don\u2019t want<\/a> is this,\u201d he said, pointing to a rendering of the project. \u201cWhat people don\u2019t want is overdevelopment. I get that message.\u201d<\/p>\nThe testy exchange was just one of many that punctuated the standing-room-only meeting. The developer and his team did not attend.<\/p>\n
One woman wanted to know if the project calls for low-income housing.<\/p>\n
The short answer: No.<\/p>\n
Fewer than half the units would be reserved for workforce housing for people making anywhere from 80% to 120% of the county\u2019s area median income, Trantalis said.<\/p>\n
Based on the current median income of $96,200, renters eligible for the workforce housing apartments would be making from $76,960 to $115,440 a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can earn up to over $100,000 and still qualify,\u201d Trantalis said. \u201cWe\u2019re not talking about people who earn $20,000 a year. We are talking about people who are middle class.\u201d<\/p>\n
At several points, Trantalis attempted to calm the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in the end this could be a win-win for everybody,\u201d he said. \u201cThe amount of intense development so far does scare a lot of people. It scares me. To add 3,200 units on such a small site raises a lot of questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"More](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/tfl-l-galleria-mall-town-hall-03.jpg\")
More than 200 people crowded into the Coral Ridge Yacht Club on Tuesday to hear more about the proposed redesign of the Galleria mall. Nearly 300 more watched online. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n
Trantalis told the audience he had not yet met with the developer, but plans to do so soon.<\/p>\n
Several residents said they were worried about the traffic gridlock such a massive project would bring.<\/p>\n
The mayor assured them the city would do it all it could to address that challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep in mind that this project is going to dump anywhere between 10,000 and 15,000 car trips on the roads every day,\u201d Trantalis said. \u201cSo let\u2019s use whatever leverage we have to squeeze this project down to a more manageable size. We will do our best to see what we can do to try to downsize the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
One man asked whether the city was planning to file a lawsuit challenging the Live Local Act.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a commission we have not discussed that,\u201d Trantalis said.<\/p>\n
The man had a follow-up question. Can Fort Lauderdale outright reject the developer\u2019s proposal, even if it gets the city embroiled in a lawsuit?<\/p>\n
The mayor had this to say: \u201cLet\u2019s see if we can work with the developer. Litigation gets us nowhere. All it does is get us a compromise. I\u2019m not an advocate of doing nothing. That site has been neglected for so long. We need to see something happen there.\u201d<\/p>\n
One woman in the crowd agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cLitigation does nothing except make the lawyers rich,\u201d she said. \u201cIt costs the taxpayers a lot of money. It\u2019s a waste of time. We need to have a really wonderful mall here, because everyone has to go to Boca or down to Aventura.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trantalis said that was one of the goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s work together to make that happen,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to improve the site. I think most people in this room want to see some change at the Galleria mall. Tonight is the first step. Tonight is the beginning of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
One man asked whether the city could get the developer to come up with a more modern design.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe buildings look like blocks,\u201d he said. \u201cCan we at least start looking at what the aesthetics are?\u201d<\/p>\n
The mayor responded with a tongue-in-cheek joke.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t beautiful?\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cI\u2019m always an advocate for better design. I hear you. As the process continues, we will do our best to try to encourage them to make sure they have a good design.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761772268_735_TFL-L-GALLERIA-RENDERING-03.jpg\")
A rendering of the proposed megaproject that would transform the Galleria mall in Fort Lauderdale. The current plan calls for nine buildings, all standing 30 stories high. (Architectonica\/Courtesy)<\/p>\n
Vice Mayor John Herbst, the district commissioner, was watching from the front row.<\/p>\n
He stood up to explain that very few malls make money anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all buy things from Amazon,\u201d he said. \u201cI haven\u2019t been in a mall in five years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herbst thanked the mayor for calling the town hall meeting. Like the mayor, Herbst said he has not yet met with the developer. And like many residents, Herbst said he found out about the project from the newspaper.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just as unhappy about how all this is unfolding as you are,\u201d Herbst told the crowd. \u201cYou asked us what the plans are. We don\u2019t know. Forget what the architecture is going to look like. It ain\u2019t that. Whatever you\u2019re seeing up there is just a concept.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herbst said he believes the project will change over time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is the starting point of a conversation,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope this is the starting point of a conversation. We\u2019d all love to see a Bal Harbour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herbst predicts the developer will come back with a new plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s when we negotiate,\u201d Herbst said.<\/p>\n
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A chorus of angry critics packed a town hall meeting Tuesday night to tell Fort Lauderdale officials what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,28,249,251,250,114,266,109],"class_list":["post-25668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Fort](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/tfl-l-galleria-mall-town-hall-01.jpg\")
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and Director of Development Services Anthony Fajardo show the audience a rendering of the Galleria redesign during a town hall meeting at the Coral Ridge Yacht Club on Tuesday. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n