FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL 🛫🌍📺📽️🏈. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'

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Showing posts with label real estate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label real estate. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

What exactly is the Broward Planning Council up to now regarding ending a means of public engagement on issues of great public importance?

What is the reason that #Broward Co. Comm. is "exploring" removing
public's ability to participate + engage w/Broward Planning Council over a county
phone line? How is this a positive thing for residents/public? At 6:02 mark on video of July Broward Planning Council meeting.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7896825?video=733993207


Today I'm sharing some news with you that I believe is both important AND interesting, which is not always the case. no?

This news is something that I first discovered by accident a few weeks ago while researching another City of Hollywood and Broward County public policy story I'm working on, the details of which will be posted here in the coming weeks for your careful perusal and consideration.

(I mentioned this news publicly for the first time last week on my popular Twitter feed, @hbbtruth. Obviously, I'm always looking for new people like you to begin Following me there on Twitter to keep up with things going on below-the radar and behind-the-scenes that I find out about or want to share before they appear here on my blog in a much-longer format.)

So, right now, for today at least, I'm NOT going to call the cavalry, point fingers, go off on a tangent, or otherwise make allegations that I can not substantiate.
Instead, I'm merely going to point you towards a very revealing Broward government-prepared video that I believe you should take a look at for yourself, where you are free to come to your own conclusions about what it might mean for the public and stakeholders' ability to communicate with government representatives, and make their voices heard on important issues of public concern involving tens of thousands of people, not to mention, their Quality of Life.

From what I have been able to gather, it looks like the professional staff of the Broward Planning Council -headquartered in the Broward County govt. bldg. on Andrews Avenue that also houses the elected Broward County Commission- and perhaps some members of the County Commission are VERY interested in pulling the plug on one of the ways that the general public can communicate with the 20 appointed members of the Broward Planning Council, who are largely elected officials from the thirty-something cities making up Broward County. As we know from experience, there are different rules for real estate developers and their army of lawyers, architects, planners and related helper minions.
 
As many of you longtime readers of this blog know, this appointed group is one that I have spoken to in the past involving very important development issues in Hallandale Beach that were being crammed down the throats of HB residents, taxpayers and stakeholders by the HB City Commission at HB City Hall. It being Hallandale Beach, this was often/usually done with only the mere pretense of public accountability, transparency or fairness that residents could have expected..

 

Shocker! This was done under the same HB mayor who is now ruling the roost there, Joy Cooper, who, somehow, got the great luck to have been given perhaps the dumbest jury in Broward County history a few years ago, who seem to have ignored a mountain of evidence and instead acquit her of multiple criminal charges, after she'd been arrested after being recorded repeatedly trying to get election campaign donations/payoffs from undercover FBI agents posing as real estate developers, in exchange for her help with votes on the dais involving development in the city.

 

As of now, barring any hurricanes in the interim, the next scheduled meeting of the Broward Planning Council is Wednesday September 22nd at 10:00 am in the Broward County Commission chambers. If I get any word, official explanation or not, for what's going on with the plug perhaps being pulled on citizens but not real estate developers, I'll post my update here!

Dave 

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Thursday, November 4, 2021

re Hollywood's Kevin Biederman problem. The Hollywood City Commissioner's recent conduct has been nothing short of abominable. And yet he persists. Today, a small taste of reality and things to come for him and his colleagues


I posted this bit of carefully-considered insight a few minutes ago to my Facebook page as well as the Hollywood Residents Speak Up group page on Facebook, and post it below with just a few small edits.

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re Hollywood's Kevin Biederman problem. The Hollywood City Commissioner's recent conduct has been nothing short of abominable. And yet he persists.  

Today, a small taste of reality and things to come for him and his colleagues.


Just going to tee this up right here, with more to come in a few days on my popular blog and Twitter feed. I simply could not let this go unsaid one more day, after witnessing the nonsense I heard coming from Hollywood City Hall yesterday, that seemed even more untethered to reality than usual.

Comm. Biederman: Just wanted to remind you and the South Florida press that your Commission Chambers dais microphone was, in fact, working Wednesday afternoon.
So when you went off (yet again) on one of your smug, patronizing, self-justifying, thin-skinned tirades, decrying in a whiny voice what you see as persistent, unfair online PUBLIC criticism of city employees and elected officials like you during the pandemic, we heard it.

But then that's become a habit for you the past 20 months, hasn't it: being wrong and being unwilling to admit it? Predictably, because you simply don't know what you are talking about.
And not for the first time, right?

Let me connect-the-dots for you.
There REALLY is a growing army of VERY dissatisfied #HollywoodFL citizens +stakeholders, people who in the past likely gave you and others at Hollywood City Hall the benefit of the doubt. 
And then some! 
People who simply bit their lip when what they really wanted to do was call the City Commission or you out. But they didn't. 
You know, discretion.

But since March of 2020, those same people in Hollywood have personally seen or experienced on a daily basis, consistently stupid, incompetent, self-serving, and undemocratic behavior and conduct at Hollywood City Hall that directly threatens their family's Quality of Life, and also threatens the better future that they want for this city.
Things that you and your colleagues and high-ranking city employees are STILL in complete denial about: the multiple failings of the city the past 20 months and YOUR own personal role in making that true.

And honestly, your whole straight-talking, guy-next-door shtick of the recent past no longer amuses anyone or fools anyone who is actually paying attention to the facts.
Especially since your new tactic is to try to maliciously malign people you disagree with, using unfounded assertions that you can not back up with actual facts.
Because, after all, it's all in your head.

And yet you naively persist in thinking that you'll continue to be able to get away with such creepy behavior indefinitely without paying any sort of consequences.
Now THAT is really naive -and sad.

Based on my conversations around town with smart, savvy, and well-informed Hollywood residents/stakeholders, as well as the emails and text messages I receive from them, one year from this week -that is, assuming that you are not part of the group of Hollywood City Commissioners recalled from office next August- the growing odds are that YOU will not be celebrating on Election Day 2022.

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Trust me, I have been writing things here-and-there about Hollywood City Commissioner Kevin Biederman's odd conduct in office for months that I have chosen not to post for various reasons. Mostly, because I did not want to post something while I was mad, after just seeing him in action on the dais, doing his tiresome shtick, saying yet another thing that has no connection to reality.
Not that he is unique on the dais in that respect, especially as The Related Group's incompatible 1301 S. Ocean Drive project has continued to dramatically ratchet up the community's collective frustration level.

I posted it here so that other people in the greater Hollywood community could see these specific words and thoughts and perhaps be able to exhale.
Exhale, knowing that they were NOT the only person in the area thinking similar things about Comm. Kevin Biederman's odd and creepy behavior in office, using his position to maliciously malign citizens who hold him to account, and him with no facts to offer up, just his thin-skinned attitude and snark.

But then the sad reality is that Kevin Biederman is NOT the only problem in the room, the only elephant in the Commission Chambers, when Hollywood City Commission and CRA meetings are taking place.
Far from it, as Commissioners Linda Hill Anderson and Adam Gruber continue to remind us every two weeks, as they continue to be largely unprepared, uninformed, and unaware of facts/situations they should and which most of the community -and most of my friends- know at least something about, if not MORE than them.

They often seem more like lost visitors who've taken a wrong turn than serious people who fully appreciate or grasp the expectations the citizenry of this community has for them.
And to an extent that's kind of shocking, they are unresponsive to emails, text messages or phone calls, including those about situations and incidents within their own district.

Anderson and Gruber have been in office for almost a year now, and yet remain completely underwhelming in nearly every respect, and more importantly, do NOT seem not up to the responsibility of the job they actively sought. In my opinion, they simply are not up to the job and the learning curve is only getting worse for them with every passing week.

I'll be double-checking those drafts, doing some serious editing, and present that for you to peruse sometime next week on my blog. 
Perhaps even with a helpful video or two that connects-the-dots on some aspects of the past 20 months on matters that you are not fully aware of.

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Tuesday, August 17, 2021

It's more than a little convenient for the City of Hollywood to decide to close City Hall again. Yes, just as another key Hollywood City Comm. mtg. is coming up on Wed. the 25th re The Related Group's controversial, incompatible 30-story luxury condo building on public land.


It's more than a little convenient for the City of Hollywood to decide to close City Hall again.

Yes, just as another key Hollywood City Comm. mtg. is coming up on Wednesday the 25th re The Related Group's controversial, incompatible 30-story luxury condo building on public land. 

Yes, the one the city seems willing to allow the developer to build on public land at one of the most serene places at Hollywood Beach. 


1301 S. Ocean Drive, Hollywood Beach, Florida. 




No reasonable person walks here and looks at these views and thinks to themselves, "What this beautiful beach area needs is a 30-story luxury condominium to mar the views and the sense of peace and contentment of anyone who lives here or visits here.  

And a year after the unsolicited bid, the Hollywood City Comm. is still acting deaf, dumb, and blind to the fact that the vast majority of Hollywood's citizens are AGAINST this #giveaway to developers. Even now, the City Commission remains convinced that they can do this without following their own rules and having the required voter referendum on the sale. They will lose and some of them will see the end of their nascent political career if I have anything to do with it. 
And I will.


 


 Today, August the 17th, the city posted the following to their website, and to their facebook page, but not to the official Sunshine Board as of 1:45 p.m.

https://www.hollywoodfl.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=988





Hollywood Residents Opposed to High Rise on Public Land at Azalea Terrace at Change.org
https://www.change.org/p/hollywood-city-commission-hollywood-residents-opposed-to-high-rise-on-public-land-at-azalea-terrace

Surfrider Foundation Broward County Chapter started this petition to Mayor Josh Levy and 

This petition is for residents of Hollywood opposed to a 30 story high rise condo building being developed on environmentally fragile public land on the barrier island. There is a developer proposal for a 99 year lease on this public land between Azalea Terrace and Bougainvillea Terrace, extending from A1A all the way to the beach. Residents are concerned about impact to quality of life. Sometimes, less is more. This is a quiet section of our beach, and the proposal submitted would bring hundreds of more residents to the barrier island. The developer's "concept drawing" had placed parks/plazas/playgrounds on top of our current mature dunes (east of Surf Road), a larger community center closer to the ocean, added a restaurant, added a private pool for the luxury condo residents, and extended the busy Broadwalk to this quiet section. Harry Berry Park as we know it was eliminated, and the drawing had moved Harry Berry Park on top of our current dune system. The tower will cast a dark shadow over the sand, taking away hours of sunlight (and the view of the sunset) at the end of the day. They propose a new parking garage, but they have not yet promised that residents will be able to use their annual resident parking stickers in this new proposed garage. 

These barrier island streets, and the emergency services, are in a vulnerable area for sea level rise. This is a sea turtle nesting beach which is supposed to be dark, clean, and quiet from May through October so that hatchlings have greater chance at survival. Residents currently on the barrier island already have issues with parking, traffic, and crowds. Please contact your city commissioner to oppose a new high rise on this land, or at least let the residents vote on the fate of our land. Don't silence our voices! 

Email the city: JLevy@hollywoodfl.org, CShuham@hollywoodfl.org, LSherwood@hollywoodfl.org, KBiederman@hollywoodfl.org, TCallari@hollywoodfl.org, LAnderson@hollywoodfl.org, AGruber@hollywoodfl.org, WIshmael@hollywoodfl.org, smaken@hollywoodfl.org, RStorey@hollywoodfl.org  

Related Group's proposal:  http://hollywoodfl.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=978 

City Commission: http://hollywoodfl.org/89/City-Commission 

The next CRA meeting and City Commission meeting are on August 25th at City Hall, 2nd floor. Citizen comments are at 5 PM. Use city meetings as an opportunity to state your concerns and opposition. If this is such a great deal/great idea, then why not let residents decide?  

Are you a Hollywood resident? Leave a reason why you love our beach and want to keep this green, open area free from new high rise towers in your "reasons for signing." You do not have to donate anything to sign the petition (donations go to Change.org). Thank you! 

Sun Sentinel article here: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/hollywood/fl-ne-hollywood-tower-ss-prem-20210402-smwgro5f7jg4np5l5vizv5bazu-story.html 


Dave 

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Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Real Estate developers are clearly exploiting current lack of public transparency/engagement regarding development in #HollywoodFL during #COVID19 pandemic. Why's the city doing nothing to compensate? Residents are frustrated w/lack of participation.

Real Estate developers are clearly exploiting current lack of public transparency/engagement regarding development in #HollywoodFL during #COVID19 pandemic. 
Why's the city doing nothing to compensate? Residents are frustrated w/lack of participation.

I'll have much more to say about this subject in the coming days here on my blog, but for now I have two simple questions that I and many other concerned Hollywood residents believe are well worth asking and pondering: 

a.) Why is the current Hollywood City Commission -especially the two newly-elected members, Linda Hill Anderson and Adam Gruber- ignoring both the "optics" and the real life public policy dimensions of this situation, and NOT offering a reasonable solution for the Planning & Development meetings, as long as the city's less-than-dynamic pandemic rules prevent full in-person public participation by the neighborhood and the larger community?

b.) How come the City of Hollywood has the resources to arrange things so that the Hollywood Sustainability Advisory Committee, a committee that many if not most of you may not have even known existed, can have Virtual meetings that allows for citizen engagement, as they are on Thursday, yet for some reason, they can not do that for the much-more important Planning & Development Board?  

In case you did not know, the Planning & Development Board is one of the six citizen advisory Boards and Committees in Hollywood that REQUIRES appointees to file both a yearly Financial Disclosure Form as well as quarterly Gift Disclosure Form, while the Hollywood Sustainability Advisory Committee is... not.

That distinction shows what the city itself believes are the most important boards, no?

https://www.hollywoodfl.org/155/Boards-Committees

 

Color me less-than-impressed with how the city and its elected leaders have handled this matter thus far, and less-than-impressed that it may well be DAYS before most of the public in Hollywood ever finds out what really happened Tuesday night at Hollywood City Hall.

Clearly, I am not the only one who feels that way right now.


My tweet from Tuesday afternoon: https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/status/1354197430493978624



Below, my post to Nextdoor Hollywood from Monday at https://nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=174916686&init_source=search



Dave

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Thursday, February 20, 2020

#HollywoodFL civic activists and Historic Preservation advocates are on the warpath. Feel betrayed by Hollywood officials after the 95-year old Great Southern Hotel is demolished without any public notice. To many Hollywood residents, city's decision seems awfully "convenient," given the widespread dissatisfaction with developer and the glacial pace of construction on Block 40



Once Upon a Time... 

 I attended last Tuesday afternoon's City of Hollywood Historic Preservation Board meeting at Hollywood City Hall at 3:00 pm, walking into the Commission Chambers a minute or two after it started because I had looked -in vain- out in the lobby for a written copy of the agenda to peruse.
I had so many things on my mind that I had left the house for the meeting before checking the city's website to see if that pertinent info was there.

 I say that because with no agenda available in the lobby, I and most of the public in the room got completely blindsided when, after some long and heated discussions about some proposed changes  to two city residential properties -including a beautiful house on N. Southlake Drive that last sold for $12.5 million- the dumbfounding news that was spoken aloud sometime after 4:15 pm about the demolition that very morning of the historic Great Southern Hotel, in the city's historic Downtown area, located on Block 40, directly across the street from the west side of Young Circle.
A building constructed in 1924 during Hollywood's infancy.

 And, a building that I have personally taken DOZENS of photos of over the past 16 years since I returned to South Florida from Washington, D.C. to look after my late Dad, following his quadruple heart operation.
And then later, following his Stroke in 2010. 😔😔

What little that was left of the actual Great Southern Hotel, the facades that were supposed to be incorporated into real estate developer Charles R. "Chip" Abele's project, were demolished specifically at the urging of City of Hollywood Chief Building Dept. head Dean Decker because of his and his Dept's "safety" concerns.
Yes, when you say "safety," you'd be surprised what usual procedures. protocols, and seats of power and responsibility seemingly don't apply.

 Maybe you'd even be surprised to find out that, as was stated obliquely at the Hollywood Historic Preservation Board meeting, the city's Building Dept., if they use the magic words "public safety," seemingly has the unfettered power to do things that even the elected Hollywood City Commission can not legally countermand.
Like the Building Dept.'s demolition order, something that other stakeholders in the city can not contest or at least take to court because the whole reason things were done the way they were Tuesday was to prevent interest groups from finding out and getting involved in a legal fashion.
@SFBJRealEstate MT @Susannah_Bryan Landmark #HollywoodFL hotel built in 1924 was leveled today. Developer #ChipAbele says he cld not save it despite earlier promises to do so.
Here’s my last story on the plans to bring a new project to downtown ⁦@cohgov. https://t.co/tjqPs7Lb2o

— HallandaleBeach/Hollywood Blog (@hbbtruth) February 11, 2020


Earlier in the day Decker had urged developer Chip Abele via a letter written earlier today to demolish it ASAP, and he explained his reasoning for the decision. 

 My September 21st, 2016 blog post with info and context about Abele and his company getting approval from the Hollywood City Commission for his Block 40 project is here:

Hollywood developer Chip Abele's years-long effort to launch #YoungCircleCommons project in Downtown Hollywood, across from The ArtsPark, w/a #HiltonHotel, clears hurdle as Hollywood City Comm. unanimously approves requested changes
https://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/hollywood-developer-chip-abeles-years.html 

It's been a long road for Abele, often the subject of biting criticism by the public at myriad meetings held at Hollywood City Hall and at various civic association meetings throughout the city that I've personally attended, both before and after I left Hollywood for 9-10 months to travel in August of 2018
That would include the Civic Associations here in the city for Hollywood Lakes, Park East, Hollywood Hills, North Central, the Downtown, Parkside, Royal Poinciana one, to say nothing of the one known as United Neighbors. I go to 4 or 5 of these a month, though some conflict with one another.

Back in 2008 our friends over at the South Florida Business Journal were writing,
Great Southern Hotel developer plans to move ahead in Chapter 11
The redeveloper of Hollywood's Great Southern Hotel, which has stood up to hurricanes, rancorous litigation and the housing meltdown, says it will continue to pursue the project as it works through Chapter 11.
Coral Gables-based SFD@Hollywood LLC filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy on Tuesday. The filing attorney was Thomas M. Messana of Fort Lauderdale-based Messana Weinstein & Stern, P.A.
In an e-mail Thursday, Messana said the filing followed a failure to resolve a dispute over the delivery of 25,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor of the proposed building.
SFD will pursue strategic alternatives on the project, but still intends to develop Youngs Circle Commons, the e-mail said.
Charles R. "Chip" Abele signed the filing as managing member of the limited liability corporation. Other managing members listed in state records are Jose R. Boschetti and Maurice Cayon.
The project called for restoring portions of the Great Southern with 19 stories of mixed-used space that would include 239 condominiums, 25,000 square feet of retail and a parking garage.
Assets and liabilities are each listed as totaling between $1 million and $10 million. Unsecured creditors range anywhere from $89,797 due to Broward County for 2007 property taxes to a $42.46 charge owed to Miami-based 60-Minute Courier.
A 2007 suit was heard in the 4th District Court of Appeal, with Friends of the Great Southern claiming that the city of Hollywood had violated its own building code by approving the partial demolition of the Great Southern Hotel. Directors of Friends of the Great Southern were Richard Vest, William Young and Rene Tewksbury. The city prevailed in the suit.


Earlier in 2008, there was this news in the Sun-Sentinel re the eminenet domain lawsuit between the city and the Mach family that owned the property on the southwest corner of Harrison and S. 19th Avenue, that has looked like this for years



Eminent domain ruling reversed
Ihosvani Rodriguez Staff WriterSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel
March 27, 2008
A state appeals court has decided to support the city's controversial attempt to take a family's downtown property and use it for private development.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled 3-0 to overturn a Broward judge's 2006 ruling that said the city cannot take the Mach family's business property and give it to a powerful developer, according to the decision released Wednesday.

The Mach family has owned the 2,900-square-foot building on Harrison Street since 1972. The building houses the family's hair salon and several other businesses.

The city's downtown Community Redevelopment Agency has been fighting since 2005 to use eminent domain to obtain the property and transfer it to developer Charles "Chip" Abele for a $100 million project, a 19-story condo and retail tower called Young Circle Commons.

"This is very disappointing, obviously," said family spokesman David Mach, "but there's a 99 percent probability we will be appealing."

The Machs could ask the appeals court to reconsider, or, try to take the case to the Florida Supreme Court.

The appeals court panel ruled that Broward Circuit Judge Ronald J. Rothschild should have deferred to the redevelopment agency's 2005 finding that the property is vital to downtown redevelopment plans. Instead, he ruled that testimony during a 2006 trial showed the city and Abele didn't need the building to complete the project.

Attorneys for the city argued the land would be used as part of a traffic flow plan that would enable the developer to preserve the facade of the 1920s-era Great Southern Hotel as part of the Young Circle Commons project.

Such historic preservation is an acceptable reason for government to take private property through the process of eminent domain, the appeals court said in its ruling.

The abandoned hotel, now owned by Abele, is immediately north of the Mach building on Harrison Street. Development planners said the only viable place to build an entrance to the tower's garage is on 19th Avenue. But that would require razing the hotel's western wall-or, building the entrance farther south, on Mach's property.

Appeals court Associate Judge Lisa Davidson, who voted with the majority, said the city should take no more than the 17 feet Abele said he needs for the 30-foot-wide garage entrance.

The Florida Legislature in 2006 prohibited cities from using eminent domain for private redevelopment. But the new law doesn't apply to the Mach case because the city had already started eminent domain proceedings.

The city promised Abele in 2004 that if the developer could not buy out the Machs, it would take the building via eminent domain. Under the agreement, the city will purchase the Mach property through eminent domain and Abele will reimburse the city.

Redevelopment director Neil Fritz said in a statement Wednesday that Hollywood intends to "live up" to the deal with Abele. If the "appeals court decision prevails, we would ultimately transfer the property to the developer to allow the project to be built."

Abele has said he once offered the Machs $1.2 million, but they refused. On Wednesday he acknowledged the housing market is in the doldrums, but said he still wants to move forward with his plans.

"The window of opportunity to build condos has been shut until the markets recover," said Abele, "but this doesn't mean the project won't be built some day."

Mach said Wednesday he is optimistic the city commission, which doubles as the redevelopment agency's board, will back off.

"I have some faith in the new Hollywood government that they will do the right thing and protect the rights of its citizens," he said.


Reminder: Abele and his company also did the 25-story Hollywood Circle condo and retail project on Block 55 that now includes the new-ish Publix Supermarket, The Circ Hotel and its various restauarants, plus ground floor retail on the block northeast of Young Circle.

City Attorney Douglas R. Gonzales also spoke at great length at the Historic Preservation Board meeting chaired by my friend, Hollywood Lakes Civic Association President Terry Cantrell, one of the most involved and best-connected person in the city.

To say the least, most of the asembled public did not quite believe what they were hearing, even if they already knew what had taken place hours before.

Frankly, if I'd known the subject of the Great Southern Hotel was going to come up, I'd have brought my camera tripod with me to film the whole discussion, as I have hundreds of times over the years in Hollywood and Hallandale Beach, and then placed the video here on the blog for you to draw your own conclusions, after reading my thoughts.

 Why film it? 
Because those Hollywood Historic Preservation Board meetings are neither televised or recorded for the public to watch or review.

My own sense of things, based not only on what I observed during the meeting and immediately afterwards out in the lobby, when several people I know were very upfront and vocal with their criticisms of the city's decision, right to Decker's face, as well as what I've heard/received via emails and text messages is the following.
The smartest, most-involved, and most socially-adept #HollywoodFL civic activists I know and respect are... on the warpath against the city and its elected officials because they see this decision as a very personal betrayal. 
In an election year.

 They are irate about this matter for many reasons but if I had to narrow it down to two, I'd say that it's because, to them, it seems more than a bit "convenient" that this 95-year old building has been demolished:
a.) on the same day that Hollywood city official contacted the owner, and, 
b.) on the very same day the city of Hollywood posted this information to the city's website:

 Update on Block 40 Construction in Downtown Hollywood
https://hollywoodfl.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=728

 Posted on: February 11, 2020

Update on Block 40 Construction in Downtown Hollywood

Block 40 update
In late January, as construction crews were performing work to brace the portions of the former Great Southern Hotel to be preserved, the crews and on-site engineers observed issues with the structural integrity of the building, and notified the City of these concerns. The City’s Building Division reviewed reports from four different engineers and field inspections. The preponderance of evidence found significant deterioration of the structure or structural parts making the building unsafe per section 116.2.1.2.2 of the Florida Building Code. Due to the determination that the historic north and west facades of the former hotel were unsafe and posed a significant threat to public safety, a modification of the existing demolition permit was issued this morning and demolition of the unsafe structure was completed earlier this afternoon.
The City consulted with an Engineering firm that inspected the building, interviewed on-site construction contractors, reviewed all prior engineering reports and conducted strength testing of the building’s structural components. The concrete masonry of the former hotel was found to be in disrepair with core drilling tests yielding compression rates of 1320 to 1580 PSI. For commercial structures, 3000 PSI is the minimum requirement. The level of deterioration necessitated immediate attention to address a severe life safety hazard. The perimeter of the construction site was secured to allow for the demolition of the remaining structure.
In 2012, the City of Hollywood approved plans for the redevelopment of the site of the former Great Southern Hotel at the southwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Young Circle. The redevelopment plan is for a 19-story, mixed-use development with 166 upscale residential units and a 103 room hotel along with a restaurant and approximately 9,793 SF of retail and office space. The approved plans preserved and incorporated the north and west facades of the former Great Southern Hotel, originally constructed in the 1920s, as well as some interior features.
The development team has informed the City that they are committed to reconstructing the historical elements previously planned to be preserved as shown in the approved designs. They have also worked to save elements from the original construction with the goal of incorporating them into the new building where feasible.

Great Southern Hotel, Hollywood, Florida 
Uploaded June 28, 2012 by Dan Watson YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJp2KTDPhT8&feature=youtu.be
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See also the rueful comments of my friend Lynn Smith, the President of the Downtown Parkside Royal Poinciana Civic Association, from whom I received the following excerpt of a letter last Friday.


Downtown Parkside Royal Poinciana Civic Association
P.O. Box 223697, 
Hollywood, FL 33022
https://www.facebook.com/DPRPCA/

 -----
Dave
David B. Smith


Hallandale Beach/Hollywood Blog: http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/ 
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