But critics say the building is too tall. They worry the developer\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way they are designing it, it is an overpowering monstrosity of a building,\u201d Anthony Battista, president of Villaggio Di Las Olas Condo Association, said during a neighborhood meeting Monday night. \u201cThese 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioners are expected to vote on the proposal May 19.<\/p>\n
Four nearby homeowner associations \u2014 Colee Hammock Homeowners Association, Beverly Heights Association, Las Olas Manors Condo Association and Villaggio Di Las Olas Condo Association \u2014 called an emergency meeting Monday night to share their concerns and help launch an email campaign objecting to the project.<\/p>\n
The South Florida Sun Sentinel was invited to attend.<\/p>\n
As president of the Colee Hammock Homeowners Association, Jacquelyn \u201cJackie\u201d Scott helped organize the meeting.<\/p>\n
Scott serves on the city\u2019s Planning and Zoning Board and voted against the project on April 15. But the board\u2019s vote was 4-3 in favor of the project.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The developer is using a different number: 74 feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you add up all the mechanicals, there\u2019s actually a diagram that shows it up to 88 feet,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not against Weston Jewelers coming to Las Olas,\u201d Scott told the crowd. \u201cWe oppose the current scale and parking approach.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jacquelyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Rolex-meeting.jpeg\")
Jacquelyn \u201cJackie\u201d 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)<\/p>\n
Scott urged the room to send emails of protest to the commission, the developer and the Sun Sentinel.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s get the developer to the table before May 19,\u201d Scott said. \u201cWe don\u2019t need a war. We need to work together. I hope we can stop what they\u2019re proposing and get something we can live with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie Toothaker, attorney for the developer, was not at the Monday night meeting.<\/p>\n
In response to a request for comment from the Sun Sentinel, Toothaker defended the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original site plan that was proposed included almost 4,500 square feet of restaurant use and was higher,\u201d she said. \u201cThrough 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The height of the proposed building is \u201ccompletely\u201d within the context of its direct neighbors, Toothaker told the Sun Sentinel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project is proposed at five stories,\u201d she said. \u201cSimilarly, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for parking, the city\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is clearly an acknowledgment that Las Olas is meant to be a pedestrian shopping street,\u201d Toothaker said. \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The prospect of a five-story luxury watch and jewelry store coming to Las Olas Boulevard has some of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259649,"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-259648","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\/259648","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=259648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}