It’s full steam ahead for a controversial redesign of the Galleria mall that calls for nine 30-story towers in a Fort Lauderdale neighborhood just blocks from the beach.
City officials say it won’t be long before the city issues a development permit under the Live Local Act, a state law designed to increase affordable housing throughout Florida. Staff will spend about one month reviewing the project for issues related to urban design and planning, transportation, public works, engineering and public safety.
Once the developer has shown the project is in compliance with required city codes, staff will issue a development permit, according to a memo sent to the commission this week.
The news comes on the heels of an opinion from the state Attorney General’s Office stating the developer has the right to build the project as planned under the Live Local Act.
There are no plans to scale back the project, says Stephanie Toothaker, attorney for the developer.
“The site plans will be reviewed by the city at their Administrative Review Meeting on Jan. 13 and the city would typically issue technical comments around that time,” Toothaker said. “The development team is poised and ready to respond to (staff) comments as soon as they are received.”
The process normally takes a minimum of eight months but the Live Local statute mandates an expedited review, Toothaker said.
“As soon as the site plans are approved by the (staff), the developer plans to move to the building permit phase of the project and will break ground immediately following building permit issuance.”
It’s no surprise that things are moving along so quickly, Commissioner Steve Glassman said. That’s how Live Local was meant to work.
“Everyone in the community seems to understand that this will move forward in one shape or another,” he said. “Even folks who thought we’d have more power to stop this or influence it, I think they now understand this process better than they did before. We are really constrained in what we can do. And they understand that now.”
Early on, neighbors of the Galleria blasted the plan and demanded the city stop it.
To help spread the word about the new rules under Live Local, Mayor Dean Trantalis hosted a town hall meeting for the neighborhood in late October.
Trantalis faced an angry crowd to deliver the sobering news: Under Live Local, developers can bypass public hearings and zoning approvals as long as at least 40% of the residential units qualify as workforce housing. And that means the city can do little to stop the project.
“I think most people get it now and are waiting to see what the next steps are,” Trantalis said. “It’s going to be a long-term process. It’s not going to happen overnight.”
An aerial view of the Galleria mall on Oct. 6 shows the sprawling property that sits on Sunrise Boulevard just east of the Intracoastal in Fort Lauderdale. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The Galleria was sold in September to a consortium of real estate and development interests that includes Miami Beach-based developer Russell Galbut, founder of GFO Investments, and Ben Shmul, founder of the Insite Group.
The development team plans to build 3,144 rental apartments, with 1,273 residences reserved for workforce housing over a 30-year period.
Plans call for a “Galleria East” and a “Galleria West” that would be divided by Bayview Drive.
Galleria East would have five towers with 1,981 residences. More than 675,000 square feet of mall space would remain. New shops, restaurants and health and fitness uses would take up an additional 127,966 square feet of space.
Galleria West would have four towers with a total of 1,163 residences. One tower would include a 170-room hotel. More than 250,000 square feet of existing commercial space would remain. New restaurants and office space would take up another 14,000 square feet.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan