage.


Among these are:

a.) That precious HOURS of the meeting were wasted on listening to Mr. Butler as intervenor for the residents of the Home Tower Building -a party NEVER mentioned in either the Sun-Sentinel or Herald stories, despite their centrality to both the narrative and Block 58- argue endlessly, even to the point of cross-examing parties about city memos from ten years ago that they couldn't possibly know anything about.


It was both comical and mean-spirited all at the same time, and once it became clear to almost everyone in the room that the whole exercise by Mr. Butler seemed predicated on securing a certain number of parking spaces in the future, people were gnashing their teeth.


To listen to Mr. Butler talk about it, you'd think the Home Tower had a National Historic Landmark designation, and that the parking spaces they were angling for -plus money for new facades- were future heirlooms, to be passed down from one Greatest Generation to another. Boy, did he ever mis-play his cards and mis-read the audience!


b.) The rather odd change in Comm. O' heehan's seeming one-woman mutual assurance society, in that at prior meetings on WSG, she had specifically pointed to the absence of City Planning Director Jaye Epstein as proof that WSG's plan were either bad, unacceptable, not good, etc.


And she didn't just imply that previously, she actually said it. Okay, that's fair, she can use him or anyone else she 'trusts' as a barometer if she wants. He's not the worst choice in the world, I suppose.


At exactly 4: 50 p.m. Tuesday, Epstein was asked a series of questions by WSG attorney Alan Koslow about whether he thought the new WSG proposal was, in fact, acceptable to him, based on the City's myriad existing ordinances, rules and regs, AND the City's list of "Conditions" that WSG would have to meet.


These "Conditions" had been outlined earlier by Epstein in minute detail for everyone present, thru a visual presentation he had made, contrasting the prior WSG plan and what would now be expected of them.
Following the presentation, Mr. Werner said he'd accept the "Conditions."


Mr. Epstein responded to Mr. Koslow by saying that given the changes and acceptance by Mr. Werner, he was satisfied with the plan.


Those "Conditions" are never mentioned or described anywhere in the Sun-Sentinel that I could see.


That's curious, because for whatever reason, while Mr. Epstein might've previously been O'Sheehan's 'constant,' to help guide her in weighing her decision, as she herself had claimed, on Wednesday night, once Mr. Epstein's opinion was yes, rather suddenly, in my opinion, it seemed to have much less weight with her.


(Well, at least Mr. Epstein now knows how fickle Comm. O' Sheehan's "faith" in his professional opinion will be in the future, as do we all. I very much doubt the lesson will be lost on any of us.)


c.) The attempt by many in the community and at City Hall (Comm. Russo channeling "The Wicked Witch") to move the extremely successful Charter School off-site to another location in the general neighborhood, is an element of the story that's completely ignored, despite the fact that it was by far the most emotional aspect of the hearing.


Also never mentioned is the fact that if the school should ever go under, the land reverts back to the Downtown CRA, despite widespread insinuations within the Chambers by opponents that, somehow, the city's money was going to be Gone With The Wind, and wind up in the bank account of the head of the charter school's parent corp.
(Like the smart, articulate and assertive parents I've met would ever allow that to happen!)

d.) Considering how much space is devoted to the $3.5 million, and people's opinions on that, based on a 25-story building fronting Young Circle, not the 22-story presented Tuesday night, it's shocking that neither John Holland nor Michael Mayo ever mentions provisions that the City insisted on, to help ameliorate that issue.


"Look-back" provisions, as described by Paul Lambert, would act as a hedge against any excessive windfall profits by WSG, ensuring that the CRA gets money flowing back sooner at an amount that is the greatest of two particular calculations dealing with financial returns.


In retrospect, of course, that should've been there in the first place, but better late than never.

Posted by: HallandaleBeachBlog July 24, 2008 5:53 AM

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South Florida Sun-SentinelHollywood civic group fears ArtsPark sets unwelcome precedent
They turn focus to another Young Circle project
By Ihosvani Rodriguez
July 24, 2008

Hollywood

Leaders of a civic group are concerned the commission's approval of a 22-story project on Young Circle sets a bad precedent for an even taller proposed tower nearby.


And massive towers on the site are not what Bernard Zyscovich had in mind. The city's design consultant was paid $100,000 in 2003 for a downtown plan and has been promised $200,000 for an update. Zyscovich argued against ArtsPark Village, a $120 million, 22-story apartment complex that will include an office building and a charter school. But by a 4-3 vote late Tuesday night, commissioners approved a zoning change that will put the project on the southeast corner of the circle. They also let WSG Development Group off the hook for a $3.5 million loan it was supposed to assume from a previous developer that defaulted.


Now the same neighborhood association that opposed ArtsPark Village is concerned about Block 55, a proposed 25-story residential and retail complex planned for the northeast side of Young Circle. It has already cleared a number of preliminary hurdles and could be in front of commissioners later this year.


"It is taller, but I don't really perceive my project as being as controversial [as ArtsPark Village]," developer Chip Abele, of Southern Facilities Development Co., said Wednesday. Abele said on Wednesday about 90 percent of the project will be under 25 stories, and he has been working on designs with nearby residents. Those residents, leaders of the Hollywood Lakes Civic Association, confirmed talks with Abele, but said they are not ready to endorse the project. "Yes, we're working with him, but no, we are not happy," said Terry Cantrell, the group's president.


"There's a lot of work left to be done with that one." Since late last year, Cantrell's group has voiced opposition to ArtsPark Village, saying it was too tall and would ruin downtown's historical ambience. The project was redesigned to be three floors lower than first planned.


Still, by Tuesday's vote, the City Commission showed it would be open to other ill-considered projects on the circle, Cantrell said. Commissioners Beam Furr, Patty Asseff, Linda Sherwood and Richard Blattner voted for the project.


They voted after Zyscovich, who has been praised for his role in reshaping downtown, said the ArtsPark Village was too flawed to win his support.


"There are still some issues I think are problematic for the overall, long-term development," Zyscovich said, pointing to its size, height, shape and potential to infringe on Van Buren Street to the south."


It's my mission to look at the overall good for the circle and our vision for downtown," Zyscovich said.


Staff Writer John Holland contributed to this report.

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