The prospect of a five-story luxury watch and jewelry store coming to Las Olas Boulevard has some of the neighbors riled up.
The store, planned by Weston Jewelers, would rise at 1117 E. Las Olas Blvd., on the northwest corner of Las Olas and Southeast 12th Avenue. Customers would find a variety of Rolex watches and other high-end brands along with a bridal studio and champagne bar.
But critics say the building is too tall. They worry the developer’s request to rezone the back portion of the parcel from residential to commercial will lead to more rezonings. And they object to the fact that the developer is asking for a 100% parking reduction.
“The way they are designing it, it is an overpowering monstrosity of a building,” Anthony Battista, president of Villaggio Di Las Olas Condo Association, said during a neighborhood meeting Monday night. “These people are going to need a place to park. We are really going to have to fight back. We are opposed to a massive building on a small piece of property.”
Commissioners are expected to vote on the proposal May 19.
Four nearby homeowner associations — Colee Hammock Homeowners Association, Beverly Heights Association, Las Olas Manors Condo Association and Villaggio Di Las Olas Condo Association — called an emergency meeting Monday night to share their concerns and help launch an email campaign objecting to the project.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel was invited to attend.
As president of the Colee Hammock Homeowners Association, Jacquelyn “Jackie” Scott helped organize the meeting.
Scott serves on the city’s Planning and Zoning Board and voted against the project on April 15. But the board’s vote was 4-3 in favor of the project.
On Monday night, Scott told an audience of more than 40 neighbors that the proposed building will stand 88 feet tall, the equivalent of eight or nine stories.
The developer is using a different number: 74 feet.
“If you add up all the mechanicals, there’s actually a diagram that shows it up to 88 feet,” Scott said.
“We are not against Weston Jewelers coming to Las Olas,” Scott told the crowd. “We oppose the current scale and parking approach.”
Jacquelyn “Jackie” Scott, president of the Colee Hammock Homeowners Association, helps lead an emergency meeting Monday night to air concerns about the five-story high-end watch store planned for Las Olas Boulevard. (Susannah Bryan/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Scott urged the room to send emails of protest to the commission, the developer and the Sun Sentinel.
“Let’s get the developer to the table before May 19,” Scott said. “We don’t need a war. We need to work together. I hope we can stop what they’re proposing and get something we can live with.”
Stephanie Toothaker, attorney for the developer, was not at the Monday night meeting.
In response to a request for comment from the Sun Sentinel, Toothaker defended the project.
“The original site plan that was proposed included almost 4,500 square feet of restaurant use and was higher,” she said. “Through many discussions with the neighborhood, Weston Jewelers was asked to remove the restaurants and reduce the height. After much deliberation, and in an effort to be a good neighbor, Weston Jewelers made the decision to completely remove any restaurant use and reduce the height by 16 feet.”
The current permitted height on Las Olas is significantly higher at 150 feet, Toothaker added. The height of the proposed building is now 74 feet, which is 76 feet less than is permitted.
The height of the proposed building is “completely” within the context of its direct neighbors, Toothaker told the Sun Sentinel.
“The project is proposed at five stories,” she said. “Similarly, the mixed-use restaurant and residential building immediately to the west of the Weston Jewelers site is also five stories. The office and restaurant mixed-use directly across the street is also five stories. The residential building behind and slightly east of the project is four stories. The proposed hotel on the next block, which was recently approved, is at 12 stories.”
As for parking, the city’s planning board recently approved parking waivers for three other projects on Las Olas, Toothaker noted. One waiver was for 154 spaces, one was for 108 spaces and one was for 138 spaces.
“This is clearly an acknowledgment that Las Olas is meant to be a pedestrian shopping street,” Toothaker said. “And although many people take Uber and Lyft, patrons who choose to drive park in the many available public parking areas and walk up and down the boulevard.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan