Live Local i<\/a>nto the city\u2019s deal with Related.<\/p>\nThe vote means Hollywood is giving up control of 210-unit Portofino; in exchange, it will get 84 apartments intended for rental to teachers, nurses, police officers and other workers, according to Commissioner Caryl Shuham. The remaining 126 condos will be sold at market rates for luxury residences, with prices starting at $4 million.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, at a Broward County Commission meeting scheduled to start at 10 a.m., lawyers for the city and Related are expected to tell the county: Game over. The lawyers likely will insist that Broward just lost its power to dictate any aspect of the 1301 Project and site at 1301 S. Ocean Dr., home of a community center and Harry Berry Park.<\/p>\n
Longtime Hollywood activist Steve Welsch will say the game shouldn\u2019t be over because Broward can and should join Hillsborough County\u2019s legal challenge to the Live Local law, he told Florida Bulldog. The lawsuit is pending in Tallahassee state court.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our parks, our open spaces, all of our community centers \u2013 everything that\u2019s owned by us, the citizens, is now open to developers like Related,\u201d Welsch said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the county would join the Hillsborough lawsuit right now, that would put everything on hold. If Hillsborough wins the lawsuit, this deal\u2019s gone,\u201d he said. Broward could join the lawsuit by filing a friend-of-the-court brief.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Broward County doesn\u2019t recognize this, then they\u2019re failing their constituencies, including Hollywood where residents were thrown under the bus by their elected officials,\u201d Welsch said. \u201cSomeone has to have a backbone on that commission.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much more is at stake than a single megabucks project that one developer and a city have hustled to complete for four years, Welsch suggested.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/josh-lefvy.png\")
Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery developer that\u2019s out there is watching and saying, \u2018Wow, we see how they do this.\u2019 Related is providing the template for every developer to come into every city in the state of Florida and take away parks and open spaces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
CITY: PORTOFINO DETAILS TBD<\/p>\n
Yet as of Friday Broward County Commissioner Beam Furr, who\u2019s supported the beach highrise opponents, wouldn\u2019t say he plans to push back against Hollywood\u2019s latest tactic to launch the 1301 Project, originally to be called the Hollywood Arts Residences.<\/p>\n
\u201cLive Local Act does preempt local government and gives the city and the developer the alternative path forward,\u201dhe wrote in an answer to emailed questions from Florida Bulldog.<\/p>\n
Related Group\u2019s press contact did not respond to emailed questions about potential revisions to Portofino Hollywood\u2019s design and site plans.<\/p>\n
During a four-hour city commission meeting Wednesday, officials provided few specifics about how condo owners and workforce renters will be accommodated \u2013 or anything besides the riches the city will reap and the problems this jackpot will solve in lieu of a tax increase.<\/p>\n
City staff put on a dazzling number-heavy show with visual aids. Special projects administrator David Keller said Portofino\u2019s first year should net the city $62.5 million from sales of the market-rate units and millions more from other income streams. He said over the life of the 99-year lease the city can expect to receive $2.72 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s eye-opening to see all the financial benefits,\u201d Mayor Levy said. Florida Bulldog previously reported that during Levy\u2019s 2024 re-election campaign a political action committee backing him received $100,000 in contributions from corporations tied to the Related Group.<\/p>\n
The 28 residents who spoke out against the new deal had questions about design revisions, prospects for the onsite community center the city would have to pay $20 million to replace \u2013 always a flashpoint \u2013 and who will manage the rentals long term.<\/p>\n
To each one Levy responded that the city, acting as landlord, will negotiate the details later with tenant Related Group. He described the resolution the city passed 5-to-2 as a mere \u201cexpression of intent,\u201d not the finalized agreement that will require another city commission review and vote.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/carylshuham.jpg\")
Hollywood Commissioner Caryl Shuham<\/p>\n
\u2018AN INSULT TO TEACHERS\u2019<\/p>\n
Commissioner Shuham, a construction lawyer who\u2019s opposed the 1301 Project since its inception six years ago, challenged city staff\u2019s glowing financial projections. The $2.72 billion life-of-lease bonanza has grown by $1 billion since December, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel this commission has accurate or sufficient information to decide whether this should be a Live Local project,\u201d Shuham said, and appealed to her colleagues to slow down before agreeing to let the project proceed.<\/p>\n
They ignored her.<\/p>\n
Shuham and others argued that Live Local at Portofino won\u2019t attract the workforce renters the law is supposed to help because they can\u2019t afford to live there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an insult to teachers to call this affordable,\u201d said Cat Uden, a former teacher who\u2019s running for a city commission seat this year. She said a studio apartment would rent for $2,600 a month under the federal income formula for subsidized housing in Broward \u2013 more than the mortgage for her five-bedroom house, she told Florida Bulldog after the meeting.<\/p>\n
What drew the most negative reaction during the meeting was the idea that Related might install separate entrances to Portofino for renters and owners. This design feature, called \u201cpoor doors\u201d when it\u2019s used in New York and London, is reviled as a form of income-based segregation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t approve anything that has separate entrances,\u201d Commissioner Idelma Quintana said.<\/p>\n
Shuham called for \u201cno segregation\u201d at Portofino. She asked Related\u2019s lawyer Keith Poliakoff to commit to a single entrance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not agreeing to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Levy chimed in, saying, \u201cLet\u2019s not get over ourselves too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, only Shuham and Quintana voted against the resolution.<\/p>\n
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